Effects of cervical ripening treatments on pregnancy rates following transcervial artificial insemination in ewes

Abstract

The study was aimed to identify the effective cervical ripening treatment to increase the pregnancy rates following transcervical artificial insemination (TC-AI) in indigenous ewes of Bangladesh. Three treatments schedules were compared, G1 (n = 6, control), G2 [n = 6, prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) as Misoprostol-Cytomis®] and G3 (n = 6, estrogen as Oestriol-Ovestin® + oxytocin as Linda-S® Vet). Ewes (n=18) were synchronized for estrus using two doses of 100 µg prostaglandin (PGF2α; Ovuprost®) 9 days apart. The cervical ripening treatments were administered just after the onset of estrus and left for 12 h before TC-AI. The cervical ripening was reflected with the depth of cervical penetration. The depth of cervical penetration in G1, G2 and G3 both before and after cervical ripening treatments were 0.33 ± 0.10 cm vs 0.43 ± 0.07 cm, 0.41 ± 0.09 cm vs 3.50 ± 0.26 cm and 0.43 ± 0.09 cm vs 1.54 ± 0.14 cm, respectively. The depth of cervical penetration increased significantly (p