RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF CERVICO-VAGINAL MUCUS IN RELATION TO FERTILITY IN CROSSBRED COWS AND HEIFERS

Deepak Ningwal 1 , Sant Prasad Nema 1 , Sudarshan Kumar 1 , Ameeta Kushwah 2 and Madhu Shivhare 1 . 1. Department of Veterinary Gynaecology & Obstetrics. 2. Department of Veterinary Biochemistry. 3. College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Mhow, Nanaji Deshmukh Veterinary Science University, Jabalpur (M.P.), India. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History

This study was carried out on cows (n=20) and heifers (n=20) belonging to the Dairy farm of College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Mhow and clinical cases of progressive farmers brought for artificial insemination to the Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex and at the doorstep of farmers in nearby villages. The cervico-vaginal mucus samples were collected from the animals at oestrus and were immediately used for physical parameter analysis. Physical profile revealed that the mean pH value of cervico-vaginal mucus was observed in conceived and non-conceived crossbred cows and heifers, with the difference being non-significant in all the groups, but in pooled heifers, the respective values for pH were highly significant (P<0.01). The mean spinnbarkeit value of cervico-vaginal mucus was observed in conceived and non-conceived crossbred cows and heifers, with the difference being highly significant (P<0.01) in all the groups. The per cent incidence of typical, atypical and nil fern patterns of cervico-vaginal mucus samples were highly significant (P<0.01) in all the groups of conceived and non-conceived crossbred cows and heifers. Pregnancy was confirmed by rectal palpation after 2 months of insemination.

Introduction:-
The nature of cervical mucus has pronounced influence on the fertilizing capacity of the spermatozoa in female reproductive tract and its physical properties have direct relationship with the fertility status of the animals (Rangnekar et al., 2002).
Oestrus, the most visible phase of the oestrous cycle is characterized by nervousness, bellowing and mounting, stands to be mounted by another cow, reduced feed intake and milk production. Fertility of a dairy cow is the ability of the animal to conceive and maintain pregnancy if served at the appropriate time in relation to ovulation. Lack of determination of oestrus sign causes lowers bovine productivity and fertility resulting in significance economic loss to the dairy industry. This study was planned to determine the fertility with physical properties in crossbred cows and heifers.

Results and Discussion:-
The physical properties viz., pH, spinnbarkeit value and fern pattern of cervico-vaginal mucus (CVM) in conceived and non-conceived crossbred cows and heifers at oestrus are presented in Table 1. .36, whereas, in nonconceived crossbred cows and heifers these values were found to be 7.66±0.33, 7.50±0.28, 7.50±0.50 and 7.25±0.25, respectively, with the difference being non-significant in all the groups, but in pooled heifers, the respective values for pH were highly significant (P<0.01) ( Table 1).

Fern pattern:-
The per cent incidence of typical fern pattern of cervico-vaginal mucus was observed in different groups (1A, 1B, 2A and 2B) at oestrus as 85.71, 83.33, 87.50 and 83.33, respectively, whereas, atypical fern pattern was found as 14.29, 16.67, 12.50 and 16.67 per cent in conceived crossbred cows and heifers, whilst in non-conceived crossbred cows and heifers typical fern pattern was observed in 66.67, 50.00, 50.00 and 75.00 per cent, respectively, whereas, atypical fern pattern was found in 33.33, 50.00, 50.00 and 25.00 per cent, respectively. Nil type of fern pattern was not observed in animals of all the groups, with the difference being highly significant (P<0.01) in all the groups ( Table 1) Among the conceived and non-conceived crossbred cows and heifers, none was found to have a nil fern pattern. Similar findings were also reported by Bennur et al. (2004) and Gavit (2010), who reported that among conceived and non-conceived animals, none was having nil fern pattern.