• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.1443-1450
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• 2003

Crossbred (Bos taurus${\times}$Bos indicus) calves were used from birth till 14 weeks of age to evaluate three sources of protein that differed in ruminal degradability viz. groundnut cake alone (HD) or in combination with cottonseed meal (MD) and meat and bone meal (LD), when fed along with two sources of non-structural carbohydrates viz. raw (R) and thermally processed (P) maize. Twenty four new born calves were arranged in six groups in a $3{\times}2$ factorial design and fed on whole milk up to 56 d of age. All the different calves received calf startes along with green oats (Avena sativa) from 14 d of age onwards free-choice. A metabolism trial of 6d starters duration, conducted after 90 d of experimental feeding, revealed greater (p<0.05) digestibility of DM, OM, total carbohydrates, NDF and ADF in calves fed on the P diets than on the R diets promoting greater (p<0.05) metabolizable energy intake. The digestibility of NDF was higher (p<0.01) on LD diets where as calves on MD diets exhibited significantly lower digestibility of ADF (p<0.01). The retention of nitrogen per unit metabolic body size was significantly (p<0.05) higher on the LD-P diet than on the diet HD-P which, in turn, was higher (p<0.05) than that of HD-R. Nitrogen retention as percentage of intake was significantly greater (p<0.05) on LD-P than on LD-R diets (52.2 vs. 36.4%). Also, P fed calves utilized nitrogen more efficiently than the R fed as shown by retention of significantly greater proportions of intake (47.4 vs. 40.9%) and absorbed (65.8 vs. 59.5%) nitrogen. Calorimetric evaluation of the diets through open-circuit respiration chamber revealed that the dietary treatments had no impact on methane production by calves. The intake of DE and ME was improved (p<0.01) because of maize processing resulting in greater (p<0.01) retention of energy. The protein degradability exerted no influence on the partitioning or retention of energy. A significant interaction between cereal and protein types was evident with respect to retention of both nitrogen (p<0.01) and energy (p<0.05). In conclusion, no discernible trend in the influence of cereal processing was apparent on the dietary protein degradability, but the positive effect of cereal processing on energy retention diminished with the increase in dietary undegradability.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.1455-1459
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• 2003

A $2{\times}3$ factorial design was used to study the impact of rearing systems, individual (I) vs. group (G) and different levels of milk/skim milk feeding (three schedules, F1, F2 and F3) on performance of crossbred (Bos indicus ${\times}$ Bos taurus) calves. Six calves (three from each sex) were taken in each group on the basis of their birth weight. All the calves were fed colostrum for three days and thereafter, were allotted to three different milk feeding schedules (F), i.e. milk fed upto 8 weeks of age (F1), milk upto 4 weeks followed by 50% (F2) and 100% (F3) replacement of milk with skim milk in the next 4 weeks. Calf starter and cereal green fodder were fed ad libitum to all the calves beginning from second week of age. A digestibility trial was conducted at 15th week of age to assess nutrient utilization during postweaning period. The digestibilty of dry matter (DM), organic matter, total carbohydrate, ether extract and crude protein (CP) were nonsignificant between the rearing systems and the feeding schedules. There was significantly higher digestibility of NDF and ADF in G than I and in F3 than F1 and F2. The concentration CP and total digestible nutrients of the diet ranged from 17.18 to 17.75% and 66.32 to 70.14%, respectively. The DM intake (kg/100 kg body weight) ranged from 1.74 to 2.14 kg during 0 to 8 weeks and 3.19 to 3.41 kg during 0 to 14 weeks of age. The effects during postweaning phase (9-14 weeks of age) showed increased performance in group housed calves compared to individually housed ones with a superior average daily gain (590 vs. 443 g) and dry matter intake (1.79 vs. 1.64 kg). Above all, replacement of milk with skim milk at 50% level after 4th week followed by complete removal after 6th week of age (F2) seemed to suit better in coping with immediate energy starvation due to sole feeding of skim milk (F3) and they performed the best under group housed system of rearing.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1588-1596
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• 2006

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of different dietary protein levels on the performance, nutrient balances, blood biochemical parameters and thyroid hormones of crossbred calves. Thirty crossbred (Bos taurus${\times}$Bos indicus) calves aged 3-5 months were divided into 3 equal groups of 10 each and fed graded levels of crude protein, namely 100 (NP), 75 (LP) and 125 (HP) percent of the Kearl recommendations for 105 d. The calves had access to ad libitum oat hay as the basal roughage. A metabolism trial of 6 d duration was conducted at 90 d of the study. Blood collection and its analysis for various hematological and biochemical parameters as well as thyroid hormones was done both during the pre- and post-experimental periods. The fortnightly body weight changes and the net gain did not differ significantly due to dietary variation. The average daily gain was $367{\pm}21.6$, $347{\pm}22.9$ and $337{\pm}26.4g$ in calves fed NP, LP and HP diets, respectively. Averaged across the feeding trial, oat hay intake was higher (p<0.05) in NP animals than HP or LP fed groups. The dry matter (DM) intake showed no significant difference between the 3 groups but the DM digestibility was higher (p<0.05) in the HP fed animals. The digestibility of crude protein, organic matter, crude fiber and nitrogen-free extract was significantly higher (p<0.05) on HP diets compared to LP or NP diets. The calves on all 3 diets were in positive nitrogen (N) balance, however the N retention was higher (p<0.05) in HP than in LP fed calves. The intake and retention of calcium and phosphorus were similar between the treatments. The blood biochemical profile revealed no significant influence of the dietary treatments on hemoglobin, packed cell volume as well as serum levels of glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, Ca, P, and alkaline phosphatase. Serum levels of the circulating thyroid hormones ($T_3$ and $T_4$) tended to be lower (p>0.05) on feeding of the LP diet besides showing an increasing trend with the advancement of age. Considering the similar performance and metabolic profile, it could be concluded that crossbred calves can be satisfactorily reared on 25% lower protein level as recommended by Kearl for developing countries, which would not only economize the cost of production but also help to reduce environmental pollution attributable to livestock production.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.661-666
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• 2005

The effects of pre-partum feeding management in terms of birth weight, growth, metabolic profile and immunity of calves were studied using 24 crossbred (Bos taurus${\times}$Bos indicus) cows, divided into three equal groups. The dietary treatments included feeding of either 3.0 kg concentrate/head/d throughout the 60 d pre-partum (T$_1$), or 3.0 kg concentrate during 60-22 d pre-partum and thereafter at an increased allowance at 0.25 kg/d during the next 21 d till it reached 1% of live weight (T$_2$). The third group of cows was fed similar to T$_2$, except that the concentrate feeding during 60-22 d pre-partum was reduced to 2.0 kg (T$_3$). All the groups had access to ad libitum green fodder throughout. The results revealed that the mean daily dry matter (DM) intake by the cows was similar (p>0.05) among the three groups during the 60 days of the pre-partum but T2 animals tended to gain more live weight (41.25 kg) than T$_1$ (38.12 kg) and T$_3$ (36.25 kg). The body condition score of the cows did not change appreciably over the experimental period. The mean birth weight of the calves was 24.00${\pm}$1.10, 24.63${\pm}$1.17 and 23.25${\pm}$1.19 kg for the three groups, respectively, with the corresponding average daily gain of 154.2, 155.0 and 169.7 g during the subsequent 60 days; both these parameters did not vary significantly ascribable to prepartum feeding regimens of their dams. The total immunoglobulin (Ig) concentration in the colostrum was 6.31${\pm}$0.34, 5.80${\pm}$0.21 and 6.13${\pm}$0.30 g/dl for the three groups, respectively, showing no influence of dietary treatments. The mean serum Ig levels (T$_1$ 2.10${\pm}$0.09, T$_2$ 2.05${\pm}$0.09 and T$_3$ 2.10${\pm}$0.12 g/dl) of calves at 5 d of age were similar among the dietary groups as was the case with various serum biochemical constituents. It is concluded that the variations in pre-partum dietary management elicited no significant influence on the calf performance including the immune status.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.206-215
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• 2009

This experiment was carried out to evaluate performance and carcass characteristics of 40 crossbred young bulls ($Zebu{\times}European$) finished in a feedlot under two roughage sources (Bermuda grass hay or sorghum silage) with or without the addition of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisae). The bulls were 20 months old, their initial average weight was 356 kg and they were allocated into four groups of ten animals. The experimental diets were Bermuda grass, Bermuda grass+yeast, sorghum silage and sorghum silage +yeast. Animal performance and carcass characteristics were not influenced by roughage source or yeast addition. The average daily weight gain was 1.50 kg, dry matter intake (DMI) was 11.1 kg/d, DMI as percentage of liveweight was 2.60% and feed dry matter conversion was 7.70. The mean dressing percentage was 52.0% and hot carcass weight was 268 kg. Carcass conformation was classified between good-minus to good. Carcass length (137 cm), leg length (72.9 cm) and cushion thickness (26.6 cm) were not influenced by treatments. The average fat thickness was 3.80 mm and the Longissimus muscle area was 66.9 $cm^{2}$. The classification of color, texture and marbling were slightly dark red to red, fine and slight-minus to light-typical, respectively. The mean percentage of bone, muscle and fat in the carcass was 15.5%, 62.3% and 22.5%, respectively. Yeast addition increased ${\gamma}$-linolenic fatty acid (0.15 vs. 0.11%) deposition. Bermuda grass hay increased deposition of ${\alpha}$-linolenic (0.49 vs. 0.41%), arachidonic (2.30 vs. 1.57%), eicosapentaenoic (0.41 vs. 0.29%), docosapentaenoic (0.80 vs. 0.62%), docosahexaenoic (0.11 vs. 0.06%) and n-3 fatty acids, and reduced n-6: n-3 ratio in meat, when compared to sorghum silage treatments. The treatments had no effect on saturated fatty acids (49.5%), polyunsaturated fatty acids (11.8%), n-6 fatty acids (9.87%), n-3 (1.61%) and PUFA:SFA ratio (0.24). Monounsaturated fatty acid levels were higher on sorghum silage (40.7 vs. 37.7%). The addition of yeast caused higher n-6: n-3 ratio (7.28 vs. 5.70) than treatments without yeast.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.777-782
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• 2002

Reciprocal effects among local breeds and additive and heterosis effects were estimated for total milk production per lactation (TLP), lactation length (LL) and daily milk yield (DMY). Procedures for an optimum crossbreeding system were examined by comparing various crossbred combinations. Three data sets were chosen from the total records collected from 1962 to 1997. Data set I with a total of 5,938 records composed of 9 breed groups for reciprocal crosses, data set II with a total of 6,064 records composed of 5 breed groups for additive and heterosis effects and data set III with a total of 10,319 records composed of 42 breed groups for optimum crossbreeding system were analyzed. The least squares ANOVA was used. The reciprocal crosses between Red Sindhi and the Bangladeshi Local showed significant difference. When the Red Sindhi was used as cow, the cross was superior to the opposite in terms of the three performance traits. The results showed that additive breed effects on both TLP and DMY were positive and highly significant between Bos indicus and Bos taurus, whereas the individual heterosis effects were not significant. In general, any local breeds were improved two to three times by crossing with the Friesian once or twice. However, the effect was reduced when the grading up with the Friesian was repeated more than twice. On the other hand, when the local breed was crossed with the other breeds such as Holstein and Jersey, the improvement of TLP was less. Crossing the F1 cows with the Friesian bull gave further improvement. Almost the same trends were found also for LL and DMY. The local breeds and their crosses are raised mainly for draft animals, then it is recommended that the crossbreds between the local cows and Friesian are used for dairy purposes and more than 75% Friesian blood is used for beef.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 2003

Growth Hormone (GH) gene is a member of gene family through the evolutionary process from a small common ancestral gene by a series of gene duplications. The role of the GH in growth and performance controls has been extensively studied in human, mice and livestock. Many researchers have considered GH as a strong candidate gene for evaluation of genetic polymorphisms that could be associated with economic traits in cattle. We report here a novel missense mutation within the exon 5 of the bovine Growth Hormone (bGH) gene. We could amplified 522 bp fragments from eight unrelated Hanwoo cattle by PCR, then, subsequently cloned and sequenced. An Msp I RFLP corresponding to a C to T transition was observed at position 2258 nt. From this result, we could predict a missense mutation (Arg to Trp) at codon 166 in a highly conserved region among many mammals. Codominant Mendelian segregation of the two alleles, Msp I (+) and Msp I (－), was observed in two full-sib F2 families (n = 32, African taurine Bos taurus ${\times}$ African zebu Bos indicus) and eight half-sib Hanwoo families. For the availability of genetic marker, we have performed PCR-RFLP with a large number of individual animals from 15 different cattle breeds (European and Asian taurines, and African indicines). Consideration of breed frequencies of Msp I (－) allele in relation to breed type and their geographic origins, shows higher frequencies in humped breeds or Asian cattle breeds than in humpless or European breeds. This result indicates that the missense mutation can be contributed the functional significance such as the signal transduction through the receptor binding, also may be used as a marker for selection of the economic traits in Hanwoo.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.565-570
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• 1989

The influence of age at first calving on the milk production of crossbred dairy cows produced under major dairy cattle crossbreeding projects in Pakistan was studied from the year 1974 to 1980. These animals were bred and raised at the Livestock Production Research Institute, Bahadarnagar (LPRI), Livestock Experiment Station, Karachi (LES) and the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF). Local Sahiwal (SWL) cattle were crossed with the European breeds, Holstein Friesian (HF) and Jersey (J) at LPRI and UAF. At LES, native Red Sindhi (RS) were crossed with the HF and J breeds. At LES and UAF, the crossbred progeny, thus, produced comprised of halfbreds only while at LPRI 3/4 HF, 3/4 J, 1/4 HF and 1/4 J groups were also available for this study. The average age at first calving was considerably higher among the native breeds. At LES, the RS calved for the first time at an age of approximately 56 months. Corresponding values for SWLs at LPRI and UAF were 44 and 64 months, respectively. The 1/2 HF and 1/2 J crossbreds calved first at the age of approximately 25, 26, 34, 36, 37 and 38 months at LPRI, LES and UAF respectively. For 3/4 HF, 3/4 K, 1/4 HF and 1/4 J groups of LPRI the average age at first calving was 29, 26, 34 and 33 months. Considerable differences in age at first calving between the crossbreds and native breeds were observed. Due to early maturity, the former attained the peak level of milk production in third lactation whereas the latter groups, because of late maturity, reached this level in their fourth lactation. This study suggested that early maturity in Zebu cattle (Box indicus) could be induced through crossbreeding with European cattle (Bos Taurus).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.465-470
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• 2008

This study describes genetic variability in the BoLA-DRB3 gene in Iranian native cattle (Bos Indicus and Taurus) and relationships between these breeds. This is the first study of genetic polymorphism of the BoLA-DRB3 gene in Iranian native cattle. We examined exon 2 of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II DRB3 gene from 203 individuals in four populations of Iranian native cattle (52 Sarabi, 52 Najdi, 49 Sistani, 50 Golpayegani cattle) using the hemi-nested PCR-RFLP method. We identified the 36 previously reported alleles and one novel pattern (*eac). Analysis of the frequencies of the various BoLA-DRB3.2 alleles in each breed indicated that DRB3.2*52 in Sarabi cattle (23%), DRB3.2 *14 and *24 alleles in Najdi cattle (13%), DRB3.2 *8 allele in Sistani cattle (22%) and DRB3.2*16 allele in Golpayegani cattle (14%), were the most frequent alleles. Allelic frequencies ranged from 1 to 23% among the 36 alleles and there were some alleles that were found only in Iranian cattle. Effective number of alleles in the four breeds was estimated to be 7.86, 11.68, 7.08 and 3.37 in Sarabi, Najdi, Sistani and Golpayegani, respectively. Observed heterozygosities were the highest in Sarabi (94%) and Najdi (94%). A population tree based on the frequency of BoLA-DRB3.2 alleles in each breed suggested that Najdi, Sarabi and Golpayegani cattle clustered together and Najdi and Sarabi were the closest breeds. Sistani cattle differed more from these three breeds. These new data suggest that allele frequencies differ between Iranian cattle breeds.