PUBERAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE NIGERIAN DWARF SHEEP

Testicular measurements were made on the testis of 47 ram lambs aged between 2 and 36 weeks and 4 to 14kg body weight in situ and after excision, with a view to assessing both the growth and development of the testis and how closely the actual measurements on the excised testis could be approximated by those made on the testis of live rams. The results showed that the measurements made on the live animals were very closely related to the actual measurements on the excised testis but that the precision in this improved with increase in size of the testis. Testis growth could be adequately monitored by linear measurements of the circumference, width and length of the testis.