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March 19, 2026AnimalsOpen Access

Heart Girth as a Predictor of Body Weight in Lactating Cows

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Authors

SMSilvia MagroUniversity of PaduaAGA. GuerraUniversity of PaduaPSPietro SartorUniversity of Padua

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Implication

Demonstrates the effectiveness of heart girth to estimate body weight in lactating cows, indicating practical applications in dairy management.

Key Points

  • The aim is to develop equations to estimate body weight from heart girth in lactating cows of different breeds.
  • Selected 293 lactating cows from 6 farms in northern Italy.
  • Measured heart girth using tape and body weight using an integrated scale.
  • Tested linear, quadratic, and cubic regressions of body weight on heart girth, adjusting for days in milk and parity.
  • High predictive performance of heart girth for body weight was achieved in Holstein and Simmental cows.
  • Models adjusted for days in milk and parity provided the highest accuracy.
  • Coefficients of determination and root mean square error indicated strong relationships.

Cite This Study

Magro et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69bb92be496e729e62980572https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16060938
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