Factor analysis of biometric traits of Tonga cattle for body conformation characterization

Abstract

The Tonga is one of the recognized breeds of the Zambian cattle. This is a multi-purpose breed found in the southern part of the country. The present study was undertaken to study the different body measurements and relationships among different body measurements and to develop unobservable factors (latent) to define which of these measurements best represent body conformation in cows of this breed. The two extracted factors factors which accounted for 54.4% of total variance represented the body and the distal conformation of the cow. The communalities estimates indicated that cephalic conformation did not contribute effectively to explain body conformation, while the remaining traits contributed effectively, and these traits could be considered to explain the body conformation of the Tonga cow. The result suggests that the principal component analysis could be used in breeding programs with a drastic reduction in the number of biometric traits needed to explain the body conformation.