• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.97-107
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• 2018

This study aimed to evaluate the dietary effect of organic sulfur (OS) supplementation on performance, egg quality and serum constituents in laying hens. A total of 360 Lohmann brown laying hens at the age of 31 weeks were distributed into four treatments having five replicates of 18 hens each until 54 weeks. The hens were fed four levels (0.0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4%) of OS with basal diet. The number of eggs was investigated daily, and egg quality was confirmed every 8 weeks. Sulfur content in eggs, interleukin 2 (IL-2), T help cells (CD4+) and cytotoxicity cells (CD8+) were measured at the termination of the experiment. The result of the study showed that egg production tended to increase with 0.4% OS in diet after 39 weeks of age and, there was a significant effect (P<0.05) from 47 to 54 weeks of age. Egg quality traits of albumen height and haugh unit increased significantly (P<0.05) owing to the addition of OS to the diet. The polyunsaturated fatty acids in yolk were gradually increased while saturated fatty acids were decreased with increasing levels in OS (P<0.05). Total sulfur concentration in the eggs increased significantly (P<0.05) in treatments fed OS. Moreover, albumin, AST and HDL cholesterol levels in serum improved significantly (P<0.05) owing to the addition of OS. The IL-2 concentration and the ratio of CD4+ and CD8+ in blood were generally higher (P<0.05) at 0.4% OS. Therefore, it can be recommended that supplementary OS diet affected the performance, egg quality and stimulated immune response in laying hens.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2018

This study was conducted to assess the effect of dietary addition of Germanium (Ge) on performance, egg quality, serum biochemical properties and yolk fatty acid composition in laying hens. At 74 weeks of age, a total of 360 Hy-line brown commercial layers were divided into four treatments with five replicates per treatment. Four dietary levels of Ge (0, 1, 2 and 4%) were added to the basal diets (ME: 2,750 kcal/kg, CP: 16%) and fed corresponding diet for a period of 12 weeks. The effects of these treatments on production performance and egg quality were measured three times at four week intervals, and at the end of the experiment, blood and egg yolk fatty acid were analyzed. The results showed that production performance parameters including egg production rate, feed intake, egg weight, egg mass and feed conversion ratio were non-significant, but dietary addition of 2% Ge tended to increase egg production rate. Eggshell strength was found to be significantly higher in Ge supplemented groups than in the control group (P<0.05), and eggshell thickness was also trended to be improved in Ge treated groups. In serum, triglyceride content was significantly greater (P<0.05), and the highest total cholesterol was found in hens of the control group as compared with that of the Ge supplemented groups. The yolk fatty acid composition including polyunsaturated fatty acid, unsaturated fatty acid and saturated fatty acid were not affected among the treatments but addition of 2 or 4% Ge in basal diet had significantly (P<0.05) increased monounsaturated fatty acid. Therefore, supplementation of Ge in laying hens diet has positive effects on egg quality and triglyceride in serum.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.279-286
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• 2019

Currently, feather-sexing, which is based on differences in feather development at hatching, is a widely used chick sexing method in the poultry industry. For effective chicken feather-sexing, paternal early-feathering (EF) chickens and maternal late-feathering (LF) chickens must be bred. Therefore, it is critical to identify the effect of EF and LF patterns on production traits in chickens. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the production performances between 522 EF and 232 LF chickens in order to establish the Korean native chicken feather-sexing lines. The results showed that the survival rate of the LF group was significantly higher than that of the EF group from hatching to 52 weeks of age (P<0.05). Body weight, however, was not significantly different between the two groups at all ages. LF and EF groups did not significantly differ in age at first egg laying. However, the hen-day and hen-housed egg production of the LF group were significantly higher than those of EF group (P<0.01). No significant differences were found between the EF and LF groups in all egg quality indicators such as egg weight, eggshell color, albumin height and Haugh unit. Because the breeding target of Korean native commercial chicken is meat-type chicken, feather-sexing strains of Korean native chicken should be established using weighing-based paternal EF lines and laying-based maternal LF lines. Therefore, these results are critical for establishing desirable and effective feather-sexing strains.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.251-258
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• 1997

Tachyzoite antigens of Toxoplosnc gondii (RH) were partially purified by immunoaffinity chromatography. The cultivated ToxopLusmc in uiuo (mouse) and in nitro (Hep-2 cell) and peritoneal fluid of T. Bondii infected mice were collected for antigen analy- sis. Tachyzoite antigens collected from infected mouse showed positive bands of 76 kDa, 70 kDa,64 kDa, 53 kDa, 46 kDa, 44 kDa, 41 kDa, 35 kDa, 25 kDa, 18 kDa, and 13 kDa on immunoblot with anti-Toxoplcsmn rabbit sera, and those from infected Hep-2 cells revealed reactive bands of 70 kDa,64 kDa,53 kDa,35 kDa,28 kDa, and 13-10 kDa. After applying to an IgG-Sepharose column, two elusion peaks, E-1 and I-2 fractions, were obtained from both soluble antigen of T. gondii and the peritoneal fluid of infected mice, respectively. Immunoblots of soluble antigen with immunized rabbit sera revealed positive bands of 97 kDa, 63 kDa, 53 kDa and 35 kDa from I-1 fraction and 53 kDa and 35 kDa from I-2. In the case of the eluted peaks from mice peritoneal fluid, E-1 showed protein bands of 84 kDa,76 kDa,53 kDa and 29 kDa bands and 53 kDa and 45 kDa from I-2 on immunoblots. Serum IgG antibody titer of mice immunized with T gonnii tachyzoites was increased on 1 week after booster immunization when analysed by ELISA using crude antigen, while it was elevated on 3 weeks after booster immunization by ELISA using puri- fied antigen.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.211-217
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• 2005

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (wild yeast mutant), Saccharomyces cerevisiae hFeHLC (ferritin containgig yeast) and chelated Fe diets on the Productivity and egg qualify of laying hens. A total of 245 'Brown Tetra' layers 35 weeks aged was randomly alloted to seven dietary treatments : 1) control diet no iron added, 2) diet supplemented $0.1\%$ wild yeast mutant (YM03), 3) diet supplemented $1.0\%$ wild yeast mutant (YM03), 4) diet supplemented $0.1\%$ ferritin with yeast (YF04), 5) diet supplemented $1.0\%$ ferritin with yeast (YF04), 6) diet supplemented $0.01\%$ chelated Fe and 7) diet supplemented $0.1\%$ chelated Fe. The egg Production rate was significantly increased in layers 134 Fe supplemented diets (p<0.05). Egg weight was significantly reduced in layers fed $0.1\%$ chelated Fe diet (P<0.05). Fe content of egg yolk was significantly increased in $1.0\%$ YF04 and $0.1\%$ chelated Fe treatments (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in shape index, albumin index and yolk index of eggs of layers fed diets Fe supplementation (P>0.05). The haugh unit of eggs was significantly increased in layers fed YM03, YF04 and chelated Fe supplemented diets (p<0.05). TBA value of egg was significantly increased in different iron Fe treatments except of $0.1\%$ YM03 (P<0.05). The yolk cole. of eggs was significantly increased in $1.0\%$ YF04 diet (P<0.05).

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.219-228
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• 2003

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the feeding value of stevia by-product (SB) on performance in broiler chicks and laying hens. In experiment 1, a total 256 one day old male broiler chicks were replaced in 0, 2, 4, 7% of SB with four replicates for 5 weeks. All diets were consisted of isocaloric and isonitrogen containing CP 21.5, 19% and ME 3,100 kcal/kg for starting and finishing period, respectively. Weight gain of SB treatments decreased compared with control for the first three weeks, but no difference for the finishing period. Feed intake and feed conversion were no statistical difference between control and feeding stevia groups for overall period. There were no different total number of intestinal microflora. However, the number of Salmonella and E. coli of cecum seemed to decrease in SB feeding groups. Total Lactobacillus and yeast tended to be higher in those groups than control. The PUFa increased in SB treatments, but was no significance. In experiment 2. stevia by-product(SB) were mixed with iso-caloric and isonitrogeneous method to investigate the feeding value in induced molting hens of 78 weeks old. A total 360 birds were replaced in the four treatments(0, 2, 4, 8% SB) with five replicates. Egg production, quality and fatty acid composition in egg were periodically measured for 20 weeks. No difference were found in egg production, feed intake, feed conversion between control and SB treatments for overall period. Egg shell breaking strength, thickness, albumen height and Haugh unit were not statistically different. However, yolk color was significantly high in SB treatments compared to control(P<0.05). Yolk MUFA increased significantly in SB treatments compared to that of control(p<0.05), but PUFA tended to decrease in SB treatments. No significant difference was detected in total sugar in egg yolk between SB treatments and control. Tocopherol of egg yolk 2 and 4% SB were significantly higher than those feed the control (p<0.05).

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.271-278
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• 2007

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of fermented wild-ginseng culture by-product on egg production, egg quality and blood characteristics in laying hens. A total of 216 ISA Brown laying hens, 55 wk of age, were used in the 6-wk feeding trial. Experimental diets were consisted of basal diet (CON), 2.5% fermented wild-ginseng culture by-product replaced lupin in basal diet (WG1) and 5.0% fermented wild-ginseng culture by-product replaced lupin in basal diet (WG2). Birds were randomly allotted to 18 replicate pens. There were 6 replicates per treatment, and 12 laying hens per replicate. Through the 6-wk feeding trial, egg production was significantly increased in WG1 and WG2 treatments compared to CON (P<0.05). Egg weight was significantly higher in WG2 than CON (P<0.05). WG1 resulted higher yolk color than CON (P<0.05). Albumen height and Haugh unit were significantly improve in WG1 compared to WG2 (P<0.05). Red blood cell was significantly lower in WG2 than CON (P<0.05). LDL-cholesterol was significantly decreased in CON compared to WG2 (P<0.05). In conclusion, fermented wild-ginseng culture by-product could improve egg production and egg weight in laying hens.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.263-270
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• 2013

The vent sexing and the auto-sexing by using sex-linked traits are general sexing methods of day-old chicks. Currently, the feather sexing which is based on the differences in the feather characteristics at hatching is the representative sexing method of chicken, because the late-feathering is sex-linked trait. The feather sexing can be used if the breed has dominant feathering gene (K) in maternal and recessive gene ($k^+$) in paternal. Therefore it is necessary to identify the association of feathering genes and quantitative traits in chickens. In this study, we investigated the influence of the rate of feathering on productive traits in Korean Native Chicken. In results, there was no significant difference between early-feathering chickens and late-feathering chickens in reproductive performance such as fertility and hatchability. Livability, body weights, egg production, egg weight and egg quality also did not significantly differ between early- and late-feathering chickens. Age at first egg was the only trait of those tested in which significant difference was observed. The early-feathering chickens laid eggs 3 days earlier than late-feathering chicken. As a result, there is no influence of feathering phenotypes on productive performance in Korean Native Chickens. Consequentially, establishing the feather sexing strain is available using the Korean Native Chicken breed without considering of the effect of feathering genes on productive traits.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.189-197
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• 2020

This study was conducted to compare the production performance and stress response of chickens kept in the conventional cages and floor pens. 491 female White Leghorns were used in this study, and their production characteristics and stress response indicators were analyzed from 34 to 43 weeks of age. The results showed that there was no significant difference in survival rate, hen-day egg production, and body weight between the chickens kept in the conventional cages and those kept in the floor pens. The chickens kept in the conventional cages had a significantly higher egg weight and egg quality compared with those kept in the floor pens (P<0.01). The amount of telomeric DNA in lymphocytes was significantly higher in the chickens kept in floor pens than in those kept in conventional cages (P<0.05). The heterophil-lymphocyte ratio, HSP-90β gene expression level, and DNA damage rate significantly increased in chickens kept in the conventional cages, as compared to the chickens kept in floor pens (P<0.01). In conclusion, there seems to be no difference in the production performance between chickens kept in conventional cages and those kept in floor pens. Furthermore, chickens kept in conventional cages had higher stress response values than those kept in floor pens for all stress response indicators. Therefore, conventional cage types are considered to be a more stressful environment for chickens than floor pens, regardless of the production performance of the chickens.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.53-60
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• 2007

A layer feeding trial was conducted for 10 weeks to investigate the effects of the addition of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) to layer diets on the laying performance, egg qualities, and yolk fatty acid composition. Nine hundred Hyline Brown layers, 24 weeks of age,were randomly allotted to 20 replicate laying cages, 45 birds per replicate. There were four diet treatments (0, 10, 15, and 20% DDGS), and five replicates per treatment. All experimental diets were prepared to contain iso-protein (17%) and iso-calorie (TMEn 2,780 kcal/kg). The use of DDGS up to 20% level in layer diets did not exert any influence on feed intake, laying rate, total egg mass, mean egg weight, and feed conversion ratio. DDGS did not exert any influence in weight of egg, breaking strength, and color of eggshell. The albumen height and Haugh unit was not influenced by DDGS addition. The yolk color was significantly increased by DDGS supplementation. As the DDGS level increased, the oleic acid content decreased, and the linoleic acid increased (P<0.05). The degree of saturation of yolk fatty acids was not affected by dietary DDGS. The inclusion of DDGS up to 20% in layer diets resulted in the decrease of feed cost per kg without any effect in the laying performance. In conclusion, the use of DDGS up to 20% level in layer diets could replace corn and soybean meal without any harmful effect on the laying performances.