Mechanical and hand catching of broilers were performed to determine if differences existed in breast meat quality among catching methods. Meat quality results were summarized using a two-prong approach to investigate if average differences existed in meat quality through the determination of ultimate pH, rapid pH decline, color, water holding capacity, and tenderness within each treatment and by pinpointing individual quality problems within treatments. Two trials were conducted and revealed greater variation in meat quality during summer in comparison to winter within treatments in both catching methods. In winter, there was a lower incidence (p<0.05) of paleness in birds that were crated for 2h prior to euthanasia in comparison to birds immediately euthanized after catching within both hand and machine catching methods. Mechanical catching and crating for 2 hours was conducive to slightly better quality meat than hand catching in respect to averages and individual quality problems.

This diploma thesis is focused on invertebrates' survival and activity during winter; and on methods of their capture. The first part of the theoretical section describes principles of cold hardiness, strategies of winter survival and activity in snow environment. Furthermore, different methods of invertebrates capturing are presented. The practical part of the thesis is focused on the verification of selected invertebrates capturing methods during winter. The results summarize the differences in the diversity and quantity of animals caught; and provide an overview and characteristics of selected captured taxa. Suggestions for a snow fauna excursion and a practical exercise focused on capturing invertebrates during winter are proposed based on the results of the study. KEYWORDS cold hardiness, winter survival, winter activity, snow fauna, invertebrate animals, catching methods, pitfall traps