Morphometric traits and structural indices of indigenous cattle reared in Bench Sheko zone, southwestern Ethiopia

This study was carried out with the aim of applying morphometric traits and structural indices in assessing the type and function of indigenous cattle in the Gidi-Bench (GB) and Debub-Bench (DB) districts of the Bench-Sheko zone. The study included two hundred forty (240) households (120 from each district). About 660 matured cattle (60 male and 600 female) were selected for morphometric measurement, from which 14 structural indices were computed. For cattle linear body measurement, 15 characters were assessed, whereas 16 traits were considered for qualitative observation. The finding indicated that, except for tail length (TL), cattle in DB had higher (p < 0.05) values for Body Weight (BW), chest girth (CG), head length (HDL), height at wither (HW), Body length (BL), Horn length (HL), height at rump (HAR), height at rump (RL), RW (rump width), Neck Width (NW), Neck length (NL) Chest depth (CD), ear length (EL) and neck circumference (NC) than those of GB district. GB bulls had higher (p < 0.05) Body Index (BI), cephalic index (CI), and Balance (Ba) than DB districts. Conversely, the Height Index (HI), Rump Length Index (RLI), Body Index (BI), Body Weight Index (BWI), Body Ratio (BR), and Height Slope (HS) of DB bulls were higher (p < 0.05) than those of GB districts. The HI, RLI, BWI, Ba, and BR values were higher (p < 0.05) for cows of DB than those of GB districts. However, cows in GB had higher (p < 0.05) Length Index_1 (LI_1), CI, Pelvic Index (PI), Over increase Index (OVII), Length Index_1 (LI_2), and HS values compared to DB district. Therefore, morphometric features and body indices revealed that cattle reared in DB could be categorized as a small-sized and angular-shaped body frame with the ability to graze in rough terrain. In contrast, cattle in GB were categorized under small-sized animals whose morphology corresponds to dual-type, specifically bulls with the light draft.