A novel farm technology to quantify dairy cow cervix morphology: oestrus versus non-oestrus models

Document Type : Short paper

Authors

1 Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

2 2MSc Student in Animal Nutrition, Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

The objective was to quantify and compare cow cervical morphology on oestrus vs. non-oestrus days
using a new farm technology. The cervical tissues were videotaped using a cervixscope involving new
camera equipment in four Holstein cows on multiple oestrus and non-oestrus days to score tissue morphology as altered by oestrus. The non-oestrous days were in diestrus phases. The videotaped records were processed in a computer installed with an image processing software. Cervix central positioning, movements, mucosal secretions, and clarity in the captured images were scored visually, each on a 5-point basis. Cervical regions were significantly more discrete, more mucosal, more central, and more stable on standing oestrus days than on non-oestrus days. During standing oestrus, the cervix was lucidly visible and rigidly positioned in the central end of vagina, whereas non-oestrus cervices were unstable and hardly separable from surrounding tissues. Findings demonstrate the on-farm feasibility of the novel inexpensive cervixscope as a farm management tool for quantifying cervix morphology.

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