Testicular morphometry and prevalence of hypoplasia among three sheep breeds in the humid tropical zone of Nigeria
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Abstract
This study was carried out to determine and compare the testicular morphometry of three sheep breeds (Uda, Yankasa and Balami) in Calabar, Nigeria. Testicular parameters measured were, weight (kg), length (cm), circumference (cm) and number of descended (or not) testicles. Data
were collected from three sheep abattoirs in Calabar. Age of rams was determined by rostral dentition. A total of 90 rams (30 per breed) were used for the study. Balami breed had significantly heavier testes weight (5.65 kg) than Uda and Yankasa (5.32 kg and 5.53 kg, respectively). Age of rams significantly affected the scrotal weight, length and circumference, 4 years old rams were significantly (p< 0.05) highest in these traits (6.26 kg, 19.63 cm and 30.06 cm, respectively). No incidence of testicular hypoplasia was observed among the rams irrespective of breed. Correlation results showed that Balami breed had the highest correlation coefficient for testicular weight and age (r = 0.838) of the animals and the least was between scrotal weight and length (r = 0.409) in Yankasa breed. There were high and significant correlation coefficients in all the parameters across the breeds. Scrotal circumference was highly correlated with testicular weight and length at 2 and 4 years of age (r = 0.627 – 0.672). It is recommended that rams be selected for breeding between the ages of 3 - 4 years based on their scrotal circumference and testicular weight.
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