• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.481-487
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• 2011

Rearing density is a major factor in welfare production and health of broiler chicks. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of rearing density on the behavioral characteristics of Korean native chicks. In the study, 20, 30, and 40 chicks per pen (3.17 $m^2$) were used in each treatment and randomly allotted to 6.3 bird/$m^2$, 9.5 bird/$m^2$, and 12.6 bird/$m^2$ density, respectively. The broilers' behavior was recorded for 12 hours continuously during 1 to 8 weeks of age. The time budgets (standing, sitting, and walking) and frequencies of certain behaviors (drinking, feeding, preening, scratching, dust bathing, flapping, aggressive pecking, and pecking) in the broilers were checked during the day. The behavioral characteristics in the early period (1 to 4 weeks) were compared to the later period (5 to 8 weeks) to know the changes in each behavior as the chicks matured. It was observed that 40 chicks per pen showed significant decrease in feed intake and body weight. Corticosterone hormone was higher in the order of 12.6 bird/$m^2$ > 9.5 bird/$m^2$ > 6.3 bird/$m^2$ (p<0.05). The behaviors of standing and sitting were the highest in groups of 30 and 40 respectively. The walking behavior was gradually decreased as rearing density increased. The frequencies of the other behaviors also decreased in a high density treatment; especially for feeding, drinking, preening, and pecking. These tendencies widened the gaps of behaviors as time passed. It was concluded that a group of 20 chicks (6.3 bird/$m^2$) was the proper rearing density among these three treatments. Broilers in the lower rearing density showed more activity than that with higher density and therefore this environment may lead to better welfare condition.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2021

The study determined the effects of stock density (SD) and energy level (EL) on growth performance, serum biochemistry, and meat quality in Korean native chickens. A total of 240 chickens were randomly assigned to one of the four treatments including two stock density (low, 14, and high, 16 chickens per m²) and two energy level (low, 2,950, 3,000, 3050 ME kcal/kg, and high 3,150, 3,200, 3,250 ME kcal/kg, for starter, grower, and finisher, respectively). During the whole period of the experiment, the chickens were fed ad libitum. The greater final body weight and weight gain were achieved in chickens fed high energy diet, whereas the final body weight and weight gain were significantly reduced in high-density treatment compared with the low density. Chickens in low-density groups had a higher feed intake compared with high-density treatment, however, the energy level did not affect the feed intake. An improved overall feed conversion ratio was detected in the high energy treatment. There was a significant interaction between stock density and energy level on cholesterol concentration. The concentration of aspartate transaminase in serum was increased by higher stock density. There was a significant treatment interaction on IgM levels. Moreover, the carcass rate was significantly increased in the high energy level treatment. Based on the findings, we suggest that rearing chickens in low density with high dietary energy levels could be beneficial by improving the growth performance.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.139-145
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• 2020

This study was carried out to identify the occurrence of transovarian transmitted diseases and antibody positive rates among Korean native breeder chickens. The infection rates with Salmonella pullorum and Salmonella gallinarum among 16-week-old, 36-week-old, and 56-week-old breeder chickens and the antibody positive rates to Egg Drop Syndrome '76, Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae among 16-week-old, 18-week-old, and 56-week-old breeder chickens were identified, and the antibody positive rates to seven major transovarian transmitted diseases among 1-day-old chicks were investigated. As a result, no infection with Salmonella pullorum and Salmonella gallinarum was found among the investigated subjects of all ages. Vaccinated breeder chickens showed the 100% antibody positive rate to Egg Drop Syndrome '76, and unvaccinated breeder chickens showed the 100% antibody negative rate to Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae, confirming that there was no infection with Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae. As a result of the antibody tests of the 1-day-old chicks for transovarian transmitted diseases, it was found that vaccinated chicks showed good antibody positive rates to avian encephalomyelitis, chicken infectious anemia, and avian reovirus, confirming that they had power of defense against the relevant infectious diseases, and that unvaccinated chicks showed the 100% antibody negative rates to avian leukosis, chicken reticuloendotheliosis, and Mycoplasma synoviae, confirming that there was no infection with the relevant diseases. Given that the results of this study showed that among the transovarian transmitted diseases of chickens, there was no history of infection with diseases against which vaccination was not administered and high antibody positive rates were found with diseases against which vaccination was administered, it is judged that chickens with good power of defense against diseases were bred, and it is deemed that constant monitoring and vaccination against transovarian transmitted diseases will be necessary for the control and prevention of the diseases.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.273-283
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• 2018

Two diet energy levels (high or low) and two bedding material (rice husk or saw dust) treatments were designed for either male or female slow-growing Korean meat-type chicken (Hanhyop 3) to make totally eight treatments for 11~75 d feeding trial. Body weight gain (BWG) were influenced by energy levels, sex of bird and bedding material type. There were interaction effect among those three factors. Feed intakes (FI) by male bird during each and overall periods were higher than those by female. Diet energy levels and bedding material affected the FI only during final 56~75 d period, of which FI of high energy diet was higher in male whereas that of low energy diet was higher in female. Although feed conversion ratio (FCR) was improved by high energy diet, the better FCR has dissipated during 41~75 d, when the most of overall BWG were achieved. Apparent total tract retention (ATTR) of nutrients were higher in male than those in female birds with exception on fat ATTR. Fat ATTR was improved when fed low energy diet regardless of the sex of birds. Both energy levels and sex of bird influenced the color of breast. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value of female thigh was higher than that of male. Levels of moisture and P in female thigh were lower although level of fat in female breast was higher than those in male, respectively. This study showed that diet energy levels for Hanhyop 3 chicken, especially during 41~75 d, should be differently formulated between male and female bird.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.231-240
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• 2023

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute, highly contagious, and immunosuppressive disease in young chickens, and causes considerable economic losses to the poultry industry. More than 30 years ago, an antigenic variant IBDV (avIBDV) was reported in chicken farms in the United States. Recently, a novel avIBDV exhibited clear differences in molecular characteristics compared with previous variant strains. This study investigated the molecular characteristics of recently isolated avIBDV strains in Korea. Strains of avIBDV were confirmed by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and were propagated in 10-day-old specific-pathogen-free (SPF) embryonated chicken eggs through chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) inoculation. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analyses of hypervariable regions VP2 gene revealed that the strains originated from two different avIBDV lineages (G2a and G2d). In our results, we confirmed the co-existence and prevalence of avIBDV genogroup G2a and G2d in chicken farms. It is necessary to study the protective efficacy of current vaccines against avIBDVs.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.177-189
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• 2016

This study was conducted to verify the relationships between the expression values of stress-related markers and their production performances in 25 strains of Korean domestic chicken breeds. For stress response markers, the amount of telomeric DNA; expression levels of heat shock protein (HSP)-70, $HSP-90{\alpha}$, and $HSP-90{\beta}$; and comet scores were analyzed. Production performances were measured by the survival rate, body weights, days at first egg laying, egg weight and hen housed egg production. The results showed that the production traits and values of stress-related markers showed significant differences between strains. In general, the stress response of pure bred chickens with heavy weights was relatively high, while that of hybrid chickens with light weights was relatively low. The correlation coefficients between telomere contents and body weights showed that there were weak negative relationships. However, the correlations of telomere content with the survival rate and egg production were weakly positive after 20 weeks old. The expression levels of HSP genes and DNA damage rate (comet scores) were positively correlated to body weight, but were negatively correlated to the survival rate and egg production. The results implied that increasing body weight was associated with increasing HSPs expression and the DNA damage rate was associated with decreasing telomere content. In addition, increasing HSPs expression and the DNA damage rate decreased the survival rate and egg production, but the relationships with the telomere content was the reverse. Correlations among the stress-related markers showed that there were significant correlation coefficients between all of the marker values. HSPs expression was negatively correlated to the telomere content, while it was positively correlated to the DNA damage rate. There was a highly negative correlation between the telomere content and DNA damage rate. In conclusion, increasing the HSP values and DNA damage rate can promote telomere reduction, which led to a decrease in disease resistance and robustness of the chicken. Thus, increasing the stress response was verified to adversely affect the laying performance and viability of chickens.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.291-297
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• 2013

This study was conducted to evaluate the productivity of Korean native chicken (KNC) 2 strains crossbred. The number of chicks analyzed in this study was 300. Crossbreds used in this studywere A) KNC R strains ${\times}$ KNC meat type S strains, B) KNC egg-meat D strains ${\times}$ KNC meat type H strains, C) KNC egg-meat D strains ${\times}$ KNC meat type S strains, D) KNC egg-meat C strains ${\times}$ KNC native Y strains, and E) KNC native Y strains ${\times}$ KNC meat type H strains. The crossbreds C had the highest performance on body weight gains at 7~10 weeks but crossbreds D showed the lowest (p<0.05). The feed conversion ratio of crossbreds D was the highest value at every weeks (p<0.05). But the carcass weight and carcass ratio of crossbreds D was the lowest value at every weeks (p<0.05). For the percentage of cutted meat, the ranges of mean were 30.60~33.75% in breast, 21.48~24.72% in leg, 11.95~14.33% in wing, 21.91~25.83% in back and of 7.38~8.72% in neck. The percentage of cutted meat for leg was the highest value at every weeks (p<0.05). These results suggested that the development of new crossbreds should be necessary for better performance.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.409-418
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary probiotics and immunomodulator on growth performance, carcass characteristics, fecal $NH_3$ content and pathogenic bacteria counts in ileum and cecum and ileum of broiler chicken (Korean native chicken, HanHyup No. 3). A total of 120 (day-old) chicks were randomly divided into 5 treatments with 3 replicates and there were 8 birds per replicate. Dietary treatments consisted of five diets; the corn-soybean based control diet (C), the diet containing antibiotics (Avilamycin) 10 ppm (T1), the diet containing probiotics 1 [(Lactobacillus ($4.45{\times}10^6$) + yeast ($1.51{\times}10^6$) + Bacillus subtilis ($3.50{\times}10^5$)] at 0.5% level (T2), probiotics 2 [(Lactobacillus ($6.70{\times}10^7$) + yeast ($3.10{\times}10^6$)] at 0.5% level in diet (T3), and the diet containing probiotics 3 [T2 + ${\beta}$-glucan + organic acid] (T4) and raised for 9 weeks. There were no significant differences among treatments in weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion. Carcass ratios of broilers were higher in T3 and T4 than other treatments, however, the differences were non-significant. Internal organs and liver, heart weight were significantly increased in T4 (p<0.05) compared to other treatments. The fecal $NH_3$ gas content was decreased (p<0.05) in antibiotics fed group than others. However, probiotic fed groups were not different when compared with control. The number of Salmonella and E. coli in cecum were reduced in the group supplemented with probiotics and immunomodulator compared to the antibiotics (p<0.05). In this experiment, we showed that diets containing pro-biotics and immunomodulator were capable of an alternative to antibiotics.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2024

This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of using laying hens as meat type chickens. Male broiler (Ross 308, R3), laying hens (Hy-Line Brown, HL), and Korean native chickens (Hanhyup-3, H3) were used, and 100 heads of each were prepared. Carcass characteristics, meat quality, and sensory quality characteristics were compared as analysis items. The rearing environment and feed for all treatments were identical to the broiler rearing manual, and the lighting system was maintained at 23L:1D. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. The test ended when the average weight of each treatment group reached 1.5 kg, and individuals of similar weight were randomly selected and compared. As a result of this study, the live weight of the selected individuals was approximately 1.5 kg, which was similar for all treatments (P>0.05). However, carcass weight and ratio and breast meat production were highest in R3, while HL had higher ratios of legs, wings, and neck (P<0.05). The H3 group showed high pH and WHC levels and low cooking loss, and R3 improved chicken meat color (P<0.05). In particular, the fat content in meat was lowest in HL (P<0.01). Nucleic acid substances ATP, Hx, ADP, AMP, and INO were abundant in R3, and IMP content was highest in HL (P<0.05). In sensory evaluation, all treatments showed similar characteristics and overall preferences (P>0.05). Based on the findings, it appears that HL, a male laying hen, produces meat with unique characteristics such as low fat content and high IMP content.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.554-560
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• 2003

Purpose : To investigate the teratogenic effect of gamma-ray on the heart of chick embryo. Methods : 50 rad, 100 rad, 150 rad, 200 rad, 250 rad, and 300 rad of gamma-ray were used to irradiate three days old chick embryos. The control group was not irradiated. After three weeks, the embryos were sacrificed and examined for cardiovascular malformation. Results : The survival rate of the gamma-ray irradiated group was significantly lower than that of the control group(33.3-63.3% vs 76.4%, P=0.001). The cardiac malformation rate of the experimental group was 11.0%. In the control group, no congenital cardiac malformations were observed. The experimental groups had a significantly higher malformation rate(P=0.001). The types of malformation were ventricular septal defect, tricuspid atresia, Ebstein anomaly and aortic arch anomaly. In the gamma-ray irradiated group, the cardiac malformations were : 14 small ventricular septal defects (VSDs), five large VSDs, two tricuspid atresias, and one Ebstein anomaly. The higher the dose of radiation applied, the higher the incidence of cardiac malformation was noted. Conclusion : Gamma-ray irradiation of 3 days old chick embryos increased the rate of death and the rate of cardiac malformation significantly.