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A fi ve-week-long experiment was performed on 960 one-day-old Cobb 500 cockerels divided randomly into ten experimental groups of 12 cages (replicates) of 8 birds each. The objective of the experiment was to estimate the effect of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) derived from various cereals and addition of microbial enzyme preparations on growth performance, ileal viscosity, liver weight and concentration of short-chain fatty acids in broiler chicken caeca. Barley and oats, hulless barley, naked oats, and rye constituted the majority of diets. Diets were non-supplemented or supplemented with a commercial enzyme preparation. Enzyme preparations signifi cantly improved feed conversion ratio and body weight gains (P<0.05) only in groups fed diets based on naked oats and rye. In all groups, enzyme supplementation decreased intestinal viscosity and increased the concentration of acetate and total short-chain fatty acids in caecal digesta with the exception of the group fed the diet with naked oats.The results indicate that not total dietary fi bre content, but the type of dietary NSP, as well as microbial enzyme supplementation, may infl uence the intestinal viscosity and performance of broiler chickens.

Birdwatching is a very popular and increasing leisure activity, and the study and observation of birds is more popular in the morning due to the greater activity among birds at that time of day. The aim of our study was to find out whether there was a relationship between the circadian preference of observers and their favourite bird species and whether it was influenced by such factors as professional status, age and gender. In an e-mail survey we asked a total of 433 Polish ornithologists (professionals) or birdwatchers (non-professionals) for their morningness–eveningness preferences (four categories) and favourite (open choice) bird species and received 143 responses. The temporal (circadian) preferences of respondents declined from early morning (35.7%) to evening/nighttime (11.4%). Circadian preference categories differed significantly by age, with early morning respondents significantly older. These preference categories did not differ significantly in terms of response time to the survey invitation or in the percentage of their favourite birds that were categorised as daytime birds. A total of 204 species were identified as favourite birds of which 34 species were mentioned by five or more respondents, with only two, the common crane Grus grus and the Eurasian pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum mentioned by more than 10% of respondents. The white stork Ciconia ciconia was more popular with professionals than non-professionals and the swift Apus apus less popular. A significant gender × circadian preference interaction was detected for the percentage of favourite birds categorised as daytime birds, with fewer daytime birds among early morning female recorders. The presented results are obviously of a correlative nature, but open the door for further, more advanced study and suggest there may be a need to investigate temporal biases when analysing citizen-based data.

No abstract

Increases in the wild boar Sus scrofa population create many conflicts that must be managed, especially because hunting represents a major cause of mortality in this game species. However, hunting effort is not distributed randomly and is influenced by many factors, including hunting methods. This can be especially important in understanding the nature of hunting pressure for both theoretical (ecological and evolutionary) and applied reasons (for management purposes, especially during infectious diseases, for example, African swine fever, outbreaks). We analyzed hunting data from the survey area in Western Poland from the years 1965–2016. In this period a total of 2335 wild boar were culled using two hunting methods: by individual hunters (43.8%) and by teams of hunters (52.0%). During the study period, the number of wild boars increased significantly but in a non-linear manner. More adult males and yearlings of both sexes were shot during individual hunts; more adult females were culled during team hunting. Moreover, the body mass of culled wild boars was positively influenced by the distance to a forest and during the team hunts heavier females and males were shot. To effectively control populations of wild boars, programs to reduce the number of individuals should be better planned and ensure the maintenance of proper age- and sex structure in the wild boar population.