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

Abstract

Summary 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.