Prevalence of scrotum bipartition in sheep in the Paraiba backwoods, Brazil.

Goats and sheep have morphological characteristics for adaptation to desert and semiarid regions. The appearance of scrotum division known as scrotum bipartition has already been reported in goats. This anatomy increases the surface of each testicle exposed to environmental temperature, favoring heat dissipation and improving reproductive efficiency. Considering that there are already studies on the goat species demonstrating the presence of this characteristic as an influence on reproductive parameters, the prevalence of scrotum bipartition was estimated in the sheep herds reared in the municipality of Patos, Paraiba backwoods, Brazil. A total of 331 rams were examined from farms in four municipalities in the micro-region of Patos, Paraiba, Brazil, and the same study was also carried out at the municipal slaughterhouse in this city, where 456 animals were examined. According to the analysis, 66.67% of the farms visited presented one or more sheep with scrotum bipartition, with a prevalence of 11.48% on the farms and 14.47% at the slaughterhouse. The degree of bipartition was 9.59 ± 1.035% of the total scrotum length for the animals in the field and 12.89 ± 0.749% for those from the slaughterhouse, characterizing bipartition of less than 50% of the scrotum length. The variables intensive rearing (OR = 16.6) and the Dorper breed (OR = 6.91) were identified as factors associated to the presence of scrotum bipartition. It was concluded that scrotum bipartition is a characteristic present in sheep reared in the municipality of Patos in the semiarid region of Paraiba state, northeastern Brazil, and high prevalence was observed of farms with bipartition sheep, but a low number of animals with scrotum bipartition was identified.