Czech Journal of Animal Science

ISSN 1212-1819 (Print)
ISSN 1805-9309 (On-line)

An international open access peer-reviewed journal published by the Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences and financed by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic.

Published since 1955 (by 1997 under the title Živočišná výroba)
The journal is administered by an international Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief: prof. Ing. Eva Tůmová, CSc.
Co-editors: Ing. Filip Jančík, Ph.D., prof. Ing. Milan Marounek, DrSc., prof. Ing. Tomáš Policar, Ph.D., prof. Ing. Luděk Stádník, Ph.D., prof. Ing. Antonín Stratil, DrSc., Ing. Ludmila Zavadilová, CSc.
Executive Editor: Bc. Michaela Polcarová
Technical Editor: Ing. Helena Smolová, Ph.D.
The journal is published monthly

Journal leaflet

Aims & Scope

The journal is focused on the farm animal management.

The journal publishes original scientific articles and critical reviews covering all areas of genetics and breeding, physiology, reproduction, nutrition and feeds, technology, ethology and economics of cattle, pig, sheep, goat, poultry, fish, bees, and other farm animal management. Papers are published in English.

Current issue

Colostrum quality in Northern Italy: The role of dry cow nutrition and colostrum feeding managementOriginal Paper

Martina Pavesi, Giulia Gislon, Serena Bonizzi, Stefania Colombini, Nicola Palladini, Maddalena Zucali

Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2025, 70(11):459-466 | DOI: 10.17221/104/2025-CJAS

This study investigated the effects of dry cow feeding on colostrum quality. A survey was conducted, and samples of colostrum and feed ingredients were collected from 25 dairy farms in Northern Italy. Colostrum was analysed for quality in terms of Brix value and gamma globulins, while diets and feed ingredients were analysed for their chemical constituents. The mean colostrum quality (n = 163) was 24.3 ± 4.41% Brix and 54.2 ± 20.8 g/l gamma globulin. The refractometer method effectively assessed colostrum quality, correlating accurately with laboratory gamma globulin measurements (R = 0.729). Factor analysis indicated...

Lactoferrin content determined in bovine milk by HPLC and mid-infrared spectrometry – Relation to udder health and potential for detection of milk adulterationOriginal Paper

Hana Nejeschlebová, Oto Hanuš, Klára Bartáková, Craig Parsons, Eva Samková, Lenka Vorlová, Gavin Thompson, Lucie Hasoňová, Roman Konečný, Pavlína Navrátilová, Marcela Klimešová

Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2025, 70(11):467-479 | DOI: 10.17221/114/2025-CJAS

Lactoferrin (LF) is a multifunctional glycoprotein linked to udder health in dairy cows. This study aimed to develop a calibration model for LF quantification using mid-infrared spectrometry (MIR-FT), with ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as the reference method. Two sets of individual milk samples (A: n = 120; B: n = 91) were collected from five dairy farms in the Czech Republic. Set A included a higher proportion of samples with somatic cell count (SCC) above 300 000 cells/ml to ensure broad LF variability. After merging both sets and removing six outliers, a final calibration set C (n =...

Effects of silymarin supplementation during late gestation on reproductive performance, haematological parameters, antioxidant status, and gut microbiota in sowsOriginal Paper

Guanglei Cong, Chunxue Liu, Shuangshuang Xia, Junbo Li, Ifen Hung

Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2025, 70(11):480-488

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of silymarin supplementation during late gestation on reproductive performance, haematological parameters, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota composition in sows. Twenty parity-4 crossbred sows (Landrace × Yorkshire) were enrolled and randomly allocated in parity blocks to either a control group (CG; n = 10, basal diet) or a silymarin-supplemented group (SIL; n = 10, basal diet + 200 mg/kg silymarin). The experimental period extended from day 85 of gestation to the completion of farrowing. The results demonstrated that dietary silymarin significantly reduced the number of stillbirths...

Sperm quality improvement of cryopreserved boar semen through colloidal centrifugation gradientOriginal Paper

Francisco Sevilla, Ignacio Araya-Zúñiga, Patricia Cervantes-Acosta, Antonio Hernández-Beltrán, Manuel Barrientos, Belisario Domínguez, Anthony Valverde

Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2025, 70(11):489-497 | DOI: 10.17221/103/2025-CJAS

Boar semen cryopreservation is limited due to the lower thermal shock resistance of sperm cells. A colloidal centrifugation gradient is an enhancement to cryopreservation that could improve the frozen boar semen quality. Cryopreserved boar semen quality was evaluated using a commercial colloidal centrifugation gradient. A total of 15 ejaculates from 5 boars were evaluated across two treatments: a control without colloidal centrifugation and a treatment with commercial colloidal centrifugation. A manual freezing method used two freezing curves in liquid nitrogen. Sperm motility was assessed by Computer-Assisted Semen Analysis, as well as sperm...