• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.157-162
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• 2013

Both ODC and PRDM16 genes were known to be associated with body weight traits in chicken. These two genes were located on GGA3 and GGA21, respectively, where the QTLs of body weights are located. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to identify the SNPs in these two genes and their associations with body weight traits in Korean native chicken. Fluidigm Dynamic Array integrated fluidic circuits (IFCs) assay was used to genotype 7 SNPs consisting g.-353C>T, g.2136A>G, g.2524T>C, g.3607C>T SNPs of the ODC gene, and g.182216C>T, g.182290A>T, g.182491A>T SNPs of the PRDM16 gene. Statistical analysis showed that g.2136A>G SNP of the ODC was associated with body weight at 20 weeks of age and slaughter weight, and g.3607C>T SNP of the ODC was associated with body weight at 2 weeks of age. Association between g.182216C>T SNP of the PRDM16 and body weight at 12 weeks of age has also been revealed. In addition, g.182491A>T SNP of PRDM16 has significant correlation with body weight (BW) at 8 weeks, BW at 10 weeks and BW at 14 weeks of age. These results suggested that both ODC and PRDM16 could be strong candidate genes for body weight traits in Korean native chicken.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.457-463
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• 2014

Ultrasound measurements of backfat thickness (UBF), longissimus muscle area (ULMA) and marbling score (UMS) and carcass measurements of carcass weight (CW), backfat thickness (BF), longissimus muscle area (LMA), and marbling score (MS) on 7,044 Hanwoo steers were analyzed to estimate genetic parameters. Data from Hanwoo steers that were raised, finished in Hoengseong-gun, Gangwon-do (province) and shipped to slaughter houses during the period from October 2010 to April 2013 were evaluated. Ultrasound measurements were taken at approximately three months before slaughter by an experienced operator using a B-mode real-time ultrasound device (HS-2000, FHK Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) with a 3.5 MHz linear probe. Ultrasound scanning was on the left side between 13th rib and the first lumbar vertebrae. All slaughtering processes and carcass evaluations were performed in accordance with the guidelines of beef grading system of Korea. To estimate genetic parameters, multiple trait animal models were applied. Fixed effects included in the models were: the effects of farm, contemporary group effects (year-season at the time of ultrasound scanning in the models for UBF, ULMA, and UMS, and year-season at slaughter in the models for CW, BF, LMA, and MS), the effects of ultrasound technicians as class variables and the effects of the age in days at ultrasound scanning or at slaughtering as linear covariates, respectively for ultrasound and carcass measures. Heritability estimates obtained from our analyses were 0.37 for UBF, 0.13 for ULMA, 0.27 for UMS, 0.44 for CW, 0.33 for BF, 0.36 for LMA and 0.54 MS, respectively. Genetic correlations were strongly positive between corresponding traits of ultrasound and carcass measures. Genetic correlation coefficient between UBF and BF estimate was 0.938, between ULMA and LMA was 0.767 and between UMS and MS was 0.925. These results suggest that ultrasound measurement traits are genetically similar to carcass measurement traits.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate the carcass characteristics of crossbred pigs according to mating system, carcass grade and age at marketing. A total of 656 pigs of 128 gilts and 528 barrows were collected and analyzed at public slaughter house. Differences between LY and LYD crossbred on marbling score and water holding capacity were significantly (p<0.05) found. The influences of LY and LYD crossbred on carcass weight, backfat thickness, meat colour, carcass grade and age at marketing were not significantly showed. The carcass weight of D carcass grade was significantly (p<0.05) heavier than that of the other grade. The backfat thickness was significantly (p<0.05) appeared gradually in accordance with the increase of carcass grade. There was significantly difference among the carcass grades on water holding capacity (p<0.05). The differences among the carcass grades on the meat colour, marbling score and age at marketing were not found significantly. The carcass weight of high age group at marketing was significantly heavier than that of the low age group (p<0.05). The backfat thickness of the group of high age at marketing was significantly thicker than that of the group of low age (p<0.05). There were significant differences among age group at marketing in marbling score, carcass grade, and water holding capacity, respectively (p<0.05). The carcass weight was positively correlated with the backfat thickness but negatively correlated with the carcass grade. The correlation between the backfat and carcass grade was significantly negative. The meat colour was negatively correlated with water holding capacity.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1712-1720
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• 2014

Little is known about the gender differences in energetic requirements of goats in early life. In this study, we determined the energy requirements for maintenance and gain in intact male, castrated male and female Saanen goat kids using the comparative slaughter technique and provide new data on their body composition and energy efficiency. To determine the energy requirements for maintenance, we studied 21 intact males, 15 castrated males and 18 females ($5.0{\pm}0.1kg$ initial body weight (BW) and $23{\pm}5d$ of age) using a split-plot design with the following main factors: three genders (intact males, castrated males, and females) and three dry matter intake levels (ad libitum, 75% and 50% of ad libitum intake). A slaughter group included three kids, one for each nutritional plane, of each gender, and all three animals within a group were slaughtered when the ad libitum kid reached 15 kg in BW. Net energy requirements for gain were obtained for 17 intact males, eight castrated males and 15 females ($5.1{\pm}0.4kg$ BW and $23{\pm}13d$ of age). Animals were fed ad libitum and slaughtered when they reached 5, 10, and 15 kg in BW. A digestion trial was performed with nine kids of each gender to determine digestible energy, metabolizable energy and energy metabolizability of the diet. Our results show no effect of gender on the energy requirements for maintenance and gain, and overall net energy for maintenance was $205.6kJ/kg^{0.75}$ empty body weight gain (EBW) ($170.3kJ/kg^{0.75}$ BW) from 5 to 15 kg BW. Metabolizable energy for maintenance was calculated by iteration, assuming heat production equal to metabolizable energy intake at maintenance, and the result was $294.34kJ/kg^{0.75}$ EBW and $k_m$ of 0.70. As BW increased from 5 to 15 kg for all genders, the net energy required for gain increased from 9.5 to 12.0 kJ/g EBW gain (EWG), and assuming $k_g=0.47$, metabolizable energy for gain ranged from 20.2 to 25.5 kJ/g EWG. Our results indicate that it is not necessary to formulate diets with different energetic content for intact male, castrated male and female Saanen goat kids weighing from 5 to 15 kg.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 1998

Thirty two Omani sheep with eight animals each of; intact males (INT), males castrated with rubber rings immediately after birth (RR), males castrated with a burdizzo at 8 weeks of age (BC) and intact females (IF) were fed ad libitum a concentrate diet (CP 16%) plus chopped Rhodesgrass hay (8% CP) from weaning until slaughter at 28 kg. INT lambs grew faster from 9 to 20 weeks of age (p < 0.05) thus they were significantly heavier at 20 weeks of age than BC and IF, but not RR lambs. INT consumed more total feed than other sex groups over the period from 9 to 20 weeks of age. There were no significant differences between lambs of all experimental groups in feed per gain ratio. INT lambs had lower (p < 0.01) dressing percentage (DP) than RR, BC and IF. As a percentage in the empty body weight (EBW), INT had higher proportions of head, feet, empty gut (p < 0.001), liver (p < 0.05) and genitals (p < 0.05) but lower proportions of lungs and trachea (p < 0.05) than BC and IF lambs. INT males had a significantly higher (p < 0.05) proportion of bone than RR and IF lambs but lower (p < 0.05) proportion of fat than RR and IF. As a percentage in EBW, IF had the highest protortion (p < 0.001) of total body fat (TBF) followed by BC and RR whereas INT males had the lowest proportion. There was a general trend of IF having the highest proportion of individual and total non-carcass fat (TNCF) and total carcass fat (TCF) followed by BC and RR lambs whereas INT lambs had the lowest protortions of individual carcass and non-carcass fat depots. There were only few sex or castration effects on carcass tissue distribution. IF had higher proportions of intermuscular fat in the chuck, plate, leg and flank than INT and BC. The current study demonstrated that castration of intensively-raised male Omani native sheep especially at weaning using a burdizzo retarded growth rate and reduced carcass quality by increasing fat content.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.655-659
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• 2003

Forty eight lambs (24 each of Malpura and Mutton synthetic breeds) were weaned at 90 days of age and divided into two groups. One group of 12 lambs from each of the two breeds was maintained on low energy (52% TDN) and the other group of 12 on high energy (58% TDN) feedlot ration until 6 of the lambs attained 20 kg and the other 6 attained 25 kg live weight in each of the two groups. Daily feed intake and weekly body weights were recorded. Conventional metabolism trials were conducted on the two breeds and the two rations. The growth rate was found to be higher for lambs on high energy ration (p<0.01). The growth rate was also higher for higher target weight groups (p<0.01). The breed did not significantly affect the live weight gains. Mutton synthetic lambs required less number of days to reach 20 kg live weights but took more time to reach 25 kg target weight as compared to Malpura lambs (p<0.01). The lambs of both the breeds reached 25 kg live weight earlier on high energy than those on low energy ration (p<0.01). The dry matter intake, irrespective of breed, was significantly higher (4.57% or 93.4 g per kgW$^{0.75}$) on low energy than that on high energy ration (4.20% or 87.2 g per kg W$^{0.75}$). The digestibility coefficients of all the nutrients excepting crude fibre were significantly higher on high energy diet irrespective of the breed. Lambs on low energy ration, however, digested the crude fibre more than those on the high energy ration (p<0.05). Although there were no significant differences in the intakes of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus, the balance of nitrogen was higher on high energy ration. The DCP and TDN values were 9.70 and 52.76% for low energy and 9.89 and 57.68 % for high energy ration, respectively. The dressing percentages on live weight basis were 50.2 on low and 51.6 on high energy ration, 50.5 at 20kg and 51.3 at 25 kg slaughter weight and 51.0 in Malpura and 50.8 in Mutton synthetic lambs, respectively. The percent of bones in the carcass was higher on low energy ration in Mutton synthetic lambs at 20 kg slaughter weight than others. It was concluded that the performance of the lambs in respect of mutton production was significantly better on high energy ration fed upto 25 kg slaughter weight with no or little breed differences.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.507-521
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• 2021

The livestock farmers are producing under uncertainties such as Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The purpose of this study is to strengthen the management capabilities of Hanwoo farmers to prepare them for the uncertainties just mentioned. To this end, this study was conducted to find the optimal rearing period in order to reduce the feed cost, which accounts for the largest portion of the operation cost of Hanwoo. Using the universal lattice model, 41,139 of 289,000 Hanwoo slaughter data from 2010 to 2019 were used for the FMD period and 246,605 heads for the general period. The results show that the maximum cutoff price of Hanwoo steer is 6,394,457 won at the 4th week of 27 months of age in general period, where as 6,242,752 won at the 2nd week of 26 months of age in the FMD period. Therefore, it is judged that it will be helpful for Hanwoo farms to maximize their business profits by slaughtering one month and two weeks earlier in the FMD period than in the general period. In addition, Hanwoo farmers need to break away from the conventional rearing method and improve their management efficiency through a more flexible rearing method.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.1214-1225
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• 2023

We investigated the effect of energy levels on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and fatty acid composition of Holstein steers at different slaughter ages. Forty Holstein steers with an average body weight (BW) of 234.21 ± 7.42 kg and 7.78 ± 0.22 months were randomly allocated to two experimental groups; a 22-month-old experimental group and a 24-month-old experimental group. Total digestible nutrients (TDN) for each group were set to 70% (T1) and 72% (T2) during fattening phase and 74% (T3) and 76% (T4) for the finishing phase, respectively. No difference was observed in the final BW between the experimental groups during the fattening phase. However, in the finishing phase, the final BW of T4 (820.31 kg) group was significantly higher than that of T1 (745.57 kg; p < 0.05). The average daily gain (ADG) of T2 group in the finishing phase and overall period were 1.27 kg and 1.26 kg, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of T1 (1.11 kg and 1.12 kg; p < 0.05). The feed conversion ratio (FCR) and TDN conversion ratio of T2 group in the finishing phase also decreased by 10.23% and 7.73%, respectively, compared to those of T1. The cold carcass weight of T4 group was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of T1, whereas back fat thickness, longissimus area, and marbling score were not significantly different among groups. No differences were observed in physicochemical characteristics of the carcass including moisture, crude protein, and crude fat content among groups. However, the composition of fatty acids differed significantly between the groups. The content of C18:0 was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in T4 than in T1 group, and the content of C18:2 was higher in T4 than in T1 and T3 (p < 0.05). Therefore, feeding Holstein steers at a high-energy feeding level during the fattening and finishing phases improves ADG and reduces the slaughter age from 24 months to 22 months.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.417-424
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to detect significant SNPs for carcass quality traits using DNA chips of high SNP density in Hanwoo populations. Carcass data of two hundred and eighty nine steers sired by 30 Korean proven sires were collected from two regions; the Hanwoo Improvement Center of National Agricultural Cooperative Federation in Seosan, Chungnam province and the commercial farms in Gyeongbuk province. The steers in Seosan were born between spring and fall of 2006 and those in Gyeonbuk between falls of 2004 and 2005. The former steers were slaughtered at approximately 24 months, while the latter steers were fed six months longer before slaughter. Among the 55,074 SNPs in the Illumina bovine 50K chip, a total of 32,756 available SNPs were selected for whole genome association study. After adjusting for the effects of sire, region and slaughter age, phenotypes were regressed on each SNP using a simple linear regression model. For the significance threshold, 0.1% point-wise p value from F distribution was used for each SNP test. Among the significant SNPs for a trait, the best set of SNP markers were selected using a stepwise regression procedure, and inclusion and exclusion of each SNP out of the model was determined at the p<0.001 level. A total of 118 SNPs were detected; 15, 20, 22, 28, 20, and 13 SNPs for final weight before slaughter, carcass weight, backfat thickness, weight index, longissimus dorsi muscle area, and marbling score, respectively. Among the significant SNPs, the best set of 44 SNPs was determined by stepwise regression procedures with 7, 9, 6, 9, 7, and 6 SNPs for the respective traits. Each set of SNPs per trait explained 20-40% of phenotypic variance. The number of detected SNPs per trait was not great in whole genome association tests, suggesting additional phenotype and genotype data are required to get more power to detect the trait-related SNPs with high accuracy for estimation of the SNP effect. These SNP markers could be applied to commercial Hanwoo populations via marker-assisted selection to verify the SNP effects and to improve genetic potentials in successive generations of the Hanwoo populations.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.603-611
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• 2016

The aim of this study was to analyze the contribution factors (backfat thickness, eye muscle area, carcass weight, marbling score, and feeding period) affecting meat unit price (South-Korean Won / Kg of meat). The best slaughtering age to maximize unit price was also assumed. All data used in this study were acquired from the Korea Institute for Animal Products Quality Evaluation from 2010 to 2014. Contributions to the estimated unit price of cows by the following factors, backfat thickness, eye muscle area, carcass weights, feeding period, and marbling score were 2.65%, 0.04%, 1.58%, 1.58%, and 95.72%, respectively. Contribution to estimated unit price of steers by the same factors (backfat thickness, eye muscle area, carcass weights, feeding period, and marbling score) were 7.88%, 1.24%, 0.07%, 90.81%, and 95.72%, respectively. Slaughtering ages ranged from 26 to 36 months and the data were separated into each month for an 11 month period. The unit price of meat from Hanwoo slaughtered at 30 months was highest among groups. The lowest unit price was observed in the group belonging to the Hanwoo slaughtered at 36 months. In conclusion, of all contributing factors, marbling score affected unit price the most. Based on our results, it is recommended that the optimal slaughtering age be set at 30 months to maximize unit price. Moreover, the feeding of beef cattle past 30 months of age is not recommended because of the increase in feeding costs.