Relationship of Testicular Biometrics with Body Weight in Rams: A Slaughter House Study in Yobe State, Africa

Abstract

The research was a slaughter house survey of a testicular biometrics in relation to body weight in Ram. A total of 100 samples (Testes) were collected from rams of age ranges of 1 – 3 years. The data collected on each animal include; breed, color, sex, age, scrotal circumference, scrotal length, testes weight and body weight. The study was aimed to determine the relationship between testicular weight and body weight in sheep, and to predict the body weight in sheep from these testicular measurements. The data were subjected to the analysis of variance (ANOVA) using a general linear model SPSS (2001), significant means were separated using a Duncan multiple range test, a regression model was used to predict the body weight of rams with these testicular measurements as the independent variables. Descriptive method was used for the interpretation of the result. The relationship between body weight and testicular measurements were highly positive and significant at (P<0.01) except the relationship between body weight and testicular weights in Balami was significant at (P<0.05) level while the relationship between body weight and scrotal length was not significant. From the result of the study obtained farmers especially in Nigeria and other developing countries of the world can select superior breeds of rams in the field and predict the probable weights using testicular measurements especially; scrotal length scrotal circumference and testicular weight in Balami and Yankasa in the absence of weighing scale, and at the end to proffer suggestion for selection based on the testicular size as an indirect criterion for selection for genetic improvement.