ABSTRACT:The purpose of this study was to analyse the influence of different external air temperature on changes in the air temperature of housing environment in the farrowing house for sows and consequent changes in selected parameters of performance in purebred Landrace sows and gilts. Raw data were analysed for 236 litters. The litters were born from October 2004 to March 2006. Air temperature in the farrowing house was monitored in the sow's living zone and was closely related to changes in external air temperature (P < 0.01). At the optimal internal temperatures for lactating sows (16-22°C) during mild winter the lowest incidence of stillbirths (9.92%) was detected, whereas at high internal temperatures (above 28°C) the incidence of stillbirths was 11.32% (P < 0.01). The lowest average daily weight gain was recorded during mild winter (P < 0.05).

Tydlitát D., A. Vinkler, L. Czanderlová: Influence of Crude Protein Intake on the Duration of Delivery and Litter Size in Sows. Acta Vet. Brno 2008, 77: 25-30.The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of different intakes of crude protein during the period from 94 to 100 days of pregnancy to the parturition, lengths of pregnancy and delivery, number and birth weights of piglets and concentrations of progesterone, 17-β estradiol and cortisol on days 100, 110 and 114 of pregnancy in sows. Daily feed intake of the sow represented 2.5 kg of complete mixtures containing 13% (group A, n = 23), 15% (group B, n = 52), 18% (group C, n = 10) and 21% (group D, n = 10) of crude protein. Lengths of pregnancy in experimental groups were not significantly different. The mean durations of delivery synchronously increased with the intake of crude protein; significant difference was found between groups A (4.5 h) and D (8.6 h) (p < 0.05). Total numbers of piglets in experimental groups were not significantly different. Numbers of live piglets decreased and numbers of stillborn piglets increased from groups A to D. Significant difference was found between numbers of stillborn piglets in group A compared to groups C, D; and group B compared to groups D, C (p < 0.05). The average birth weights of piglets did not differ between experimental groups. No statistical differences in hormone concentrations were found between experimental groups. High intake of crude protein in sows before parturition prolonged delivery and increased the number of stillborn piglets. , parturition, piglets, progesterone, 17-β oestradiol, cortisol Nutrition represents an important factor influencing reproduction in pigs. The amount of energy provided to the sow during pregnancy should be sufficient to cover the basic needs of the organism and demands of foetuses as well as mammary gland development. Thus, the metabolic requirements vary depending on the stage of pregnancy. Nutritional needs increase especially in the last third of pregnancy when the foetuses grow rapidly. The difference in the energy needs in the early and late gestation is about 3 to 12% of the maternal energy intake. The requirement of protein ranges from 7 to 41% of the maternal dietary protein intake (Noblet et al. 1985). For this reason it is desirable to increase the nutrient intake by 10% in sows and about 15% in gilts in the last month of pregnancy (Pond 1973). Greenhalgh et al. (1977) recommend the daily intake of 1.9 kg of mixture containing 9% of protein until day 80 of pregnancy and then to increase the content of protein to 12%. Because of the physiological course of delivery, however, it is important to prevent overfeeding in the last 5 -10 days of pregnancy and it is common practice to rapidly decrease the nutrient intake 24 -36 h before farrowing. On the other hand, sows are able to mobilize their body deposits in order to ensure survival of foetuses in case of insufficient intake of proteins during pregnancy (Pond et al. 1969;Pond 1973). However, inadequat...

Thirty fresh ejaculates from 15 dogs were cryopreserved in Tris-fructose-citric acid-egg-yolk extender with a glycerol content of 6%. Semen samples were examined by the methods of routine sperm analysis and by the SQA IIc device. The routine semen examination focused on the evaluation of parameters determining the quality of sperm membranes. The significance of monitoring semen quality in the course of the short-term survival test for predicting dog semen quality after thawing was assessed. Relevance of the assessment of sperm morphology, and above all the percentage of sperm with membrane changes in the acrosomal region was documented. The fact that the SQA device analyses semen quality by evaluating the mass of moving cells was confirmed. The results provided by the SQA IIc device appear insufficient for the needs of deeper dog semen analysis, especially morphology assessment. Dog, sperm analysis, morphological assessment, Sperm Quality Analyser (SQA)The testicles of breeding males are marked by their high cell production, accompanied by the natural production of insufficiently high-quality cells. A series of factors in the internal and external environment influence the production of this cell population. The proportion of abnormal cells in semen is linked to its fertilisation capacity. Morphological abnormalities of sperm in different animal species have been evaluated in connection with declines in fertility by a number of authors (Hancock 1959;Held et al. 1991; Oettlé 1993) . The limit values for the occurrence of morphologically abnormal sperm in semen have been established according to convention in different species of livestock, or in the human being, and are variable. Johnston et al. (2001) and Stockner and Bardwick (1991) set the percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm in normal dog ejaculate at below 20%. Threlfall (2003) considers acceptable a semen sample containing more than 70% morphologically normal sperm. VûÏník et al. (2003) agreed with this value, with the proviso that primary defects in the ejaculate should not exceed 10%. According to Oettlé (1993) the fertility of fresh dog semen is markedly reduced when the percentage of morphologically abnormal cells in the semen is higher than 40%. For semen samples with a morphologically abnormal sperm below 40% the author obtained a pregnancy rate of 61%; when morphological defects exceeded 40%, this rate fell to 13%. Cryopreservation intervention reduces dog ejaculate quality and thus also the fertilisation success rate (Johnston et al. 2001). Feldman andNelson (1987) consider fresh dog semen containing more than 70% of normal sperm and less than 20% of sperm with primary defects suitable for cryopreservation.It is essential for the AI doses that donor semen quality is good because fertility of frozen dog semen, in additon to other factors, is associated with the quality of the fresh ejaculate

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different glycerol concentrations on stallion sperm motility after thawing. For statistical analysis 228 ejaculates were used. The semen was filtrated to remove gel fraction; macroscopic and microscopic evaluation was done. After evaluation the ejaculates were centrifuged, the supernatant was removed and the spermatozoa were re-suspended in French diluent with different concentrations of glycerol (2.0; 2.5; 4.0 and 6.0%). The choice of concentration of glycerol for a particular ejaculate was completely random. The spermatozoa were packed into 0.5 ml straws and placed for 2 h in a fridge (4 °C). Then the straws were placed in liquid nitrogen vapor (-80 to -100 °C) and after 10 min plunged into liquid nitrogen and stored at -196 °C for at least 48 h. The selected straws were individually thawed in a 38 °C water bath for 30 s prior to post-freezing analysis. Two progressive motilities using phase contrast microscopy (magnification × 400) were recorded: motility II immediately after thawing and motility III after 2 h incubation in a 38 °C water bath. The Spearmen/Kendall rang correlation test was selected to prove whether there is a correlation between the selected indices (glycerol concentration and motility II and motility III). Nonparametric multiple group analysis (Steel-Dwass test) was applied for finding the differences between groups. The Spearman/Kendall rang correlation proved a relationship between motility II and glycerol concentration. It can be stated that in this study the best glycerol concentration for freezing equine spermatozoa is with a concentration of 4.0% glycerol.

Day 7 bovine embryos collected from superovulated cows were subjected to standard incision in the zona pellucida before subsequent in vitro culture for 72 h or direct transfer. The aim of this simple microsurgical treatment of fresh or frozen-thawed embryos of different quality was to facilitate the process of hatching. Non-treated embryos were used as controls.Culture of zona-slit fresh grade 1 embryos yielded a higher hatched blastocyst percentage than culture of non-treated controls [67.5% (54/80) The simple zona pellucida slitting procedure before in vitro embryo culture increased the survival rate in both fresh and frozen-thawed embryos. The effect was more pronounced in frozenthawed grade 1 and in fresh grade 2 and 3 embryos. Fresh and frozen embryos, zona slitting, zona cutting, zona pellucida microsurgeryA part of bovine embryos is known not to survive after embryo transfer (Betteridge and Smith 1988). This failure significantly influences the implantation rate as well as the embryo transfer efficacy in general. The loss depends primary on the quality of embryos, which can be secondarily influenced by manipulation in vitro and/or by the environment in the recipient uterus. Approximately 20 -40% of the embryos fail to survive and this percentage increases with the decrease of the morphological quality. A similar situation was observed after the transfer of frozen-thawed embryos, where cryopreservation caused damage to some cells resulting in lower quality and viability of embryos. Cryopreservation can also affect the properties of the zona pellucida (ZP) which probably becomes more resistant to natural hatching .Results of in vitro fertilization in humans Obruca 1994;Brothers et al. 1995;Menezo and Janny 1995) and laboratory animals (Gordon and Dapunt 1993;Cohen et al. 1994) indicate that blastocyst hatching may depend of the physical properties of the zona pellucida. The phenomenon called zona hardening