The opening form, length, diameter and number of folds of 272 cervices (134 from Ideal breed and 138 from Corriedale breed), from slaughtered ewes, were investigated. In addition, the cervical opening form of 136 Corriedale ewes, during insemination, was examined. The flap cervical form was observed in 52.2% of the total number of the cervices examined, which was also found in the inseminated animals. The average of the cervical length was 5.9cm for the Ideal breed and 5.7cm for the Corriedale breed (p<0.05). The average of the cervix diameter was 0.8cm in both breeds. The number of cervical folds was greater in the Ideal breed (4.9) than in the Corriedale breed (4.6; p<0.01). A catheter was tried to penetrate through the cervix of those 136 Corriedale ewes during the natural estrus to verify the degree of penetration. The catheter was attempted to pass the cervix with (60) and without (76) cervical traction, using a scale from 0 to 3 to characterize the proportion in which the catheter penetrated through the cervix. The penetration degree one and three were respectively the most and the least frequent. Using traction for insemination, greater penetration was obtained than without traction (p<0.01).
sheep; cervix; penetration
