• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.192-197
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• 2021

Objective: The present study evaluated the preservation of ram semen at 0℃ using soybean lecithin with a Tris-fructose extender. Methods: Semen was collected by artificial vagina ejaculation from six rams with proven fertility. High quality ejaculates were diluted by soybean lecithin (0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, 1.0%, 1.25%) using Tris-fructose extender and control (Tris-fructose egg yolk extender), respectively. The ejaculates were diluted to a concentration of 5×108 sperm/mL, followed by cooling to 0℃ in 90 min and maintaining the temperature for 12 days. The diluted semen samples were examined and recorded for sperm progressive motility, acrosome integrity at 0, 24, 72, 144, 216, 288 h, respectively. Two hundred and twenty-three ewes were inseminated for 216 h with optimal soybean lecithin concentrated semen or control via trans-cervical insemination. Results: The results showed that there were no differences in sperm progressive motility at 0, 24, 72, and 144 h (p>0.05). After 216 h, the sperm progressive motility in the control group and 0.5% concentration groups was significantly higher when compared to 0.25% concentration (p<0.05). The 0.5% concentration group demonstrated the highest survival rate and had no difference with the control group (p>0.05). At 216 h, the sperm progressive motility of all groups was still above 50%. The acrosome integrity of all groups was decreased with prolongation of storage time, but there was no difference at each time point (p>0.05). There was no significant difference in the lambing rate and pregnancy rate between the 0.5% concentration group and the control group (p>0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that ram sperm is capable of fertilization after preservation at 0℃ with 0.5% of soybean lecithin in Tris-based extender substituted for egg yolk and produce normal offspring after insemination.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.975-980
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• 2004

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of the yeast Rhodotorula glutinis(Glutinicus) on the performance and egg quality of layers. A total of 360 ISA Brown layers at 72 weeks old were assigned to one of the following 6 diets: control, 25 ppm$\beta$-carotene, 0.50%0, 1%0, 2% and 4% Glutinicus supplemented diets. Each treatment was replicated three times with 20 birds housed in 2 bird cage units. Glutinicus supplementation at the level of 0.5% significantly(p < 0.05) improved egg production and FCR Soft and broken egg production rate decreased as the level of Glutinicus supplementation increased. Eggshell strength was highest in 4 % Glutinicus supplementation. Egg yolk color increased linearly as the level of Glutinicus supplementation increased up to 2% of the diet. It was concluded that Glutinicus supplementation at the level of 0.5% can be recommended for the improvement of egg production while 2.0% can be recommended for egg yolk pigmentation.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.239-245
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• 2011

Pigments in the diet affect yolk colors. Due to variations in both the bioavailability of pigments in chickens and their amounts occurring in the feed ingredients, concern about egg quality arises in terms of yolk color. In this study, the effects of pigments, produced through cell culture in the laboratory, on yolk colors were determined for 4 weeks in laying hens receiving one of the 6 dietary treatments: control diets containing 1) no synthetic pigments (CON); 2) canthaxanthin (4 ppm) purchased from BASF (BASF); 3) cultured cells so that the diet had canthaxanthin at 4 ppm (CX); 4) cultured cells so that the diet had lycopene at 30 ppm (LP); 5) canthaxanthin (4 ppm) that was purified from cultured cells (SPCX); or 6) lycopene (30 ppm) that was purified from cultured cells. Relation between deposition of pigments into yolks and egg production was also tested. Yolk color of eggs from chickens fed dietary CX was significantly enhanced, which was slightly but significantly below that of BASF. Results from other treatments were lower than those of CX. Deposit rates of pigments into yolks were: BASF > CX > SPCX > LP > SPLP. The amounts of pigments, with the exception of SPLP, in feed were not changed during the storage for 4 weeks at $25^{\circ}C$. Egg production rates varied among treatments during the initial phase of the study but became relatively uniform at the later stage, except for CON and LP groups. The results of the present study indicate that the deposition of pigments into yolks is independent of egg production.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.994-998
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• 2017

Objective: An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of superdosing phytase on productive performance and egg quality in laying hens. Methods: A total of 200 42-wk-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were allotted into 1 of 5 dietary treatments with 5 replicates consisting of 8 hens per replicate. The positive control (PC) and negative control diets (NC) were prepared based on the recommended P levels in layer diets. Supplemental phytase was added to the negative control diet at 10,000 (SD10), 20,000 (SD20), or 30,000 (SD30) fytase units (FTU)/kg. Productive performance was summarized for 6 weeks from 42 weeks to 47 weeks of age. Egg quality was assessed from 4 eggs per replicate randomly collected at the conclusion of the experiment. Results: The SD20 treatment had greater (p<0.05) hen-day egg production than PC, NC, and SD10 treatment groups. There was no difference in hen-day egg production between SD20 and SD30 treatment groups. However, SD30 treatment had greater (p<0.05) hen-day egg production than PC treatment, but showed no difference in hen-day egg production as compared to NC and SD10 treatment groups. However, egg weight, egg mass, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were not affected by dietary treatments. Egg quality including eggshell strength, eggshell color, egg yolk color, and haugh unit was not influenced by dietary treatments. Conclusion: Superdosing level of 20,000 FTU/kg phytase in diets has a positive effect on egg production rate, but no beneficial effect on egg quality in laying hens.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.1709-1717
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• 2023

Objective: A pivotal study was designed to investigate the effect of Hydroxy (HYC) Cu, Zn, and Mn on egg quality and laying performance of chickens under tropical conditions. Methods: A total of 1,260 Babcock White laying hens (20-wk-old) were randomly assigned to one of 4 treatments with 15 replicates of 21 hens each in a Randomized Complete Block Design. The birds were reared for 16 weeks and were fed the corn-soybean meal diets supplemented with one of the following mineral treatments: T1, inorganic (INO, 15 ppm CuSO4, 80ppm MnSO4 and 80 ppm ZnO); T2, Hydroxy-nutritional level (HYC-Nut, 15 ppm Cu, 80 ppm Mn, 80 ppm Zn from Hydroxy); T3, Hydroxy-Low (HYC-Low, 15 ppm Cu, 60 ppm Mn, 60 ppm Zn from Hydroxy); T4, Hydroxy plus inorganic (HYC+INO, 7.5 ppm HYC Cu+7.5 ppm CuSO4, 40 ppm HYC ZnO+40 ppm ZnSO4, 40 ppm HYC Mn+40 ppm MnSO4). The egg production was recorded daily, while the feed consumption, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and egg mass were determined at the end of each laying period. The egg quality parameters were assayed in eggs collected over 48 h in each laying period. Results: Overall, no significant effect of treatments was observed on percent egg production, egg weight and FCR (p>0.05). Feed intake was significantly lower in birds fed Hydroxy plus inorganic (p<0.05) diet. The supplementation of HYC-Low significantly increased the egg mass compared to the other treatments (p<0.05). HYC supplementation alone or in combination with INO elicited a positive effect on shell thickness, shell weight, shell weight per unit surface area, yolk colour, albumen and yolk index for a certain period (p<0.05), but not throughout the whole laying period. Conclusion: Dietary supplementation of HYC-Low (15-60-60 mg/kg) showed similar effects on production performance and egg quality characteristics in laying hens as compared to 15-80-80 mg/kg of Cu-Zn-Mn from inorganic sources. This indicates that sulphate based inorganic trace minerals can effectively be substituted by lower concentration of hydroxyl minerals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1318-1323
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• 2008

Corn distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a completely new feed ingredient in the Korean feed market. There is an ever increasing need for the Korean feed industry to import and make the best of it as a high protein and high energy feed ingredient. A layer feeding trial was conducted for 10 weeks to investigate the effects of addition of light-colored DDGS to layer diets on laying performance, egg qualities and yolk fatty acid composition. Also, the economics of using DDGS in the Korean situation was analyzed. Nine hundred Hy-line Brown layers, 24 weeks of age, were employed in a feeding trial consisting of four dietary treatments (0, 10, 15, and 20% DDGS), and five replicates per treatment. All experimental diets were prepared as iso-protein (17%) and iso-calorie (TMEn 2,780 kcal/kg). The use of DDGS up to 20% in layer diets did not exert any influence on feed intake, laying rate, total egg mass, mean egg weight and feed conversion ratio (p>0.05). The color and breaking strength of eggshell, as well as the albumin height and Haugh unit were not affected by the addition of DDGS up to 20% in the diet. The yolk color was significantly increased by DDGS supplementation (p<0.05). As the DDGS level increased, the oleic acid content decreased, and the linoleic acid increased (p<0.05) in egg yolk. The degree of saturation of yolk fatty acids was not affected by DDGS supplementation. The inclusion of light-colored DDGS up to 20% in layer diets resulted in a decrease of feed cost per kg without any undesirable effect on laying performance. In conclusion, the light-colored DDGS (L* 56.65) could be used up to 20% in layer diets without any harmful effect on laying performance, and possibly provide economic benefits to the Korean poultry industry.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1358-1364
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• 2010

In this study, the effects of feeding citrus by-products on the quality and fatty acid compositions of chicken eggs were investigated. Two samples of chicken eggs were used for this study: T0 (eggs of chickens that were not fed citrus byproducts) and T1 (eggs of chickens that were fed 4% citrus byproducts). There was no statistically meaningful difference between T0 and T1 in terms of various properties, such as chemical composition, cholesterol content, minerals, vitamins, pigments, and total structural amino acid. The caloric content of the egg yolk was higher in T1 than in T0, and total free amino acid of egg albumin and egg yolk was higher in T1 than in T0 (p<0.05). There was a not significant difference in SFA:UFA ratio between T0 and T1, but the linolenic acid content was higher in T1 than in T0 (p<0.05). The results of this study show that citrus by-products can be used for feed for laying hens by adding them to general feed.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.1566-1574
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• 2022

Objective: This study investigated the effects of dietary methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM) and selenium (Se) on the laying performance, egg quality, gut health indicators, egg yolk Se content, and antioxidant markers in laying hens. Methods: One hundred ninety-two 73-wk-old laying hens were randomly divided into four groups with eight replicates of six hens each. Four diets were prepared in a 2×2 factorial arrangement with or without MSM and Se. The trial lasted for 12 wk. Results: There were no interaction effects or main effects (p>0.05) on laying performance and egg quality. However, feed intake increased in Se-fed hens (p = 0.051) and decreased in MSM-fed hens (p = 0.067) compared with that of hens in the control group. Dietary MSM increased (p<0.05) the ileal villus height and villus height:crypt ratio in hens compared with those receiving the non-supplemented control diet. Dietary MSM and Se did not affect the percentage of short-chain fatty acids in the ileal contents. Dietary Se enriched the Se content in egg yolk compared with that of the non-supplemented control diet (p<0.05). Dietary Se increased (p<0.05) glutathione peroxidase levels in the liver and serum samples compared to the control diet. The total antioxidant capacity in the liver increased (p<0.05) in laying hens that were fed MSM-supplemented diets than in hens fed the control diet. Dietary MSM significantly increased the relative superoxide dismutase levels in serum samples (p<0.05). Conclusion: Supplementation with either MSM or Se independently improved the antioxidant capacity of laying hens. Furthermore, dietary Se produced Se-enriched eggs, but this effect was neither additive nor synergistic with dietary MSM.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2009

A 10-wk layer feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of high quality corn distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) on performance, egg qualities, and yolk fatty acid composition. The economics of using DDGS in the Korean situation was also analyzed. A total of 216 Hy-line Brown layers, 23-wk of age, were employed in this trial consisting of three dietary treatments (0%, 10%, and 20% DDGS), and six replicates per treatment. All experimental diets were prepared as iso-protein (17%) and iso-calorie (2,780 kcal/kg). The use of DDGS up to 20% in layer diets did not affect the feed intake, laying rate, egg weight, and feed conversion ratio (P>0.05). At 5th and 10th wk of the trial, the eggshell color, albumen height, and Haugh unit were not influenced by the DDGS supplementation. At 5th wk of the trial, the eggshell qualities, like eggshell weight, eggshell thickness, and eggshell strength, were not affected by the DDGS feeding; however, these eggshell qualities were decreased at 10th wk due to the 20% DDGS feeding (P<0.05). Yolk color of DDGS 20% increased compared to DDGS 0% at 5th and 10th wk of the trial (P<0.05). At 10th wk, yolk/egg ratio of DDGS 20% decreased compared to DDGS 0% (P<0.05). The yolk fat content was not changed due to DDGS feeding. The monounsaturated fatty acid content of yolk decreased linearly by feeding DDGS (P<0.05). The yolk polyunsaturated fatty acid content of DDGS 20% increased significantly compared to DDGS 0%. The DDGS feeding was not found to affect the degree of yolk fat unsaturation. The cost of feed (￦/kg feed) decreased as the level of DDGS increased. The production costs of egg (￦/kg egg) were cheap in the order of DDGS 10%, DDGS 20%, and DDGS 0%, indicating that DDGS is a viable alternative feed ingredient to corn and soybean meal. In conclusion, high quality DDGS ($L^*$ 61.72) could be used economically up to 20% level without any harmful effect on laying performance: however, the use of DDGS up to 10% is more economical than DDGS 20%.