Vet World   Vol.14   September-2021  Article-6

Body weight prediction using different data mining algorithms in Thalli sheep: A comparative study

Background and Aim: The Thalli sheep are the main breed of sheep in Pakistan, and an effective method to predict their body weight (BW) using linear body measurements has not yet been determined. Therefore, this study aims to establish an algorithm with the best predictive capability, among the Chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID), exhaustive CHAID, artificial neural network, and classification and regression tree (CART) algorithms, in live BW prediction using selected body measurements in female Pakistani Thalli sheep.

Materials and Methods: A total of 152 BW records, including nine continuous predictors (wither height, body length [BL], head length, rump length, tail length, head width, rump width, heart girth [HG], and barrel depth), were utilized. The coefficient of determination (R2), standard deviation ratio, root-mean-square error (RMSE), etc., were calculated for each algorithm.

Results: The R2 (%) values ranged from 49.28 (CART) to 64.48 (CHAID). The lowest RMSE was found for CHAID (2.61), and the highest one for CART (3.12). The most significant predictors were the HG of live BW for all algorithms. The heaviest average BW (41.12 kg) was observed in the subgroup of those having a BL of >73.91 cm (Adjusted p=0.045).

Conclusion: Among the algorithms, CHAID provided the most appropriate predictive capability in the prediction of live BW for female Thalli sheep. In general, the applied algorithms accurately predicted the BW of Thalli sheep, which can be very helpful in deciding on the standards, available drug doses, and required feed amount for animals. Keywords: artificial neural network, body weight, classification and regression tree, Chi-square automatic interaction detector, exhaustive Chi-square automatic interaction detector, Thalli sheep.

Keywords: artificial neural network, body weight, classification and regression tree, Chi-square automatic interaction detector, exhaustive Chi-square automatic interaction detector, Thalli sheep.

How to cite this article: Abbas A, Ullah MA, Waheed A (2021) Body weight prediction using different data mining algorithms in Thalli sheep: A comparative study, Veterinary World, 14(9): 2332-2338.

Received: 02-04-2021  Accepted: 26-07-2021     Published online: 06-09-2021

Corresponding author: Ansar Abbas   E-mail: ansarashri@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.2332-2338

Copyright: Abbas, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.