The effect of air pressure with cervical artificial insemination on the fertility of Awassi ewes synchronized with PGF2α [PGF2α ile senkronize edilen i̇vesi koyunlari{dotless}nda hava basi{dotless}nci{dotless} ile servikal sun'i tohumlamani{dotless}n fertiliteye etkisi]

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of air pressure on fertility during cervical artificial insemination with fresh semen in awassi ewes. a total of 60 reproductively normal-cycling awassi ewes (2-5 years old) were used in the experiment during the breeding season. all ewes were treated with the pg-7 days protocol consisting of two intramuscular doses of a pgf2α analogue administered 7 days apart. animals were divided into two groups. the first group (n=30) was cervically inseminated (cai). the second group (n=30) was cervically inseminated by means of an air pump (apcai). artificial inseminations were performed 48 h after the second pgf2α injection. pregnancy was determined using ultrasonography on d 30 after ai. the pregnancy rate was found significantly higher in the apcai group than in the cai group (80.0% versus 46.7%) (p<0.01). the lambing rate was found to be greater in the group cervically inseminated with an air pump than in the group cervically inseminated with the conventional method (70.0 versus 46.7%). the insemination method used had a significant effect on lambing rate (p<0.05). prolificacy was not affected by insemination methods (apcai,1.09; cai,1.14). it was concluded that cervical insemination with an air pump in awassi ewes might improve clinical pregnancy rates by mechanisms yet to be defined.