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The age‐related morphological changes of the testes in light ecotype Nigerian indigenous chicken were evaluated in this study using gross anatomical, histological and histomorphometric techniques. The results showed that the testes of 3‐ to 9‐month‐old birds were light pink while testes of sexually mature chicken were creamy white in colour. The left and right testicular weight, length, diameter, circumference and the organosomatic indices increased significantly (p <.05) with increasing age across the groups. Although the mean tubular diameter and epithelial height of the left and right seminiferous tubules increased significantly (p <.05) with age, the tubular diameter, epithelial height and luminal diameter did not vary significantly (p >.05) between the left and right testes of all the groups. The one‐cell layer thick germinal epithelium of the left testes at 3 to 6 months old showed islands of cell proliferation that contained spermatogonia and spermatocytes. At 6 to 9 months, the left testes exhibited numerous early spermatids with occasional occurrence of late stage spermatids while the right testes showed scanty early stage spermatids. At 12 to 18 months, the germinal epithelia of both left and right testes were characterized by the presence of Sertoli cells, spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes, numerous early and late stage spermatids as well as spermatozoa. In conclusion, the morphological features highlighted in the present study show that at pre‐pubertal periods, the left testes may develop faster than the right testes. However, both left and right testes may participate actively in the production of spermatozoa during the post‐pubertal life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional use of Azadirachta indica in Asian countries suggests that the plant may have antifertility properties but in Nigeria, A. indica is fed to animals and used for traditional treatment of human and animal illnesses. This study therefore determined the reproductive and haematological effects of methanolic seed extract of A. indica (MSEAI), using adult female albino rats (AFAR) as experimental model. Sixty-four AFAR randomly assigned into four treatment groups (A - D) of 16 rats each were used. Group A was the control, while groups B, C and D received 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg doses of the extract daily for 28 consecutive days. Blood samples were collected on days 0 (base line), 14 and 28 to assay for haematological parameters. Thereafter, the rats were bred and fertility tests performed. Results showed that MSEAI significantly decreased (p=0.05) haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume and red blood cell count in treated groups on day 28. Total and differential leukocyte counts showed no significant variations (p>0.05). The extract also caused abortion and fetal resorption especially in high dose (100 and 200 mg/kg) treatment groups. However, in rats that had successful parturition, gestation length, litter size, litter weight, number of corpora lutea, number of implantation sites and number of fetuses born alive were not significantly affected (p>0.05). Considering the adverse haematological and reproductive effects, feeding A. indica as forage or the traditional treatment in pregnant/breeding females could be counterproductive. However, the extract could find application as a contraceptive in nonbreeding females and in rodent depopulation programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]