The Validity of the Scores of Cervical Mucus during Artificial Insemination for Estimating the Probability of Conceiving in Clinically Healthy Cows
The Validity of the Scores of Cervical Mucus during Artificial Insemination for Estimating the Probability of Conceiving in Clinically Healthy Cows
Atilla Yıldız
ABSTRACT
Cervical mucus is a biological environment that affects sperm survival and determines the ability of cows to become pregnant. Insemination based on cervical mucus characteristics may increase pregnancy rate. Therefore, this study’s aim is to evaluate the extent to which the scores specific to the changes in physical properties of cervical mucus predict the probability of conception at insemination time. Cervical mucus in 36 clinically healthy Holstein cows was evaluated scoring system based on the five variables (colour, viscosity, spinnbarkeit, ferning and pH) describing appearance and characteristics of cervical mucus collected. Each parameter was graded from 0 to 3. Comparison of cervical mucus score including all parameters demonstrated a significant (P < 0.0001) increase between conceived cows’ mean score (13.47) and non-conceived cows’ mean score (10.59). All parameters of the cervical mucus score for non-conceived cows were reduced, with the change in viscosity (P < 0.05), spinnbarkeit (P < 0.01) and fern pattern (P < 0.01) being a significant. The highest conception rate was achieved in score 3 for all parameters of the cervical mucus. No significant difference (p=0.1) was found in the mean pH score of their cervical mucus at the time of artificial insemination from pregnant and non-pregnant cows. In our study, mucus colour, viscosity, and ferning properties were found to be the important factors, which establish the fitness of cervical mucus for the occurrence of pregnancy in cows.
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