Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Joanna Rosenberger Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Breeding, Division of Poultry Breeding, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland Author-Name: Łukasz Pawelec Author-Workplace-Name: Division of Anthropology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland Author-Name: Regina Grugel Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Breeding, Division of Poultry Breeding, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland Title: The impact of domestication process on eggshell microstructure in Gallus gallus, Anser anser and Anas platyrhynchos Abstract: The domestication process has had a substantial and varied impact on animals in terms of anatomy, physiology, and behaviour. Poultry species are particularly important for humans, with the most significant being chickens, geese, and ducks. However, it is not well understood whether, or to what extent selection influences the eggshell structure compared to wild ancestors. In the present study, we compared eggshells from three species: Red junglefowl and its four domesticated forms: Green-legged partridge, Lohmann Brown, Ko-Shamo, meat type breeder (Cobb 500); Greylag goose, and two domesticated breeds: Bilgoraj goose and White Koluda goose, as well as Mallard duck and domesticated crossbred KhO-01. The analyses revealed significant differences in the eggshell structure both between species (P < 0.001) and between breeds (P < 0.001 for chickens and geese, and P = 0.039 for ducks). Domesticated forms tend to have fewer mammillary knobs per mm2 (P = 0.004), which were larger (P < 0.001) and they show the smaller coverage of the mammillary knobs (P < 0.001). Analyses showed significant correlations of the body mass and egg size with eggshell characteristics (P < 0.001). Considering that domesticated forms are usually larger, it cannot be conclusively determined whether changes in structure result from the domestication process itself or are physiologically linked to body mass and egg size. The relatively high similarity between the eggs of the wild ancestor and the Ko-Shamo breed, which exhibits substantial morphological changes but has a body mass similar to that of the Red junglefowl, supports this interpretation. Keywords: chicken, duck, egg, goose, SEM Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 30-40 Volume: 71 Issue: 1 Year: 2026 DOI: 10.17221/112/2024-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/112/2024-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202601-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:71:y:2026:i:1:id:112-2024-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Aneta Piplica Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Author-Name: Mato Čačić Author-Workplace-Name: Directorate for Livestock and Food Quality, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Zagreb, Croatia Author-Name: Anamaria Ekert Kabalin Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Author-Name: Maja Maurić Maljković Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Author-Name: Ivan Vlahek Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Author-Name: Velimir Sušić Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Author-Name: Sven Menčik Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Title: Population structure, genetic diversity, and reproductive efficiency in the autochthonous Busha cattle breed Abstract: Autochthonous cattle breeds represent important resources of genetic diversity. The Busha cattle breed is reared in the Balkan Peninsula and is characterised by high adaptability, resilience, longevity, small body size, and low maintenance and production requirements. During the 36-year observation period, the total population of the autochthonous Busha cattle breed in the Republic of Croatia amounted to 10 411 animals. Pedigree completeness for the total population, considering the first parental generation, was 97.1%. The average inbreeding coefficient was 2.44%, ranging from zero to 42.6%, while the average relatedness coefficient was 3.56% in the total population. The effective population size, calculated in the reference population based on the individual increase in inbreeding, was 63.3. The probabilities of gene origin in the reference population were fe - 38.0, fa - 33.0, and fg - 25.4, indicating a loss of genetic variability due to genetic drift (fg/fe - 0.66) and a bottleneck (fe/fa - 1.15). In the population of the autochthonous Busha cattle breed, the effective number of ancestors (fa) was smaller than the effective number of founders (fe). Increased relatedness among animals was observed, which could affect the long-term conservation of the population. Keywords: conservation, bovine, fertility traits, genetic variation, inbreeding, pedigree analysis Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 1-10 Volume: 71 Issue: 1 Year: 2026 DOI: 10.17221/138/2025-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/138/2025-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202601-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:71:y:2026:i:1:id:138-2025-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ludmila Zavadilová Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague - Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Eva Kašná Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague - Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Zuzana Krupová Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague - Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Miloslava Štípková Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague - Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Michaela Brzáková Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague - Uhříněves, Czech Republic Title: Genetic parameters for foot and claw disorders in Czech Holstein cattle Abstract: Our study investigated the genetic variability of specific foot and claw disorders, namely dermatitis digitalis, sole ulcer, and three broader categories (infectious diseases, claw horn lesions, and general claw disorder) in Czech Holstein cows. We also examined their genetic relationships with clinical mastitis and key fertility traits. Using both linear and threshold animal models, we concluded that heritability estimates for foot and claw disorders were consistently higher when employing the threshold model. A significant finding was the genetic correlation between sole ulcer and dermatitis digitalis, which ranged from 0.21 (calving to 305 days in milk) to 0.53 (calving to 90 days in milk). Furthermore, we observed stronger genetic correlations between clinical mastitis and overall foot and claw disorders, claw horn lesions, and infectious diseases during early lactation (calving to 90 days in milk) compared to the entire lactation period. Within this early lactation phase, the strongest genetic correlation was identified between clinical mastitis and claw horn lesions. Interestingly, our research uncovered a unique genetic link between days open and dermatitis digitalis, suggesting that a genetic predisposition to a higher occurrence of dermatitis digitalis may coincide with shorter days open. These results underscore the importance of implementing distinct genetic selection strategies for infectious claw diseases and claw horn lesions in dairy cows. This distinction is crucial due to their differing genetic correlations with other economically important traits, ultimately contributing to a better understanding of claw health genetics and its application in breeding programs. Keywords: claw health traits, clinical mastitis, dairy cow, fertility traits, genetic correlation Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 11-20 Volume: 71 Issue: 1 Year: 2026 DOI: 10.17221/140/2025-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/140/2025-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202601-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:71:y:2026:i:1:id:140-2025-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Matúš Gašparík Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Jaromír Ducháček Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Luděk Stádník Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Radim Codl Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Iveta Szencziová Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biology, Faculty of Education, J. Selye University in Komárno, Komárno, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Kateřina Cihlářová Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Nikola Marešová Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Title: The impact of pre-dry-off weather patterns on subsequent lactation udder health in dairy cows, and their comparison with milkability, milk quality and udder health parameters - A pilot study Abstract: Environmental conditions are known to influence the dairy cow health, with most research focusing on the detrimental effects of heat stress. However, the impact of non-summer weather patterns in temperate climates on udder health carry-over between lactations is not well understood. This pilot study evaluated the effect of various weather factors (temperature, humidity, precipitation, sunshine) during 1-day to 90-day periods before dry-off on udder health in the first month post-calving (represented by somatic cell count, conductivity, lactose, and mastitis incidence) in 199 Holstein cows in Central Europe. The scope of the experiment was limited to one farm and one year of observations. Moreover, we also evaluated milk quality, milkability, and udder health parameters during the same periods before dry-off on udder health after calving. We aimed to identify viable indicators across available automatically collected data from weather stations and milking parlour analysers. We found that the long-term (30- to 90-day) exposure to colder temperatures, high humidity, and low sunshine duration before dry-off was significantly associated with worse udder health after calving. In contrast, short-term weather conditions (1- to 7-day) had no significant effect. Monitored milk quality and udder health parameters showed a significant relation to udder health after calving during the immediate periods before dry-off, while milkability parameters were insignificant. If lactose was decreased or protein content, conductivity, and somatic cell count were elevated during the 1- and 7-day period before dry-off, cows after calving showed worse udder health. These findings identify prolonged cold and damp conditions as a significant environmental risk factor for poor udder health in the subsequent lactation, expanding our understanding beyond the conventional focus on heat stress. Keywords: climate, Holstein, humidity, mastitis, somatic cell count, temperature Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 21-29 Volume: 71 Issue: 1 Year: 2026 DOI: 10.17221/169/2025-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/169/2025-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202601-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:71:y:2026:i:1:id:169-2025-CJAS