• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.1674-1680
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• 2000

A study was conducted to compare the feeding value of urea treated and untreated mustard straw (MS) for sheep. Treated MS was prepared by adding urea-N at 1.84% and followed by packing in a pit silo for 21 days. Two groups of six empty Avikaline ewes were fed untreated (UTMS) and treated (TMS) mustard straw along with 200 g concentrate per head daily for 90 days. Untreated MS had 0.41% N and the urea treatment increased its N value to 1.58 %. The cell wall constituents were decreased in the TMS except for cellulose which remained unaffected. Dry matter intake of TMS was consistently higher than that of UTMS. Digestibility of DM, OM and fibre fractions of MS improved by the urea treatment. Ewes in both groups were in positive N balance while % N retention was lower in UTMS (26.30%) than in TMS (52.14%). The TMS fed group on average consumed 30.2 g DM, 2.9 g digestible crude protein and $0.2MJ\;DE\;per\;kg\;BW\;day^{-1}$ and maintained their weight whereas, the UTMS fed ewes lost weight. The VFA concentration in rumen liquor was higher in TMS than in UTMS. Total-N, ammonia-N and TCA-precipitable-N were also higher in TMS fed ewes. Blood glucose concentrations in the two groups were similar at initiation of the study. However the glucose concentration of UTMS fed group was significantly (p<0.01) lower than those fed UTMS at the termination of the study. Urea-N concentration was also higher in TMS fed group after 90 days of feeding period. It is concluded that urea treatment of MS improved N value of MS from 0.41% to 1.58% along with sizable improvement in nutritive value and in conjunction with 200 g concentrate, TMS can serve as maintenance ration for sheep. ($ME_{lakt}/ME_{m}=1.46$).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.1238-1244
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• 2001

Two calorimetric experiments were performed to investigate the effects of two diets with same concentrate: roughage ratio (70:30) but varying in composition on energy metabolism and methane production in faunated (F) and defaunated (DF) Muzaffarnagari sheep. For experiment I, ten animals were divided equally into two groups of which one was kept normally F as such while other was DF using 10% sodium lauryl sulphate. All the animals were offered diet I which comprised of oat hay and concentrate mixture I (CM I) containing maize grain (93%) as a major ingredient in 70:30 ratio. Similarly, the experiment II was conducted for which four F and four DF sheep (same as used for experiment I) were switched to diet II that consisted of maize hay and CM II (maize grain 59% + molasses 36%). Through diet II, DM intake in DF sheep was significantly (p<0.05) lower. Intake of GE through both the diets was similar in F and DF sheep. Digestibility of DM, OM, CP and GE and also metabolisability (ME/GE) was similar in F and DF sheep on both the diets. Total urinary energy loss did not differ in F and DF on both the diets, but methane energy loss as a percent of GE in DF was significantly (p<0.05) lower on diet I (3.75 vs 2.48), while it did not differ on diet II (3.20 vs 3.60). Heat production was significantly (p<0.01) reduced in DF on both the diets. Although, efficiency of utilisation of ME for maintenance calculated as per ARC (1984) did not differ in F and DF on both the diets, efficiency for maintenance and growth was higher (0.60 vs 0.672) on diet I in DF. It was inferred that methane production in DF sheep reduces on good quality hay-based diet supplemented with slowly fermentable carbohydrate (maize grain) but supplementation of molasses (rapidly fermentable CHO) nullify this effect when sheep were fed diets with concentrate: roughage ratio of 70:30.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.872-877
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• 2002

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of reducing particle size of corn from 1,000 to 500 ${\mu}m$ in simple and complex diets for nursery pigs and broiler chicks. In Exp 1., 192 nursery pigs were used in a 24 d growth assay. Treatments were: 1) 1,000 ${\mu}m$ corn in a simple diet; 2) 500 ${\mu}m$ corn in a simple diet; 3) 1,000 ${\mu}m$ corn in a complex diet; and 4) 500 ${\mu}m$ corn in a complex diet. Overall, pigs fed complex diets had 9% greater ADG (p<0.005) and 5% greater gain/feed (p<0.01) compared to pigs fed simple diets. Also, pigs fed the 500 ${\mu}m$ treatments had 3% better overall gain/feed than those fed the 1,000 ${\mu}m$ treatments (p<0.007). At d 9, apparent digestibilities of DM, N and GE were greater for complex diets and diets with smaller particle size (p<0.02). At d 23, there were no differences in nutrient digestibility resulting from diet complexity, but pigs fed diets with corn ground to 500 ${\mu}m$ had greater digestibility of DM (p<0.02) and GE (p<0.003) than pigs fed diets with corn ground to 1,000 ${\mu}m$. A second experiment was designed to determine if four days old broiler chicks were an acceptable model for predicting the effects of feed processing procedures on nursery pigs. Chicks fed complex diets had 3% greater gain/feed than chicks fed simple diets (p<0.001). Rate of gain and feed intake were improved by 3 and 2%, respectively, for chicks fed crumbled diets (p<0.03). However, there were several significant interactions among the main effects. For instance, crumbling did not affect gain/feed in chicks fed complex diets, but rate of gain and feed intake were increased by 7 and 6%, respectively, when simple diets were crumbled (diet complexity${\times}$diet form, p<0.001). Also, gain/feed of chicks was improved by 3% when particle size was reduced in meal diets, but not affected in chicks fed crumbles (diet form${\times}$particle size, p<0.005). Thus, our data suggested that reduction of particle size of corn was important for simple and complex diets and that a complex diet with 1,000 ${\mu}m$ corn gave no better performance than a simple diet with 500 ${\mu}m$ corn.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.1005-1015
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• 2009

Two experiments were carried out to determine the utility of sainfoin hay, a temperate tanniferous forage legume, as a dietary supplement for grass-fed cows. The condensed tannins (CT) of sainfoin might counteract the typical metabolic ammonia load of cows in intensive grazing systems. Furthermore, the physical fibrousness of sainfoin might improve ruminal pH stability. In the preliminary experiment, the eating rate of non-lactating Holstein cows of two tanniferous hays, sainfoin and birdsfoot trefoil, was compared to that of a grass-clover hay after specific periods of time (n = 4). The eating rate of sainfoin was superior to that of the other forages. In the main experiment, designed as a replicated 3${\times}$3 Latin square, six ruminally-cannulated, lactating Red Holstein cows received grass, concentrate and either no supplementation, 3 kg/d of grass hay or 3 kg/d of sainfoin hay (n = 6). Measured intakes of the grass hay and the sainfoin hay were 2.0 and 1.5 kg DM, and two cows entirely refused to eat the sainfoin hay and had to be excluded from data analysis. Grass DMI was similar for cows supplemented with sainfoin hay and cows fed only grass whereas intake of concentrate was higher (p<0.01) for the latter treatment. Continuous measurement of ruminal pH showed that the minimum pH at night tended to be lower (p<0.10) with grass-only feeding compared to sainfoin supplementation, but pH did not decline below the threshold of subacute acidosis for a longer period of time. The slightly higher intake of nitrogen (N) for cows supplemented with sainfoin hay (413 g/d) compared to cows fed only grass (399 g/d) was accompanied by an increased (p<0.05) fecal N excretion and a tendency for an increased (p<0.10) urinary N excretion. Ruminal ammonia concentration, as well as plasma and milk urea, were not affected by sainfoin supplementation. In conclusion, the lack of positive effects typical for CT might be explained either by the limited CT content of this plant species (55 g/kg DM) or the relatively low proportion of sainfoin in the total diet or both. Moreover, due to the unexpected low grass quality, the general ammonia load might have been too low for CT to have an impact.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.349-354
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• 2004

The effects of probiotic-vitacogen and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) supplementation on methanogesis, energy and nitrogen utilization in replacement dairy cows were evaluated. A basal diet comprising orchardgrass hay, lucerne hay cube and concentrate (2:2:1, DM basis) were fed with or without supplements to four cows at $80g\;DM/kgBW^{0.75}$per day in a $4{\times}4$ Latin square arrangement. The four treatments were; 1) basal diet, 2) basal diet plus 100 g probiotic-vitacogen, 3) basal diet plus 50 g GOS, 4) basal diet plus 50 g GOS and 100 g probiotic-vitacogen. Nutrient apparent digestibility was not altered by the effect of supplementation. Nitrogen intake was significantly (p<0.001) higher for the two vitacogen-supplemented diets compared to control and GOS supplemented diets. However, vitacogen supplemented diets had numerically higher fecal and urinary nitrogen losses, thereby, having lower nitrogen retention compared to control and GOS supplemented diets. Gross energy intake was also significantly (p<0.05) higher for vitacogen-supplemented diets compared to control and GOS diets, however, due to higher losses in feces, urine, methane and heat, GOS supplemented diet had numerically higher energy retention. There was an 11% reduction in methane emission (liters/day) in GOS supplemented diet compared to control diet. However, the combination of GOS with vitacogen resulted in an increased methane emission. When expressed per unit of animal production (g/kg live-weight gain), methane production tended to be lower in vitacogensupplemented diets compared to control and GOS diets. The supplementation of replacement dairy cows with GOS reduced methane emission (liters/day), while, vitacogen supplementation reduced methane emission per unit animal production. The two feed supplements may contribute to the abatement of methane as a greenhouse gas.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.533-540
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• 2011

The objectives of experiments were to compare directly the effects of synchrony of slowly fermented (corn and corn gluten meal; C-CGM) and of rapidly fermented ingredients (barley and soybean meal; B-SBM) in the rumen on starch disappearances in gastrointestinal tracts (Experiment 1) and growth performance (Experiment 2) of Hanwoo steers in the feedlot barn. In experiment 1, four Hanwoo steers ($288{\pm}21$ kg) fitted with ruminal and "T" shaped duodenal cannula were placed in one pen with Calan gate and assigned randomly to a duplicate $2{\times}2$ Latin square design. In experiment 2, eight intact Hanwoo steers ($311{\pm}8$ kg) were assigned randomly to one of two pens with Calan gate to evaluate the effect of the same diets as like in experiment 1 on growth performance. There were no differences in ruminal pH, ammonia and total VFA concentrations between treatments. Percentage of apparent ruminal starch disappearance was 33.3% unit lower (p<0.05) for steers fed C-CGM than for steers fed B-SBM diets and this difference resulted in 268% higher (p<0.05) in duodenal starch flows for steers fed C-CGM diet than for steers fed B-SMB diet. There was significant increase (p<0.05) in quantity (927 vs. 400 g/d) of corn starch digested post-ruminally compared to barley starch. However, percentage of starch apparently digested post-ruminally was 8% higher (p=0.1) in steers fed fast synchrony diet with B-SBM than in steers fed slow synchrony diets with C-CGM. The differences of percentage and amount of starch apparently digested post-ruminally between C-CGM and B-SBM diets did not affect rice straw DM intake, average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency. In conclusion, there is some uncertainty in regards to the relationship between site of starch digestion and DM intake, ADG, and feed efficiency in this study.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.389-398
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• 2009

This study was conducted to determine the feed value of total mixed rations (TMR) containing different winter forage crop silages on feed intakes, daily gain, nutrient digestibility, and nitrogen retention in Korean black goats. A total of 12 male goats were used in this study and each goat was housed in individual metabolism crates. The treatments were four diets, consisting of whole crop barley silage (T1), rape silage (T2), rye silage (T3), and Italian ryegrass silage (T4). The experiment was designed as a $4{\times}4$ Latin square arrangement in three replicates. Daily intakes for dietary dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) per head were highest in rape silage treatment, and lowest in whole barley silage (p<0.05). Digestible intakes for CP and acid detergent fiber were highest in rape silage treatment. The daily gain of rape, rye, and Italian ryegrass silages were significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of whole crop barley silage. Digestibility of DM. CP, fiber were highest in whole crop barley silage, and lowest in rape silage (p<0.05). Nitrogen (N) intake and N retention were significantly highest in rape silage and lowest in whole crop barley silage (p<0.05). The results showed that, among different winter forage crop silages, rape silage incorporation into TMR had the best performances indicating increases of feed intakes and N retention in Korean black goats.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.819-824
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• 2003

Effects of feeding browses on growth and meat quality of Korean native goats were investigated. Twenty eight heads of male goats were divided into four treatment groups fed diets containing oak browse, pine browse, fermented pine browse, and rice straw. Growth rate, feed intake, carcass and meat quality and blood and serum criteria were investigated. The highest average daily gain of goats was 45.3g from oak browse, and goats on pine browse gained similar to those on fermented pine browse. Daily forage intake was 197g DM for oak browse and 74g DM for fermented pine browse. Feed efficiency(g feed/g gain) of oak browse was 11.0g and that of pine browse was 15.1g. From the results of serological inspection, metabolism in body was normal with all the browses tested. Dressing percentage was 45.1~46.2% and meat percentage was 55.2~55.9% without significant differences between diets. Fat percentage of goat carcasses fed rice straw was higher than those fed pine browse or fermented pine browse which was, however, not significantly different from those on oak browse. Shear force and coking loss of goat meat on pine browse or fermented pine browse was less than those on rice straw(p〈0.05) without significant differences between other browses. Juiciness, tenderness, and flavor of the goat meat were the better(p<0.05) from the pine browse diet than from rice straw.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.1204-1212
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• 2024

Objective: This study evaluated the effects of high moisture ear corn (HMEC) on production performance, milk fatty acid composition, serum antioxidant status, and immunity in primiparous dairy cows. Methods: A total of 45 healthy primiparous Holstein cows (36.50±4.30 kg of milk/d, 201±9.00 lactating days in milk) were sorted into 3 groups: control group (CG, n = 15); 50% HMEC (replacing 50% steam-flaked corn with HMEC, n = 15); and 100% HMEC (replacing steam-flaked corn with HMEC, n = 15) on an equal dry matter (DM) basis. The study consisted of adaptation period of 14 days, followed by a formal period of 60 days. Feed intake and milk yield were recorded daily. Milk and blood samples were collected on 1, 30, and 60 d of the experimental period. Results: The 50% HMEC group and 100% HMEC group significantly increased (p<0.05) milk yield and DM intake in dairy cows compared to the control group (CG). The 100% HMEC group showed an increase (p<0.05) in 4% fat-corrected milk (4% FCM). Both the 50% HMEC group and 100% HMEC group exhibited significant decreases (p<0.05) in the content of C10:0, C12:0, and C14:0 fatty acids, along with a significant increase (p<0.05) in cis-9C18:1 content. The saturated fatty acid content was significantly lower (p<0.05) in the 50% HMEC and 100% HMEC groups than that of CG. Conversely, the monounsaturated fatty acid content was higher (p<0.05) in the 50% HMEC and 100% HMEC groups than that in CG. Notably, the 100% HMEC group significantly increased (p<0.05) the serum superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase content, while also decreasing the serum malondialdehyde content (p<0.05). Moreover, the 100% HMEC group significantly increased (p<0.05) the content of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM. Conclusion: High moisture ear corn could improve production performance and milk fatty acid levels and enhance immunity and antioxidant capacity in dairy cows. These results lay the foundation for the wider application of HMEC in ruminant animal diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.766-773
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• 2011

The objective of the present study was to examine whether yaks possess any adaptive mechanisms of nitrogen (N) metabolism to survive in the harsh foraging environment of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. A grazing experiment on native alpine meadows was conducted to determine availability of herbage biomass and body weight (BW) change of yaks over the year, followed by two indoor feeding trials to investigate adaptation mechanisms of N metabolism in yaks fed at similar intake level to grazing conditions. Three castrated males of each of three genotypes; yak (Bos grunniens), indigenous cattle (Bos taurus) and their crossbred - cattleyak (Bos taurus male${\times}$Bos grunniens female), were used in the housed trials. Results showed that: i) Monthly herbage biomass production and daily grazing intakes by yaks over the year ranged from 220 to 4,664 kg DM per ha, and 1.90 to 8.50 kg DM, respectively. For about seven months each year, yaks suffer from malnutrition as a result of inadequate pasture conditions; ii) Urinary N excretion and N retention by yaks were significantly affected by feeding level, and yaks had a lower (p<0.05) average daily urinary N excretion (0.39 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$) and a greater (p<0.05) N retention (-0.09 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$) than indigenous cattle (0.47 and -0.16 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$, respectively). Fasting daily urinary N excretion was greater (p<0.05) for indigenous cattle than yaks (353 vs. 248 mg/kg $BW^{0.75}$). Purine derivative N excretion and purine derivative N index (PNI) increased with increasing feeding level, while the value of PNI was greater (p<0.05) for yaks and cattleyak (0.11 and 0.12, respectively) than for indigenous cattle (0.09) during the feeding trials. These results suggest that yaks could rely, in part, on the recycling of N to adapt to the harsh forage environment on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.), were used in the housed trials. Results showed that: i) Monthly herbage biomass production and daily grazing intakes by yaks over the year ranged from 220 to 4,664 kg DM per ha, and 1.90 to 8.50 kg DM, respectively. For about seven months each year, yaks suffer from malnutrition as a result of inadequate pasture conditions; ii) Urinary N excretion and N retention by yaks were significantly affected by feeding level, and yaks had a lower (p<0.05) average daily urinary N excretion (0.39 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$) and a greater (p<0.05) N retention (-0.09 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$) than indigenous cattle (0.47 and -0.16 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$, respectively). Fasting daily urinary N excretion was greater (p<0.05) for indigenous cattle than yaks (353 vs. 248 mg/kg $BW^{0.75}$). Purine derivative N excretion and purine derivative N index (PNI) increased with increasing feeding level, while the value of PNI was greater (p<0.05) for yaks and cattleyak (0.11 and 0.12, respectively) than for indigenous cattle (0.09) during the feeding trials. These results suggest that yaks could rely, in part, on the recycling of N to adapt to the harsh forage environment on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.