Evaluating the reproductive ability of breeding rams in North-Eastern Spain using clinical examination of the body and external genitalia

Table 2 The percentages of rams with alterations in each body area and suitability of rams for breeding by BCS (n = 747)

Body area	Lesions severity	<2.5 (n = 24)	2.5 – 2.75 (n = 180)	3 – 3.5 (n = 383)	>3.5 (n = 160)	Total
Head, neck and trunk	None	25.0^a	51.7^a	69.2^b	66.9^b	63.1
	Mild	58.3^a	38.3^ab	26.6^c	30.0^b	31.2
	Severe	16.7^a	10.0^ab	4.2^c	3.1^b	5.8
Prognatism	None	83.3^a	77.2^a	95.8^b	98.8^b	91.6
	Mild	16.7^a	20.6^a	3.9^b	0.6^b	7.6
	Severe	0.0^d	2.2	0.3	0.6	0.8
Limbs	None	70.8	80.6	86.2	89.4	85.0
	Mild	25.0	18.3	10.7	10.6	13.0
	Severe	4.2	1.1	3.1	0.0^d	2.0
Legs conformation	None	95.8	98.3	97.9	99.4	98.3
	Mild	4.2	1.7	1.3	0.6	1.3
	Severe	0.0^d	0.0^d	0.8	0.0^d	0.4
Genital	None	70.8	63.3	71.5	69.8	69.2
	Mild	12.5	27.2	18.3	19.5	20.5
	Severe	16.7	9.4	10.2	10.7	10.3
Testicles	None	83.3^a	95.0^ab	96.1^b	93.1^ab	94.8
	Yes	16.7^a	5.0^ab	3.9^b	6.9^ab	5.2
Posthitis	None	83.3	80.6	82.0	83.0	81.9
	Mild	8.3	16.7	15.1	12.6	14.7
	Severe	8.3	2.8	2.9	4.4	3.4
Glans	None	95.8	93.9	97.4	95.0	96.0
	Mild	0.0^d	4.4	1.6	5.0	2.9
	Severe	4.2	1.7	1.0	0.0^d	1.1
Rams with any alterations	None	12.5^a	31.7^ab	43.9^c	44.0^bc	39.9
	Mild	54.2	50.0	39.7	43.4	43.4
	Severe	33.3^a	18.3^ab	16.4^ab	12.6^b	16.6
Previous disease	None	50.0	63.9	58.5	63.5	60.6
	Yes	50.0	36.1	41.5	36.5	39.4
BSE	Suitable	66.7	81.7	85.4	86.3	84.1
	Unsuitable	33.3	18.3	14.6	13.8	15.9

^a,b,cMeans in the same row with different superscripts differ significantly p < 0.05
^dThis category is not used for multiple comparisons because the proportion is equal to zero

ISSN: 1746-6148