Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Marija Jovičić Author-Name: Eva Chmelíková Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Markéta Sedmíková Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Cryopreservation of boar semen Abstract: Sperm cryopreservation is the best technology for long-term storage of the semen. However, the damage of boar spermatozoa by cryopreservation is more severe than in other animal species and a standardized freezing protocol for efficient cryopreservation has not been established yet. Semen quality and freezability vary greatly between breeds as well as between individual boars and even the season. Boar spermatozoa are sensitive to low temperatures; they sustain damage and a high rate of mortality and freezing/thawing the boar semen may strongly impair the sperm function and decrease the semen quality. The freezability of boar semen can be influenced by a cryopreservation procedure, and also by using various additives to freezing and thawing extenders such as antioxidants. In order to obtain acceptable results after thawing the boar semen, it is necessary to combine an optimal amount of additives (glycerol, egg yolk, sugars, antioxidants), cooling and warming velocities. Keywords: additives, antioxidants, extenders, freezability, sperm Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 115-123 Volume: 65 Issue: 4 Year: 2020 DOI: 10.17221/47/2020-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/47/2020-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202004-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:65:y:2020:i:4:id:47-2020-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lenka Krpálková Author-Name: Niall O'Mahony Author-Workplace-Name: Lero - The Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, Department of Agricultural and Manufacturing Engineering. School of Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM), Institute of Technology Tralee, Clash, Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland Author-Name: Anderson Carvalho Author-Workplace-Name: Lero - The Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, Department of Agricultural and Manufacturing Engineering. School of Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM), Institute of Technology Tralee, Clash, Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland Author-Name: Sean Campbell Author-Workplace-Name: Lero - The Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, Department of Agricultural and Manufacturing Engineering. School of Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM), Institute of Technology Tralee, Clash, Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland Author-Name: Joseph Walsh Author-Workplace-Name: Lero - The Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, Department of Agricultural and Manufacturing Engineering. School of Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM), Institute of Technology Tralee, Clash, Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland Title: Evaluating the economic profit of reproductive performance through the integration of a dynamic programming model on a specific dairy farm Abstract: The overall objective of this study was to improve the reproductive efficiency of lactating dairy cows and to improve the resulting total farm profit. The hypothesis is that a dairy farm can substantially improve its economic and environmental performance through increasing pregnancy rate, i.e. increasing the number of eligible cows that become pregnant for a given breeding period. This paper presents a tool which was designed with a view to comparing the reproductive efficiency. The tool was developed using dynamic programming in R (Shiny) and shows the changes in costs, revenues and net return projected for a given change in pregnancy rate. The model calculates from the first day in milk and stops when the last calf was born after successful insemination of each cow. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the economic return associated with reproductive performance is greatly affected by the input parameters and therefore real farm and market values are crucial. The average economic gain per percentage point of 21-d (21-day) pregnancy rate (PR) was 14.6 EUR per cow/year. The milk price showed the largest impact on the overall net return. A 10% increase in milk price increased the net return on average by 268 EUR (10% 21-d PR), 292 EUR (20% 21-d PR) and 299 EUR per cow/year (30% 21-d PR). Our study had the same set values of milk yield during lactations for all four evaluated farms and it was found that the milk income over feed cost increased with the reproductive performance in all evaluated farms on an individual cow level. Poor fertility means that cows spend longer producing lower amounts of less efficiently produced milk. Keywords: cost, fertility, pregnancy rate, profit, sensitivity analysis Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 124-134 Volume: 65 Issue: 4 Year: 2020 DOI: 10.17221/38/2020-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/38/2020-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202004-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:65:y:2020:i:4:id:38-2020-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Afaf Abdelrahman Elshereef Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Climate Change and Livestock Production, Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico Author-Name: Julian Arroyave-Jaramillo Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Climate Change and Livestock Production, Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico Author-Name: Lucas Miguel Zavala-Escalante Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Climate Change and Livestock Production, Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico Author-Name: Angel Trinidad Piñeiro-Vázquez Author-Workplace-Name: Technological National of Mexico, I.T. Conkal, Conkal Division of Graduate Studies and Research, Conkal, Yucatan, Mexico Author-Name: Carlos Fernando Aguilar-Pérez Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Climate Change and Livestock Production, Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico Author-Name: Francisco Javier Solorio-Sánchez Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Climate Change and Livestock Production, Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico Author-Name: Juan Carlos Ku-Vera Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Climate Change and Livestock Production, Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico Title: Enteric methane emissions in crossbred heifers fed a basal ration of low-quality tropical grass supplemented with different nitrogen sources Abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess enteric methane (CH4) emissions by crossbred heifers fed a basal ration of low-quality tropical grass supplemented with different nitrogen sources. Four crossbred heifers (Bos taurus × Bos indicus) with an average live weight (LW) of 355 ± 6.01 kg were used in a 4 × 4 crossover Latin square design with four periods of fifteen days each. Basal ration was chopped low-quality tropical grass Pennisetum purpureum fed to cover ~70% of metabolizable energy requirements for maintenance of heifers and it was supplemented with either poultry litter (control ration, T1), urea (T2), canola meal (T3) or soybean meal (T4). Enteric CH4 emissions of heifers were measured in open-circuit respiration chambers for 23 hours. Dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) intakes decreased when feeding urea (1.6% of ration) as a source of nitrogen (7.64, 3.78, and 1.83 kg/d, respectively). Rations including urea (T2) or canola meal (T3) given to heifers fed a basal ration of low-quality Pennisetum purpureum grass significantly reduced acetic acid concentration and increased propionic acid concentration in the rumen and decreased the loss of gross energy as methane (P = 0.004). Incorporation of urea or canola meal in the ration of cattle fed low-quality tropical grass can decrease methane emissions and improve rumen fermentation patterns. Keywords: greenhouse gas, crude protein, heifers, rumen fermentation, digestibility Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 135-144 Volume: 65 Issue: 4 Year: 2020 DOI: 10.17221/256/2019-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/256/2019-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202004-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:65:y:2020:i:4:id:256-2019-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Xiaochun Xu Author-Name: Tingda Liu Author-Workplace-Name: Collaborative Innovation Center for Food Production and Safety, College of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, P.R. China Author-Name: Shanshan Fan Author-Workplace-Name: Collaborative Innovation Center for Food Production and Safety, College of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, P.R. China Author-Name: Wenping Ma Author-Workplace-Name: Collaborative Innovation Center for Food Production and Safety, College of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, P.R. China Author-Name: Wenjuan Chen Author-Workplace-Name: Collaborative Innovation Center for Food Production and Safety, College of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, P.R. China Author-Name: Xiu Zhang Title: Effects of fermented Caragana korshinskii on the intramuscular fat content and expression of FABP3, UBE3C, ADRB3, LIPE, and SCD in different muscles of Tan sheep Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of fermented Caragana korshinskii on the intramuscular fat content and varied expression of the intramuscular fat deposition-related genes FABP3, UBE3C, ADRB3, LIPE, and SCD among four muscle tissues (m. psoas, gluteus, quadriceps, and supraspinatus) of Tan sheep. Twenty-eight male animals of similar age (270 ± 10 days) and weight (24.6 ± 1.06 kg) were randomly divided into a control group (fed the basal diet) and an experimental group (fed the same diet except 10% of corn stalks were replaced with fermented C. korshinskii). Soxhlet petroleum-ether extraction and quantitative real-time PCR were applied to evaluate the fat content and gene expression in tissues, respectively. We observed a significant improvement (P < 0.05) in the intramuscular fat contents in the m. gluteus and supraspinatus of treated sheep compared to those of non treated sheep. The FABP3 mRNA level was markedly higher (P < 0.05) in the m. quadriceps and supraspinatus of treated sheep than in the control sheep. UBE3C mRNA levels were significantly decreased in the m. gluteus, quadriceps, and supraspinatus (P < 0.05) of treated sheep compared with those of the control sheep. ADRB3 mRNA levels were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the m. psoas, gluteus, and supraspinatus of sheep fed fermented C. korshinskii than in the control group, whereas LIPE mRNA levels were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in the m. gluteus and quadriceps of sheep fed fermented C. korshinskii. The SCD mRNA levels in m. psoas, quadriceps, and supraspinatus of sheep fed fermented C. korshinskii were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). Our results indicated that fermented C. korshinskii could partially replace the roughage used in Tan sheep feed, and its substitution affected the intramuscular fat content and altered the expression of intramuscular fat deposition-related genes. The present study lays a solid foundation for further exploring the utilization of C. korshinskii in ruminant husbandry. Keywords: obesity, mRNA, tissue varieties, Ovis Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 145-152 Volume: 65 Issue: 4 Year: 2020 DOI: 10.17221/231/2019-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/231/2019-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202004-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:65:y:2020:i:4:id:231-2019-CJAS