Fat Tail Characteristics And Its Correlation With Meat Traits Of Duolang Sheep

In this experiment,it randomly selected 312 adult Duolang sheep（244 female and 68 male sheep）in Maigaiti County.Measured the tail length,tail width and tail height were calculated the tail volume.The K-means method was used to classified the tail volume of male and female Duolang sheep,which was verified by t test.Analyze the correlation between four tail traits size indexes,seven body size indexes and body weight,and construct the optimal regression equation of body size and body weight.In Comparison and cluster analysis with sheep breed in Northwest China,the position of Duolang sheep in the systematic classification of sheep is studied.The results are as follows:1.The tail volume of Duolang male and female sheep were significant different（P<0.05）.Based on the tail volume,clustering can divide Duolang sheep into three types:small-tailed,medium-tailed and large-tailed.Duolang female sheep are mainly small-tailed,and Duolang male sheep are mainly middle-tailed.By comparison,it is found that in different sexes,the large the tail shape,the larger the weight and the volume of the tail（P<0.01）.This shows that the tail traits of Duolang sheep are an important factor influencing body weight that cannot be ignored.2.The bust and weight of adult Duolang female and male sheep showed an extremely significant relationship（P<0.01）.The correlation coefficient between bust and weight（y）was the largest,with tail length,tail width,bust,chest depth and tail volume are second.In breeding,tail length,tail width,bust,chest depth and tail volume can be used as reference indicators.The principal component analysis of 12individual size indicators of Duolang male and female sheep is divided into three principal components.The cumulative contribution rate of the principal component analysis of Duolang sheep female and male sheep reached 83.876%and 76.553%.The principal component 1 of Duolang sheep male sheep has 7body measurements（weight,tail length,tail width,tail height,tail volume,bust and chest depth）are prominent horizontally;the 8 body measurements（weight,tail length,tail width,tail height,tail volume,bust,chest width and chest depth）in the principal component 1 of Duolang female sheep are more prominent.It can be found that both male and female sheep are mainly affected by the tail factor,which shows that the tail factor is the main factor in the body size variation of Duolang sheep.Construct the optimal regression equation for body size and weight of Duolang male and female sheep:y（male）=1.313x₇（bust）+0.001x₄（tail volume）-0.209x₂（tail width）-58.347;y（female）=0.789x₇（bust）+0.737x₁（tail length）-0.083x₂（tail width）+0.270x₈（chest depth）-35.748,which shows that in different genders,the indicators that affect their body weight and size have tail traits and bust.3.Comparing Duolang sheep（fat tail type）with fat hip type sheep,the bust,body length,chest depth and body height of Duolang sheep are significantly larger than Kazakh sheep,Kirgiz sheep,Altay sheep,Bashbai sheep and Tashkurgan sheep（P<0.01）.Compared with lean-tailed sheep,the body height of Duolang sheep（fat-tailed）is significantly larger than that of Cele black sheep,grassland Tibetan sheep,Suffolk sheep and Euler Tibetan sheep（P<0.01）.Through cluster analysis,Suffolk sheep is a world-famous mutton sheep breed.It is found that Suffolk sheep and Duolang sheep have similar body structures.Therefore,Duolang sheep has great potential for meat.In breed selection,priority should be given to bust size and body size indicators.The research results show that the fat tail traits,body size and body weight of Duolang sheep have a certain impact,which can provide a basis for the study of Duolang sheep’s body structure and production performance.