Martin Ptáček

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague | CULS · Department of Animal Science

The aim of this study was to propose and verify a scoring system for the evaluation of udder susceptibility to mastitis, which combined five influential teat traits into one overall score for the udder. The traits included barrel diameter, apex diameter, canal length, the change in wall thickness, and the change in apex diameter. Teat morphology of...

We aimed to test the common belief, that as the sperm cell is the smallest cell in an organism and, therefore, it contains a small amount of intracellular water, the intracellular ice should not strongly affect the sperm cell during the cryopreservation. To investigate the effect of intracellular ice, we developed a novel approach of ram spermatozo...

The work aimed to evaluate the growth ability of Czech Fleckvieh bulls in the conditions of modern stable based on their breeding lines. A total of 94 bulls were included in the experiment. The growth curve, weight at standardized ages, and weight gain were evaluated. The average weight of fattened bulls ranged from 109.43 kg at the age of 90 days...

In contrast to the livestock industry, sperm cryopreservation has not yet been successfully established in the poultry industry. This is because poultry sperm cells have a unique shape and membrane fluidity, differing from those of livestock sperm. The objective of this review is to discuss the cellular and molecular characteristics of rooster sper...

Spermatozoa cryoconservation represents an important strategy for partial in vitro or rescue programs designed for threatened livestock populations. The procedure for the semen cryopreservation of the Czech Golden Spotted Hen was proposed due to the lower fertilization rate of poultry semen compared to mammalian species. The aim of this study was t...

The aim of this study was to optimize the laparoscopic intrauterine insemination (LAI) methodology by testing different time intervals between the natural heat detection and ewe insemination. Three experiments were performed in the breeding conditions of Southern Kazakhstan. Ewes (n = 243) were exposed for one hour to direct contact with the teaser...

The aim of this study was to monitor milkability traits of Jersey cows over the course of lactation, and to investigate how milkability characteristics affected milking induced teat prolongation (MITP; %). For the purpose of the experiment, milkability parameters and teat length of 43 Jersey cows were monitored throughout the lactation. The effects...

Simple Summary: Response of live weight, body-condition score (BCS) depth of musculus longissi-mus thoracis et lumborum (MLTL) and back-fat thickness after infections with Eimeria sp. (EIM) and strongylid nematodes (STR) was investigated in a selected flock of dairy goats throughout the lac-tation period. Regression-correlation analysis demonstrate...

Background. In terms of animal management, the measurement of body weight (BW) is important in the design of nutrition and health programs. Objective. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between body volume (BV) and BW in Pelibuey ewe lambs and ewes. Methodology. For the model development, the BW and body volume (BV)...

p> Background. In terms of animal management, the measurement of body weight (BW) is important in the design of nutrition and health programs. Objective. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between body volume (BV) and BW in Pelibuey ewe lambs and ewes. Methodology. For the model development, the BW and body volume (...

The objective of this study was to estimate lamb birth weight based on body dimensions. We monitored 101 lambs (61 Charollais lambs, 27 Kent lambs, and 13 their crossbreds) at a selected commercial flock. Birth weight, chest circumference (CC), head circumference (HC), and shin circumference (SC) were measured immediately after birth using a tape m...

The aim of this study was to monitor the Czech Aberdeen Angus population for backfat thickness (BT), musculuslongissimus lumborum et thoracis (MUSCLE) and live weight (LW) in relation to environmental and genetic conditions. In this study, we also wanted to display the potential for future inclusion of these parameters into national monitoring. Par...

The aim of the present study was to optimize the conventional method of sperm freezing in liquid nitrogen (LN2) vapor for successful cryopreservation of Wallachian ram sperm, the genetic resources of the Czech Republic. Sperm in straws were frozen using the conventional freezing method via a static exposition of sperm doses to LN2 vapor, or by four...

The objective of the present study was to determine the needs of milk intake (MI) and their components (i.e., lactose, fat, protein, and energy) to increase the average daily gain (ADG) of Pelibuey lambs during the pre-weaning period. Data of 62 lambs were used (35 males and 27 females; 32 of single lambing and 30 twins). All lambs were housed in i...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of udder measurements for prediction of milk yield, milk components and somatic cell count in non-dairy Wallachian sheep. The study was performed on 38 ewes in the Beskids Mountains kept under extensive management on pasture. Milk production (MILK) as well as samples for milk component and somatic...

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of birth weight on the survival of Charollais, Kent and their crossbreds in breeding and also on their meat performance for Charollais and Kent lambs. Data were evaluated for the six years period in the commercial flock. The total number of lambs used for evaluation was 1,197. The data were passed thr...

The objectives of this study were to detect the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and body condition score (BCS) in Pelibuey ewes to predict BMI based on well-known BCS estimation. The body weight (BW), withers height, (WH), body length (BL) and BCS were determined in 402 ewes. The BMI was calculated as: BMI = (BW (kg)/WH (m)/ BL (m))/10....

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of negative energy balance on fatty acids proportion in the milk of Czech Fleckvieh cows after calving. Milk quality was determined based on fatty acid group proportion. Milk quality was evaluated in relation to selected negative energy balance (NEB) traits: body condition change (DEC) and m...

Rumination time is one of possible parameters for observing not only feed management and health status, but also some reproductive characteristics such as heat or periparturient period. The evaluation of rumination time in this study was done on Holstein dairy cows in period around heat (n = 297) and around parturition (n = 322) during one year. SA...

This study determined effects of milk production, milk components, or fatty acids (FA) profile on live weight of suckling lambs till their weaning. Live weight (LW, kg) of 42 purebred Wallachian lambs (from 33 ewes) was recorded during four control days with approximately 30-day intervals during rearing. At the same time, their mothers were examine...

The impact of different amounts of concentrate and stage of lactation on fatty acid profile in milk fat was measured in 30 lactating Nubian goats. The ration included medium-quality hay, grazed pasture and concentrate feed (mashed barley, oats and beet pulp at 1:1:1 wet weight ratios). Half of the goats (group A) received 1.2 kg whereas group B rec...

The aim of this work was to evaluate growth potential of Blue‑Grey cattle in Czech conditions as the compare its growth traits to initial population. Suitability of specific conditions was evaluated based on growth ability and daily weight gains (DWG). Tested breeds included Shorthorn, Galloway and their crossbred variation called Blue‑Grey cattle....

We are entering an exciting epoch in livestock biotechnology during which the fundamental approaches (such as transgenesis, spermatozoa cryopreservation and artificial insemination) will be enhanced based on the modern understanding of the biology of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) combined with the outstanding recent advances in genomic editing t...

Kinematic parameters of thawed ram semen frozen under field conditions were analysed with the use of two commercial (egg yolk vs egg yolk free) semen extenders in different year-seasonal periods. The semen was collected from Suffolk (n = 2) and Charollais (n = 1) rams kept in private breeding farm on 3 test days (pre-mating, at mating, post mating)...

In this Research Communication we evaluate the fatty acid (FA) profile of Wallachian sheep milk. The study was performed on 38 ewes in Beskydy Mountains. Samples were collected 4 times during the lactation, at monthly intervals. FA profile as well as groups of saturated, monounsaturated (MUFA), and polyunsaturated (PUFA) FAs were investigated. Cons...

Measurement of electrical conductivity (EC) is a method frequently used in dairy cows during milking in milking parlours, but especially in robotic milking as a low-cost mastitis detection method. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between somatic cell count (SCC) and EC of milk in sheep reared in Slovakia as factors for monitor...

The objective of the study was to identify the impact of selection on genetic resistance against scrapie disease related to lamb growth performance attributes for Suffolk, Kent, Charollais, and Texel lambs.The allelic genotypes were grouped according to the presence of scrapie resistant allele ( ARR ): ARR homozygotes, ARR heterozygotes, no presenc...

The aim of this study was to evaluate growth ability (weight, daily weight gains) and selected carcass characteristics during fattening period of Wagyu × Aberdeen Angus crossbred steers (F1). A total of 72 animals were evaluated over a period of 4 years. The observed animals were monitored from rearing (8 months) to slaughter (30 months). Statistic...

A variety of pathogenic contaminants might be isolated from semen, processed for artificial insemination (AI) programs: prions, viruses, bacteria, yeasts or protozoa. This review will discuss the broad scale of pathogens detected in processed ram semen. Reviewed findings will be confronted with the latest knowledge related to semen contamination in...

Lamb growth performance traits in relation to parental breeding values (BVs) for these traits were evaluated in a purebred Suffolk sheep population in the Czech Republic. The research lasted over 8 years and included 24 886 lambs. Four relevant parental BVs were observed: BV predicted for lamb live weight direct effect (BVLW-DE), BV predicted for l...

This study concerned evaluating of body mass index (BMI) as a nutritional status characteristic and trying to detect its influence on milk or meat production in original Wallachian sheep. Multivariate analysis of these relationships was performed by principal component analysis. GLM procedure was used to determine linear regressions between BMI and...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of udder and legs formation on longevity traits (average lactation at culling, lifelong production) and milk production (maximum amount of milk per lactation, fat content in % and kg, protein content in % and kg) in Czech Fleckvieh, Montbeliarde and their crossbreds. Total 2725 culled Czech Fleckv...

The objective of the study was to evaluate interaction effect of genotype and dam’s litter size on selected productive traits of origin Czech sheep breeds. The data was provided by the Union of Sheep and Goat Breeders in the Czech Republic and contained the whole active purebred population of Wallachian and Sumava sheep in the Czech Republic in 201...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of different thawing methods on bull’s semen characteristics. The semen was collected and processed from 8 bulls (Holstein, n = 4; Czech Fleckvieh, n = 4) kept in private Sire insemination Centre. Four different thawing methods were tested: control thawing methods (temperature = 38.5 °C, time = 30...

Ptáček M., Ducháček J., Stádník L., Fantová M. (2017): Effects of age and nutritional status at mating on the reproductive and productive traits in Suffolk sheep kept under permanent outdoor management system. Czech J. Anim. Sci., 62, 211–218. This study examined the variability of reproductive and productive traits in Suffolk sheep (a commercial f...

The aim of this study was to describe the relationships among lambs' birth weight, survivability traits, growth performance, and selected factors in Suffolk lambs kept under a specified extensive management system. Data were collected regarding 1012 Suffolk lambs born during a 3-year period (2012–2014) in one flock. Statistical analyses were conduc...

The aim of this study was to evaluate influence of climatic conditions represented by daily air temperature and relative air humidity on indicators of Holstein cows’ milk quality and production. The first dataset represented individual milk production in day of milk performance recording (milk kg, fat %, protein %, and somatic cells count thous.*ml...

The aim of this work was to evaluate the basic body measurements (stick height at withers - KVH, tape height at withers - KVP, chest perimeter - OHR, shin perimeter - OHOL) from data available from the 40th years of the 20th century in the Bohemian-Moravian Belgian horse, Silesian Noriker and Noriker breeds. The evaluation included a total of 1,080...

The trial was performed on 12 Texel lambs (6 males and 6 females) in selected flock. The lambs were slaughtered at the age of 180 days and samples of musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis (MLLT) and musculus quadriceps femoris (QFM) were collected. The histochemical traits of fiber cross sectional area, diameter and perimeter were monitored. Su...

The objective of work was to evaluate effect of breed on basic physical characteristics of sheep leather. A total of 12 leathers of purebred Texel (n = 6) and Charollais (n = 6) lambs were included in the trial. The basic indicators of the physical analysis of leather quality: leather thickness (LT, mm), tensile strength endwise (TSE, N/mm2) and ac...

The aim of this study was to evaluate growth ability of Charolais calves in different systems of farming. The observations were performed in period of 8 years (2007 - 2014) in one herd, which was transiting from conventional to ecological farming system. Period from 2007 to 2010 was of conventional character, 2010 to 2012 transition phase, and from...

Histochemical characteristics of muscle were evaluated in 12 German Heath lambs (6 males and 6 females). The lambs were slaughtered at the age of 150 days and samples of musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis and quadriceps femoris were collected and measurements of fibre cross sectional area (μm2), diameter (μm2), and perimeter (μm2) were perfo...

The objective of this study was to evaluate effect of breed on selected quantitative and qualitative sperm traits at time of semen collection of 46 bulls – Holstein (H, n = 17), Czech Fleckvieh (C, n = 13), Aberdeen Angus (AA, n = 4), Belgian Blue (BB, n = 4), Limousine (LI, n = 4), and Simmental (SI, n = 4) bred from 1999 to 2014. The bulls were s...

The English Thoroughbred is one of the most widespread breeds of horses. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of mare age on the length of foaling interval (FI) as an important reproductive characteristic. The data included a total of 1548 records from 740 English Thoroughbred mares bred in the Czech Republic during 11 years’ period (20...

Primary selection of animals to reproduction is based on growth performance assessed in 100 days of age. The aim was to evaluate the ewe lambs’ reproductive traits from 7 to 24 months of age related to live weight at this age. The primary data was provided by the Sheep and Goat Breeders Association of the Czech Republic. Total number of 772 Suffolk...

The aim of study was to determine relations among ewe’s live weight (LW, kg), body condition (BCS) or backfat thickness (BT, mm) at mating, and lambing rate (LR, %), litter size (LS, lambs) or total litter weight at birth (TLWB, kg) by correlation analysis. The number of 608 Suffolk ewes bred in 4 flocks was observed during a 2 year period. Ewes we...

The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of relative humidity (HUM, %), temperature (TEMP, °C) and atmospheric air pressure (AAP, hPa) in the day of the semen collection on volume (VOL, ml), density (DEN, spermatozoa per mm3), and progressive linear motility (MOT, %) of bull ejaculates. A total of 640 ejaculates from 4 different Holstein bulls...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between milk fatty acid group contents and subsequent reproductive performance in Holstein cows. A total of 27 cows in 1st to 4th lactation were included in the evaluation. These cows were divided to primiparous and multiparous groups within the statistic evaluation. The data were processed an...

The selected factors influenced growth ability of Aberdeen Angus cattle The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of sex of calves, year of calving, cows’ parity and sire effect on growth ability to weaning. The evaluation of growth indicators of Aberdeen Angus cattle was performed in the period of 4 years (2010 to 2013) in 2 different farms. A...

The monitoring was performed in one year period in selected population of Suffolk sheep (SF, n = 257) and their crossbreds with Merinolandschaf (SF × ML, n = 87). Total of 627 lambs (SF, n = 463; SF × ML, n = 164) were observed in breeding conditions of two semi-extensive flocks. Lambs' live weight at 100 days of age (LW100); musculus longissimus l...

Increase of milk yield after calving causes changes in milk fatty acids (FA) composition and simultaneously corresponds with reproduction performance decrease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationships between milk FA group composition (SFA, saturated fatty acids; MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acids; and PUFA, polyunsaturated fatt...

The aim of this study was to evaluate in detail the relationship between the basic milk components (fat and protein percentage) and the free fatty acids (FFA) content, as indicators of spontaneous and/or induced lipolysis. The additional aim of the study was to compare the FFA content of milk with respect to spontaneous and induced lipolysis. Milki...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of two different types of milking systems (conventional parlour vs. automatic milking system) and the season of the year on the composition and hygienic quality of milk from Czech Fleckvieh cows. A total of 500 cows were involved; 200 and 300 in conventional and automatic milking systems, resp...

The objective of work was to evaluate relationships among ewes' live weight and backfat thickness at mating and level of their fertility and production performance. the monitoring was carried out in meat type Suffolk sheep (n = 286) and their Merinolandschaf and Kent crossbreeds (n = 124) bred on five extensive farms in the period of one year. The...

Most important indicators of reproduction in dairy cows are represented by calving interval (CI), service period (SP), insemination interval (IN) and insemination index (II). These indicators are influenced by the effects of breed, parity and body condition score (BCS) changes after calving. A total of 160 cows (56 on 1st, 43 on 2nd and 61 on 3rd l...

Body tissue development and proportion affect predisposition to optimum functioning of production attributes, health, and fertility of sheep. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine relationships among indicators of mature ewes' nutritional status documented by the body condition score and live weight using ultrasonic evaluation of...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the proportion of fatty acid groups, with an emphasis on hypercholesterolemic fatty acids, in the milk of 25 Holstein cows during the 1st period of lactation in relation to their negative energy balance (NEB). Sampling of each cow’s milk started the 7th day after calving. Milk samples (n=425) were collect...

The aim of this work was to analyze the growth abilities of bull and heifer calves (n = 190) of the Charolais breed calved in one herd from 2006 to 2011. The evaluation was carried out during the period of calf raising, focusing to the effects of sex, parity and the mating method on live birth weight (BLW) and the live weight at 120(LW120), 210 (LW...

The objective of this study was to determine and evaluate the effect of parity on the fatty acids groups' proportion in Holstein cows' milk during the first phase of lactations, with an emphasis on its potential importance for consumer health. A total of 25 Holstein cows, 9 primiparous, 9 in the 2 nd , and 7 in the 3 rd and subsequent parity, were...

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of lambing year, month of lambing, sex of lamb, sire effect, dam's age effect, and effect of litter size on the indicators of meat production of Charollais and Kent breeds. The evaluation was conducted between the years 2009-2011, when 591 of Charollais and Kent lambs were monitored. The lambi...

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of year and month of lambing, breed, sire effect, effect of gender and litter size on selected meat utility attributes. The evaluation proceeded for a period of 5 years (2005–2009), when 138 ram-lambs and 148 ewe-lambs of Suffolk (n = 125) and Charollais (n = 161) breeds were monitored. Process...

The aim of this study was statistical evaluation of the development of citric acid content (KC) and the numbers of somatic cells (SC) in milk of 27 cows of Holstein breed in the first four months of lactation. Model with the effects of milk components, body condition score (BCS), the order of lactation, milk yield in the day of milk collection, reg...

The objective of this work was to determine the effect of lambing year, sire effect, parity of ewes' lambing (PL) and gender on selected indicators of meat production and fertility in a Texel sheep herd. The evaluation proceeded for a period of 5 years, when 356 ewe - lambs and 321 Texel ram - lambs were monitored. Processing of the data set was do...