• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.1019-1025
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• 2006

Two experiments were conducted separately to study the effect of astaxanthin on production performance and egg quality in laying hens and meat quality in finishing pigs. In Experiment 1, four hundred Brown Hy-Line layers, 26 weeks of age, were randomly divided into five treatments according to a single factorial arrangement. Each treatment had four replicates comprising 20 birds each. The dietary treatments were: 0, 0.7, 0.9, 1.1 and 1.3 ppm of astaxanthin fed for 14 days. Then all the birds were fed an astaxanthin-free diet (0 ppm astaxanthin) for an additional 7 days. The results showed that dietary astaxanthin had no significant effect on layer production performance. There was no significant effect (p>0.05) on egg weight, yolk height and Haugh unit (HU) with increasing dietary astaxanthin level and increased storage time. Yolk color was linearly increased (p<0.01) with the increasing dietary astaxanthin level and significantly decreased with the increasing storage time (p<0.05). The TBARS value in yolk decreased linearly (p<0.05) with increasing amount of dietary astaxanthin and storage time. When the diets were replaced with the astaxanthin-free feeds, all parameters concerning egg quality decreased with increasing days of measurement, especially the yolk color, and HU significantly decreased (p<0.05). In experiment 2, thirty-six barrows ($L{\times}Y{\times}D$), $107{\pm}3.1kg$ BW, were randomly divided into three treatments according to a single factorial arrangement. Each treatment had three replicates comprising 4 pigs each. The dietary treatments were: 0, 1.5 and 3.0 ppm of astaxanthin fed for 14 days. The results showed that dietary astaxanthin had no significant effects on production performance. There was a linear effect (p<0.05) on dressing percentage, backf.at thickness and loin muscle area with increasing dietary astaxanthin level. There were no significant effects (p>0.05) on the TBARS value, drip loss, meat color, marbling and $L^*$, $a^*$, $b^*$ values. Cholesterol concentration in meat was not affected by dietary addition of astaxanthin. It could be concluded that astaxanthin supplementation was beneficial to improve egg yolk color; egg quality during storage and it also could improve the meat quality of finishing pigs.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.91-94
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• 2012

This study was conducted to develop an algorithm for determination of abnormal body temperature in piglets through skin and core temperature database at normal condition. 5 piglets (mean BW : 46 kg) were employed for the experiment. They were adapted in the individual metabolism cage set at $22.5{\pm}2.0^{\circ}C$ of room temperature for 2 weeks before the measurement of body temperature. Ear, neck, head and subcutaneous neck temperature (as core temperature) of piglets were measured for every 1 minute during 30 consecutive days through 1mm k-type thermocouple wire and NI-devices (National Instruments Corporation, Austin, Texas, USA). Body temperature data were accumulated and integrated into the 1 day unit. Change of daily mean skin and core body temperatures in piglets were lowest at around 06:00, highest at around 14:00 and gradually decreased until the day after 06:00. Each skin temperatures were varied with the measuring site and largely depended on the room temperature changes. Established database of skin and core body temperature in piglets through this study can be applied to develop an algorithm for monitoring and determining the abnormal condition of animal by using radio frequency identification.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.1263-1273
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of crude protein (CP) levels on the physiological response, reproductive performance, blood profiles, milk composition and odor emission in gestating sows. Methods: Seventy-two multiparous sows (Yorkshire×Landrace) of average body weight (BW), backfat thickness, and parity were assigned to one of six treatments with 10 or 11 sows per treatment in a completely randomized design. Experimental diets with different CP levels were as follows: i) CP11, corn-soybean-based diet containing 11% CP; ii) CP12, corn-soybean-based diet containing 12% CP; iii) CP13, corn-soybean-based diet containing 13% CP; iv) CP14, corn-soybean-based diet containing 14% CP; v) CP15, corn-soybean-based diet containing 15% CP; and vi) CP16: corn-soybean-based diet containing 16% CP. Results: There was no significant difference in the performance of sow or piglet growth when sows were fed different dietary protein levels. Milk fat (linear, p = 0.05) and total solids (linear, p = 0.04) decreased as dietary CP levels increased. Increasing dietary CP levels in the gestation diet caused a significant increase in creatinine at days 35 and 110 of gestation (linear, p = 0.01; linear, p = 0.01). The total protein in sows also increased as dietary CP levels increased during the gestation period and 24 hours postpartum (linear, p = 0.01; linear, p = 0.01). During the whole experimental period, an increase in urea in sows was observed when sows were fed increasing levels of dietary CP (linear, p = 0.01), and increasing blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations were observed as well. In the blood parameters of piglets, there were linear improvements in creatinine (linear, p = 0.01), total protein (linear, p = 0.01), urea (linear, p = 0.01), and BUN (linear, p = 0.01) with increasing levels of dietary CP as measured 24 hours postpartum. At two measurement points (days 35 and 110) of gestation, the odor gas concentration, including amine, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide, increased linearly when sows fed diets with increasing levels of dietary CP (linear, p = 0.01). Moreover, as dietary CP levels increased to 16%, the odor gas concentration was increased with a quadratic response (quadratic, p = 0.01). Conclusion: Reducing dietary CP levels from 16% to 11% in a gestating diet did not exert detrimental effects on sow body condition or piglet performance. Moreover, a low protein diet (11% CP) may improve dietary protein utilization and metabolism to reduce odor gas emissions in manure and urine in gestating sows.