Forecasting the embryo productivity of donor cows on the basis of echographic characteristics of the ovaries

The main problem restricting the wide use of reproductive biotechnology in animal husbandry is insufficiently developed methods for selection of donor cows for embryo transfer. The objective reason is the variability of the ovarian response to gonadotropins injections. Until now, there is no reliable information about possibility of forecasting the embryo productivity of donor cows before gonadotropin stimulation, which affects substantively the economic feasibility of embryo transfer as a method of accelerated cattle reproduction. We have applied the post-pressing analysis of ovaries echograms for forecasting the embryo productivity of donor cows on the basis of comparisons of quantitative and qualitative indicators of ovaries after induced superovulation and its' echographic characteristics. We carried out morphofunctional study of ovaries in donor cows (n = 30) on day 10 of estrous cycle, before artificial insemination (estrus) and on day 7 of the inducted estrous cycle, immediately before the extraction of embryos using data on post-pressing ovarian morphometry...