# The meta-analysis of beef cattle body weight prediction using body measurement approach with breed, sex, and age categories

## TL;DR

This study finds that heart girth and body volume are the best predictors of beef cattle body weight, with differences based on breed, sex, and age.

## Contribution

The study provides a meta-analysis showing that heart girth and body volume are more reliable predictors of beef cattle weight than other body measurements.

## Key findings

- Heart girth (r = 0.88) and body volume (r = 0.97) showed strong correlations with body weight.
- Breed and age categories significantly influenced the correlation results.
- Body length and wither height had weaker correlations (r = 0.74 and r = 0.72).

## Abstract

The aim of the study was to use a meta-analysis to identify the correlation between linear body measurements, including body length (BL), wither height (WH), heart girth (HG), and body volume (BV), and body weight in beef cattle by breed, sex, and age as categories.

These results can be used as a method for predicting beef cattle body weight. This study used systematic review and meta-analysis guidelines to create a checklist. The first stage was searching for papers relevant to the study objectives. The second stage was searching using the keywords beef cattle, body weight, body measurement, and correlation. The third stage was reviewing the title and abstract. The fourth stage was abstracting information from selected papers, and the last stage was tabulating data.

The results from this study were obtained, and 32 papers were eligible for the meta-analysis stage. The correlation between linear body measurement and body weight of beef cattle showed that HG (r = 0.88) and BV (r = 0.97) were significantly (p < 0.05) different compared to BL (r = 0.74) and WH (r = 0.72). The correlation between HG and body weight, and the categorization of cattle breeds showed significantly (p < 0.05) different results. The correlation between BV and body weight of cattle according to breed categories showed results that were not significantly (p > 0.05) different, while age was significantly (p < 0.05).

In conclusion, to predict beef cattle body weight, it is necessary to use HG or BV, with breed, sex, and age of cattle as categories.