• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1705-1711
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• 2004

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the interaction of breed-by-chitosan supplementation on the major economic traits in broiler chickens. In experiment 1, one-day-old broiler chicks were fed ad libitum on a basal diet (CON-group) or basal diet containing chitosan at an inclusion level of 10.5 mg/bird/day (EXP-group). The EXP-group birds in experiments 2 and 3 were supplemented from 15 day-old by the same amount of chitosan used in experiment 1. In experiment 1, the mean body weight of the EXP-group chickens was significantly (p<0.05) heavier in comparison with those of CON-group birds from day 21 of the experiment. Especially in 35 day-old mean body weight, the EXP-group birds of Arbor Acres, Peterson, and Ross were significantly (p<0.05) heavier by 121.8 g, 118.5 g, and 242.8 g than the CON-group birds, respectively. However, the mean body weights in experiments 2 and 3 did not significantly differ between the CON-group birds and the EXP-group birds fed with chitosan supplementation from day 15 post birth. In the comparisons among breeds on the mean body weight at 35 day-old, the birds of Arbor Acres were significantly (p<0.05) heavier than ones of Peterson or Ross; however, there were no significant differences between Peterson and Ross or Cobb and Ross birds in overall in the experiments. The mean 15-35 d FCR of the EXP-group birds in experiment 1 were significantly (p<0.05) lower at least in two of the three breeds (Arbor Acres and Ross breeds) than that of the CON-group birds. None of the mean 15-35 d FCR in either experiment 2 or 3 showed significant differences between groups within a breed. In all three experiments, the differences amongst breeds in the mean 15-35 d FCR were not great either. Significant differences were not generally shown in the mean percentage of abdominal fat deposition between groups within a breed in overall experiments except in the Cobb breed in experiment 3. The mean percentages of abdominal fat deposition were significantly (p<0.05) lower in Ross birds than in Arbor Acres or Peterson birds and in Cobb birds than in Ross birds. By the results of the analysis of variance, the interaction of breed-by-diet (chitosan) supplementation on any of the major economic traits including mean percentage of abdominal fat deposition was not significant in overall experiments. Results of these experiments indicate that dietary supplementation with chitosan for the improvement of growth or feed conversion ratio in broilers has an efficacy when the supplementation begins from day-old.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.1149-1156
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• 2001

Previous studies conducted with swine have reported that the mobile nylon bag technique (MNBT) does not always accurately predict in vivo nutrient digestibilities. Therefore, in this study, the MNBT was modified so that nutrient digestibilities would more closely resemble those from conventional (Con) digestibility studies obtained using the indicator method. A total of 19 feeds were tested including five cereal grains, five legumes, three high protein sources and six mixed diets. The principle changes to the MNBT included the use of a fecal collection harness which minimized the number of bags lost. In addition, previous protocols involved pooling of bags within pig while in the present experiment all bags were analyzed separately to increase the precision of the test. Finally, chemical analyses were done using the entire nylon bag plus residue rather than opening.the bags and scraping out the contents. With the exception of the barley sample (p=0.01), dry matter digestibility (DMD) coefficients obtained with the MNBT were not significantly different from those obtained with the indicator method. The linear regression equation relating the MNBT to the indicator method was Con DMD=-O.77+1.02 MNBT DMD ($r^2=0.93$: p<0.0001). There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in gross energy digestibility (GED) coefficients determined using the MNBT or the indicator method for any of the 19 feeds. The regression line equation relating the MNBT to the indicator method was Con GED=-5.68+1.06 MNBT GED ($r^2=0.94$: p<0.0001). The MNBT was less effective in predicting in vivo crude protein digestibility (CPD) than it was in predicting dry matter and energy digestibility. Differences greater than five percentage units were observed for two of the legumes, Kabuli chickpeas (p=0.02) and the extruded pea-canola seed mixture (p=0.01) as well as for three of the mixed diets including the unheated hulled barley-based diet (p=0.01), the unheated hulless-barley based diet (p=0.08) and the barley-soybean meal based diet (p=0.008). The regression equation relating the MNBT to the indicator method was Con CPD=5.75 + 0.90 MNBT CPO ($r^2=0.76$; p<0.0001). This study indicates that the modified MNBT can be used for the rapid determination of dry matter and energy digestibility in a wide variety of ingredients. For the measurement of crude protein digestibility, the technique produces results similar to conventional digestibility studies for cereal grains and high protein feeds but tends to overestimate protein digestibility for legumes and mixed diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.1233-1237
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• 2001

A study was conducted to determine the effects of maturity at harvest and wilting days on the quality of round baled rye (Secale cereale L.) silage. This study was a $3{\times}3$ factorial arrangement in a split plot design with 3 replicates. The main plot was 3 harvesting dates at the stage of boot (20 Apr.), heading (29 Apr.) and flowering (14 May). The subplot was wilting day : 0 (unwilted), 0.5 and 1 day (0, 1, and 2 days at boot stage). Acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) contents of rye silage were significantly greater than those of rye before ensiling, but crude protein (CP) content and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) were vice versa. Buffering capacity (BC) of rye harvested at flowering stage was decreased from 264 to 202 meq/kg at 1 day wilting, however, it was increased when harvested at boot or heading stage. The pH in wilted silage was the highest while that of flowering stage was the lowest. Water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content of wilting rye was lower than that of unwilted, and the lowest at late harvesting stage. All plots had minimal WSC content for silage fermentation. Wilting treatment and delayed harvesting date caused an increase in dry matter (DM) content of round bale silage. The content of ammonia-N expressed as a portion of total N showed negative correlation with DM content. High quality silage according to ammonia-N content could be obtained from mid-harvest with wilting. There were highly significant differences in each organic acid between harvesting dates and wilting periods. Acetic and butyric acid contents were increased with delayed harvesting and prolonged wilting period, the lactic acid content, however, was decreased. This study demonstrated that harvest of rye from heading to flowering stage with wilting would be a recommendable method for making high quality rye silage using round bale system.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.1282-1289
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• 2001

One feeding trial and two metabolic trials were conducted to investigate the effects of lysine to protein ratio in practical swine diets on growth performance and efficiency of nitrogen retention and utilization in different growing phases. In Trial one (the feeding trial), 90 mixed sex pigs weighing $9.1{\pm}1.4kg$ (Duroc ${\times}$ Landrance ${\times}$ Beijing Black) were used to study the effects of concentrations of 5.2, 5.3, 5.8, 6.4 and 7.2 g lysine/100 g CP in diets containing 1.2% lysine on growth performance and serum urea nitrogen. The results showed that feed conversion efficiency and economic efficiency were best for pigs fed the diet containing the lysine concentration of 5.8 g /100 g crude protein. Serum urea nitrogen concentration decreased linearly (p=0.0009) and serum free lysine content increased linearly (p=0.0017) as the lysine to protein ratio in diets increased from 5.2 to 7.2 g/100 g. In Trials two and three (the metabolic trials), five growing barrows (Duroc ${\times}$ Landrance ${\times}$ Beijing black), with initial body weights of approximately $26{\pm}2.4kg$ and $56.3{\pm}3.5kg$, respectively, were allotted to five dietary treatments according to a $5{\times}5$ Latin square design. Trial two contained 5.2, 5.7, 6.1, 6.7 and 6.8 g lysine/100 g CP treatments. Trial three contained 4.6, 5.0, 5.6, 6.1 and 6.6 g lysine/100 g CP treatments. The results showed that nitrogen retention in growing pigs decreased linearly (p=0.0011 in Trial two; p=0.0099 in Trial three) as the lysine to protein ratio in diets increased. The ratio of lysine to protein in diets resulting in maximum nitrogen retention was 5.2 g/100 g and 5.0 g/100 g in Trial two and Trial three, respectively. In Trial two, apparent biological value and gross nitrogen efficiency increased linearly (p=0.0135 and p=0.0192, respectively) as the lysine to protein ratio increased from 5.2 to 6.8 g lysine/100 g CP. In summary, we concluded that the optimal Lysine to Protein Ratios for 8-20 kg and 20-80 kg pigs were 5.8 g/100 g and 5.0 to 5.2 g/100 g, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.794-800
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• 2008

In the present study, two trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of hyper- and hypothyroid status on the redox balance of broiler chickens. In Trial 1, 3 groups of broiler chickens were randomly subjected to one of the three treatments: subcutaneous administration of triiodothyronine (T3, $150{\mu}g/kg$ BW), methimazole (MMI, 150 mg/kg BW), or saline. The blood, liver and heart were sampled at 3 h after injection. In Trial 2, three groups of 20 broiler chickens were randomly fed with one of the three diets: control, dietary supplementation of T3 (1.5 mg/kg diet) or MMI (1 g/kg diet) for 7 days. In trial 1, the plasma concentrations of T3 and T3 to thyronine ratio (T3/T4) were significantly increased by T3 injection. Plasma levels of thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS) tended to be increased (p = 0.067) by both T3 and MMI treatments while the ferric reduced/antioxidant capacity (FRAP) was increased only by MMI treatment. Acute T3 treatment had no significant effect on the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the concentrations of FRAP and TBARS in either liver or heart tissue. In contrast, the hepatic activities of SOD were decreased (p<0.05) while the cardiac levels of FRAP were significantly increased (p<0.0001) by MMI treatment. In chronic treatments, the rectal temperature of chickens was significantly decreased (p<0.05) by MMI treatment. The circulating T3 levels were significantly increased (p<0.05) by long-term T3 treatment, and showed a trend to decrease in MMI treatment. The plasma concentrations of TBARS were significantly (p<0.05) increased by MMI treatment. All the redox parameters measured in either liver or heart were not significantly altered by either long-term T3 or MMI treatment except that the hepatic SOD activities were significantly augmented by T3 treatment. The result showed that neither acute nor long-term elevation of circulating T3 levels induced lipid peroxidation in broiler chickens. The enhanced enzymatic antioxidant system (SOD in cardiac tissue) may be involved in the protection of the bird to increased oxidative challenge. The responses of redox balance to changed thyroid state seem to be tissue specific.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.1139-1146
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• 2002

Sixty crossbred Anglo-Nubian goats (growing females), 18-24 mo of age, with a mean pre-experimental live weight of $20.9{\pm}0.44kg$ were used to investigate voluntary dry matter intake (DMI) and digestibility of supplements of Leucaena leucocephala (LL) leaves to a basal diet of guinea grass. The experiment was a 3 forms of presentation: fresh, wilted and $dry{\times}4$ levels of supplementation: 10, 20, 30 and 40% of total forage allowance with LL leaves. The goats were assigned based on weight and age to one of the twelve diets in a randomized manner and each level had five animals (replicates) per diet for 56 days. The form of presentation of LL leaves had effects on dry matter (DM) and nutrient composition. DM and NDF were higher in the dry LL leaves (p<0.05). In the diets, CP increased as the level of supplementation with LL leaves increased (p<0.05). Mean CP was similar in the fresh ($14.8{\pm}3.5%$), wilted ($14.3{\pm}3.3%$) and dry forms ($13.9{\pm}3.1%$). Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) decreased linearly (p<0.05) with increase in levels of supplementation. Organic matter (OM) followed the trend of CP concentration (p<0.05). Drying was observed to reduce the availability of CP at the different levels of supplementation and subsequently this affected the NDF of the diets. DM intake of the goats on the fresh and wilted LL leaves was significantly higher (p<0.05) than in those on the dry LL leaves. DM intake of the basal diet was observed to decrease as the level of supplementation (p<0.05) increased regardless of the form of presentation of LL. Growth rate was best (p<0.05) on the fresh form followed by wilted and the least in the dry form. Growth rate decreased linearly (p<0.05) with increase in the level of supplementation in the dry form. The form of presentation and level of supplementation influenced DM, CP and OM digestibility (p<0.05). Except for NDF, the digestibility of DM, CP and OM were better (p<0.05) in the goats on fresh LL leaves compared to the wilted and dry leaves. Based on the data on DMI, growth rate and apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients, the results suggest that LL leaves is best utilized when fed fresh or wilted to goats. In the dry form of presentation, the best level of supplementation without a reduction in voluntary DMI and growth rate is the 20%. In the fresh and wilted form, LL leaves could be fed up to the 40% level with improved DMI, growth rate and nutrient utilization.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.1683-1689
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• 2001

The levels of urea nitrogen both in blood (BUN) and milk (MUN), and milk protein (MP) reflect protein and energy intake in dairy herd feeding. Blood and milk constituents may be changes rhythmically and influence by different sampling time within a day and after feeding. Trials were conducted using five dietary treatments in both lactating and dry cows to study the effects of sampling time on concentrations of BUN, MUN and whole blood ammonia nitrogen (BAN) in practical dairy cow feeding in Taiwan. The conventional feed ingredients and forages including corn silage, alfalfa hay, timothy or pangola hay and corn grain were used as major source of the diet to follow practical dairy cow feeding. Five different diets were varying in amounts (low=L; standard=S; high=H) of crude protein (P) and energy (E) according to the NRC (1989). The energy to protein ratios in kcal/kg for the PSES, PLES, PHES, PSEH and PSEL were 10.82, 12.54, 9.41, 12.53 and 9.13 in lactating cows, and 11.38, 13.33, 9.78, 13.28 and 9.74 in dry cows, respectively. Results showed that after feeding at 9:30, BUN reached peak at 13:30 and was significantly higher than those to that sampled at 14:30 to 18:30 (p<0.05) in dry cows. Therefore the best blood sampling time for urea nitrogen assay in dry cows is 4 hours after morning feeding. In lactating cows, BUN of 13:30 was significantly higher than those of 8:30 to 11:30 (p<0.05), but there were no significant difference between the BUN values of other sampling time. Hence the suitable blood sampling time for BUN value in lactating cows was located on 3 to 8 hours after morning feeding, but the best time was 4 hours after morning feeding. MUN content is significantly higher in the afternoon collected bulk milk than the fore-strip morning milk (p<0.05), therefore the best sampling time for MUN is from afternoon collected bulk milk. Diurnal BAN changed without traceable rhythmic pattern and was negatively correlated to the BUN (r = -0.78). It is suggested that BAN may not be a good indicator for monitoring dairy cow feeding.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1610-1615
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• 2001

Three studies were conducted to determine the effect of sex on pre- and post-weaning performance of pigs. These studies were conducted in response to observations that female pigs appear to grow faster than male pigs after weaning. In addition, female pigs have been found to grow faster than male pigs when supplied with supplemental milk before weaning. The aims of the present work were to further characterise the ontogeny of sex differences growth of nursing and growing pigs. In the first study, piglets sucking 32 sows were crossfostered to produce litters of 10 boars (n=9), 10 gilts (n=l 1) or 5 boars and 5 gilts (n=12). Liveweight of the sucking pigs was then measured weekly until weaning at 4 weeks of age. In the second study, 80 boars and 80 gilts were weaned at 26 days of age and growth performance measured until 21 days post-weaning. In the third experiment, 40 boars and 40 gilts were weaned into groups of 5 pigs at either 17 or 25 days of age and pigs were weighed until they were approximately 90 kg liveweight. All-boar litters grew more slowly than the all-gilt and mixed litters such that by 14 days of age the all-boar litters were 10% lighter than the all-gilt or mixed litters (39 vs. 43.8 kg, p=0.050). The proportional difference in litter weight appeared to be maintained at 21 days of age (53.9 vs. 59.4 kg, p=0.063) but was diminished by 28 days of age (66.5 vs. 70.8 kg, p=0.28). In the second study, gilts grew more quickly than boars over the first 7 and 21 days post-weaning and as a consequence were 10% heavier than boars at 21 days after weaning (13.7 vs 12.48 kg, p=0.001). In the third study, gilts grew more quickly than boars in the immediate 7 days post-weaning (40 vs. 5 g/day, p=0.014) whereas from 7 until 35 days post-weaning there was no significant difference in growth rate (381 vs. 360 g/day, p=0.19). Gilts also grew more quickly than boars over the 14 days after being moved into the grower (631 vs. 570 g/day, p=0.013) and finisher (749 vs. 688 g/day, p=0.038) sheds. However, these differences were not maintained over the entire period in each shed. These data support the hypotheses that gilts handle the stresses of weaning and other transitions better than boars.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.261-266
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• 1992

Yearling replacement heifers were used in a two-year study at the Fort Stanton Experimental Ranch near Capitan, New Mexico, USA to compare frequency (once versus three times weekly) of feeding a cottonseed cake supplement. The study involved periods of 130 days (January 4 through May 14) in 1985, and 146 days (December 4 through April 29) in 1986. In each year, supplemental periods were just before the breeding season (natural breeding in multiple-sire groups) that lasted for 75 days during first year and 60 days during second year. During the first year, all (83) heifers (Angus $\times$ Hereford) were supplemented at a level equivalent to 45 kg/head daily and during second year, all (69) heifers (Angus $\times$ Hereford, Hereford) were fed at a level equivalent to .68 kg/head daily. In the first year, heifers were sorted by initial weight into two replications, i.e., those weighing under 223 kg were placed in replicate 1 and those weighing over 223 kg were placed in replicate 2. During the second year, heifers were sorted by breed into two replications, i.e., Angus $\times$ Hereford heifers were placed in replicate 1 and Hereford heifers in replicate 2. Each year, half of the heifers in each replication were supplemented once weekly and the other half three time weekly. Weight gains of heifers were similar for the two treatments over both years of study. During the first year, weight gains for heifers supplemented once or thrice weekly (.23 vs .21 kg daily, respectively) did not differ (p>.05) and the same trend for the second year (.15 vs .16 kg daily, respectively) was observed. Similarly, breeding performance was consistent with weight gains and no difference (p>.05) between treatments was observed either year. Lower conception rates during the second tear of study (92 vs 72% for years 1 and 2, respectively) were due mainly to involvement of Hereford heifers that had an average weight of 232 kg at the start of breeding season and conception rate of 54% (averaged across both supplemental treatments). Based on the combined results of both trials, frequency of supplementation did not affect growth rate of yearling heifers nor did it influence their subsequent conception rate.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.862-869
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• 2015

The current study was designed to estimate the pork quality traits using metabolites from exsanguination blood and postmortem muscle simultaneously under the Korean standard pre- and post-slaughter conditions. A total of 111 Yorkshire (pure breed and castrated male) pigs were evaluated under the Korean standard conditions. Measurements were taken of the levels of blood glucose and lactate at exsanguination, and muscle glycogen and lactate content at 45 min and 24 h postmortem. Certain pork quality traits were also evaluated. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis including stepwise regression were performed. Exsanguination blood glucose and lactate levels were positively correlated with each other, negatively related to postmortem muscle glycogen content and positively associated with postmortem muscle lactate content. A rapid and extended postmortem glycolysis was associated with high levels of blood glucose and lactate, with high muscle lactate content, and with low muscle glycogen content during postmortem. In addition, these were also correlated with paler meat color and reduced water holding capacity. The results of multiple regression analyses also showed that metabolites in exsanguination blood and postmortem muscle explained variations in pork quality traits. Especially, levels of blood glucose and lactate and content of muscle glycogen at early postmortem were significantly associated with an elevated early glycolytic rate. Furthermore, muscle lactate content at 24 h postmortem alone accounted for a considerable portion of the variation in pork quality traits. Based on these results, the current study confirmed that the main factor influencing pork quality traits is the ultimate lactate content in muscle via postmortem glycolysis, and that levels of blood glucose and lactate at exsanguination and contents of muscle glycogen and lactate at postmortem can explain a large portion of the variation in pork quality even under the standard slaughter conditions.