# Heart girth measure for weight - how accurate?



## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

I've never done this before, but I went out and measured my girls via heart girth today, to determine their weight. 

The formula I used is 

heart girth (inches) x heart girth (inches) x distance point of shoulder to pin bone (inches)

DIVIDED BY 300

equals weight of goat in pounds (I then put it in a conversion calculator online to get kilograms)

I know there are tables that just use the heart girth measure, I looked at that too but thought this formula seemed to be more precise. 

Anyway, I'm wondering how accurate this method is, as my senior does came out a LOT heavier than I expected. 

The Nubian doelings (15 months) came out at 150 and 140 lbs
The Saanen buckling (5 months approx) came out at 101 lbs
The Nubian buck kid came out at 40 lbs
The Saanen doe 4 yrs old came out at a whopping 221 lbs
The Nubian doe 5 yrs old came out heaviest at 222 lbs 

:shocked: 

Do you reckon these are right? Do my senior does really weigh that much? 

The two little bucks I reckon its about right ... probably even the doelings but the big does ... omg are they seriously that heavy? 

I've probably been underfeeding them as well as underdosing them with drench and medications ... The whole reason I needed a weight was because I'm starting them on a new feed regime ...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I find... it is off with my boers... so I don't use it....


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## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

I am not sure about that measurement, but the formula that I found on the Fiasco site seems pretty accurate. I used the tape on a couple smaller goats that we could lift and then measured them with the scale. Those do sound a little on the high side.


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

Wow... I used the tape just based on the heart girth number alone to decide when my girls were ready to breed. I didnt use the formula with the length. I would be interested also to know how accurate it is. 220 lbs seems like a massive doe.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

When I compared the formula I used to just the heart girth measurement tables, it seemed about the same. It was still putting my seniors out at around 220 lbs. 

What I am hoping to do is find a pet store that has dog scales, my girl violet should walk in nicely and stand on the scales so I can see how accurate it is ... 

I thought it was about right for the buck kids but the seniors and the goatlings I would have thought were 10 - 20kg (sorry not sure about lbs) lighter than what it said ... 

Pam the fias co website said it was for dairy goats not meat or minis ... not sure which measurements you were trying ... I'm sure they do them specific for meat goats as well but not sure how accurate they are


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I do the heart girth x heart girth x body length Divided by 300.
Last summer I wanted to see how accurate it 'seemed' to be, and brought out a house scale. We did the measurement on the kids we had at the time - first my son would get on to see how much he weighed, then he'd pick up a kid and we'd compare the measurement weight to scale weight - it was 10lbs off on the low side. So I did the measurement then added 10 on it, seemed more accurate.
BUT with the does I am not sure.
My husband used the dairy goat tape and it said our buck was 85lbs. We took him to the vet and he weighed 101lbs.

I wish I had a better way to measure our does weight. We had them figured for around 110lbs when not pregnant, but makes me wonder....


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

I was wanting to compare the numbers I get using these two formulas on my young does. When you say "shoulder to pin bone"... does that refer to the bone at the end of their rear or the one on top where their rump starts to slope off?


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

I have also wondered how accurate it would be.
I have never used to know how off it may be.

To me it would seem like it would be best to do it before eating. Like in the morning before I add hay.
After hay they get so huge. Seems as if that could make it way wrong if they bulk up on hay.
Like my doe weighs around 200 or so. She is the biggest doe I have ever seen...way bigger than any Boer goat I have ever seen.
The tape could say 250 on it and possibly be right. I am not good at guessing so I think I may get the tape on my next order and see what it says.


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

Jesse if you are taking the measurement for heart girth right behind the front legs, hay belly shouldn't affect it. Its more their chest you are measuring not their belly. Also I just use a normal sewing tape to do the measurement or you could even use a string then look up the weight on the chart online. The goat tape they sell just translates the measurement into weights so you don't have to look it up.


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

jaycee said:


> Jesse if you are taking the measurement for heart girth right behind the front legs, hay belly shouldn't affect it. Its more their chest you are measuring not their belly. Also I just use a normal sewing tape to do the measurement or you could even use a string then look up the weight on the chart online. The goat tape they sell just translates the measurement into weights so you don't have to look it up.


Ohhh. Okay makes sense.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

> Pam the fias co website said it was for dairy goats not meat or minis ... not sure which measurements you were trying ... I'm sure they do them specific for meat goats as well but not sure how accurate they are


 Meat goats have a bigger girth.. so you are right ..the dairy goat tape won't work with the boers... :wink:


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