• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.193-202
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• 1995

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of diverse dietary Ca levels and to determine whether bone mineral metabolism is influenced by the arnount of dietary Ca when given a choice of diets containing various levels of Ca. Forty Hy-line brown laying hens housed in separate cages were fed self-selected Ca diets. Birds were allowed a 7-day adaptation period followed by an 8-day collection period. Feed and water were available for ad libitum consumption. Eggs and excreta were collected at 6-h intervals during the day for mineral analysis. The Ca contents in excreta and retained Ca in the body on egg forming day were proportional to the amount of daily Ca intake. The retained Ca in the body were 0.97 g in control and 1.24~1.74 g in self-selected groups, respectively. Daily Ca contents (%) in tibial cortex were not consistent with feeding time intervals. The Ca content in tibial medulla in control group was lower than those of self-selected feeding groups(P<.05). The medullary Ca content in all treatment groups increased from 10:00 to 16:00 in a day. Ca content in plasma was low between 10:00 and 16:00 and was high between 22:00 and 04:00 in the following day.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1391-1399
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• 2009

Two hundred and sixteen 68-week-old Hy-Line brown laying hens were used in a 6-week feeding trial to compare the efficacy of phytases Optiphos (OPT) and Natuphos (NAT), which were isolated from Escherichia coli and Aspergillus niger, respectively. Hens were randomly allotted into six treatments with six replications (six layers in three adjacent cages) per treatment according to their initial BW. The hens were then subjected to one of the following dietary treatments: i) Positive Control (PC; available phosphorus (AP) 0.4%); ii) Negative control (NC; AP 0.2%); iii) NAT1 (NC+250 FTU/kg NAT); iv) NAT2 (NC+500 FTU/kg NAT); v) OPT1 (NC+250 FTU/kg OPT); vi) OPT2 (NC+500 FTU/kg OPT). Feed intake, egg production, egg quality, apparent nutrient digestibility and serum P and Ca concentration were evaluated to compare the effect of the two phytases. Feed intake and eggshell thickness were not affected by the treatments. Superior effects (p<0.05) of OPT were only observed in egg production and egg weight compared with NAT. Characteristics such as eggshell breaking strength, apparent digestibility of N, Ca and P and serum P concentration were equally increased with the supplementation of both phytases (p<0.05), where no significant difference was observed in those characteristics between PC and phytase supplementation at 500 FTU/kg. Equally effective improvements (p<0.05) were also observed in egg production and DM digestibility, where no improvements were observed (p<0.05) between the PC group and the groups with phytase supplementation at 500 FTU/kg. Equal increases in the serum Ca level were observed when the groups with phytase supplementation were compared to the PC group. Overall, the results of this study suggest that NAT and OPT are equally effective at liberating phytate-bound complexes when included in 0.2% available phosphorus diets for 68-week laying hens; either source of phytase can be fed to commercial 68-week laying hens at 500 FTU/kg to correct the negative effects associated with a 0.2% available phosphorus diet. In conclusion, either source of phytase can be fed to commercial first cycle laying hens at 500 FTU/kg to effectively replace inorganic phosphorus when economically justified.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2014

Agricultural soils surrounding mine areas in South Korea are often contaminated with multiple metals such as Cd, Pb and Zn. It poses potential risks to plants, soil organisms, groundwater, and eventually human health. The aim of this study was to examine the changes in phytoavailability of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn after application with calcined eggshell (CES; 0, 1, 3, and 5% W/W) in an agricultural soil contaminated by mine tailings. The contents of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in soils were 8.79, 65.4, 1602, and $692mgkg^{-1}$ (aqua regia dissolution), respectively. The experiments were conducted with lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) grown under greenhouse conditions during a 30-d period. $NH_4NO_3$ solution was used to examine the mobile fraction of these metals in soil. The application of CES dramatically increased soil pH and inorganic carbon content in soil due to CaO and $CaCO_3$ of CES. The increased soil pH decreased the mobile fraction of Cd, Pb, Zn: from 3.49 to < $0.01mgkg^{-1}$ for Cd, from 79.4 to $1.75mgkg^{-1}$ for Pb, and from 29.6 to $1.13mgkg^{-1}$ for Zn with increasing treatment of CES from 0 to 5%. In contrast, the mobile fraction of Cu was increased from 0.05 to $3.08mgkg^{-1}$, probably due to the formation of soluble $CuCO_3{^0}$ and Cu-organic complex. This changes in the mobile fraction resulted in a diminished uptake of Cd, Pb and Zn by lettuce and an increased uptake of Cu: from 4.19 to < $0.001mgkg^{-1}$ dry weight (DW) for Cd, from 0.78 to < $0.001mgkg^{-1}$ DW for Pb, and from 133 to $50.0mgkg^{-1}$ DW for Zn and conversely, from 3.79 up to $8.21kg^{-1}$ DW for Cu. The increased contents of Cu in lettuce shoots did not exceed the toxic level of $>25mgkg^{-1}$ DW. The mobile contents of these metals in soils showed a strong relationship with their contents in plant roots and shoots. These results showed that CES effectively reduced the phytoavailability of Cd, Pb, and Zn to lettuce but elevated that of Cu in consequence of the changed binding forms of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in soils. Based on these conclusions, CES can be used as an effective immobilization agent for Cd, Pb and Zn in contaminated soils. However, the CES should be applied in restricted doses due to too high increased pH in soils.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.786-791
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• 2010

The effects of fermented garlic powder on production performance, egg quality, blood profiles and fatty acid composition of egg yolk in laying hens were studied in a 35-d experiment. Two-hundred and forty (ISA brown) layers aged 41 weeks were randomly allocated into the following four treatments: i) CON (basal diet); ii) G1 (CON+fermented garlic powder 1.0%); iii) G2 (CON+fermented garlic powder 2.0%) and iv) G3 (CON+fermented garlic powder 3.0%). There were no differences (p>0.05) among treatments in egg production, egg weight, eggshell breaking strength and eggshell thickness throughout the whole experimental period. However, yolk height was increased significantly (p<0.05) by the addition of fermented garlic powder during the 5th week while yolk color was greater (p<0.05) in G2 and G3 than in CON and G1 in the 5th week. Compared with CON, Haugh unit was increased (p<0.05) in response to fermented garlic powder treatments during the 5th week. No significant effects on total protein, albumin and IgG were observed in response to any of the treatments over the experimental period (p>0.05). There was a significant (p<0.05) reduction in plasma cholesterol concentration when the dietary level of fermented garlic powder was increased from 0.0 to 3.0%. The levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA) were significantly decreased (p<0.05) in response to G2 and G3 while monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were higher (p<0.05) in G2 and G3 treatment groups than in CON and G1. Compared with other treatments, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and PUFA:SFA ratio were higher (p<0.05) in G3. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that addition of fermented garlic powder reduced plasma cholesterol concentration and did not cause adverse effects on production performance. Moreover, addition of 3.0% garlic powder decreased SFA but increased PUFA and PUFA:SFA ratio in egg yolk.

• 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.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.500-508
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• 2024

Objective: Due to current selection practices for increased egg production and peak persistency, the production profile, age at maturity, and body weight criteria for commercial layers are constantly changing. Body weight and age at the time of photostimulation will thus always be the factors that need to be adequately addressed among various production systems. The current study was carried out to determine the effects of pullets' body weight (low, medium, and heavy) on their performance, welfare, physiological response, and hormonal profile. Methods: With regard to live weight, 150 16-week-old pullets were divided into three groups using a completely randomized design (CRD) and held until the 50th week. One-way analysis of variance was used to evaluate the data under the CRD, and the least significant difference test was used to distinguish between treatment means. Results: In comparison to the medium and light birds, the heavy birds had higher body weight at maturity, an earlier age at maturity, and higher egg weight, eggshell weight, eggshell thickness, egg yolk index, breaking strength, egg surface area, egg shape index, egg volume, and hormonal profile except corticosterone. However, the medium and light birds had lower feed consumption rates per dozen eggs and per kilogram of egg mass than the heavy birds. Light birds showed greater body weight gain, egg production, and egg specific gravity than the other categories. At 20 weeks of age, physiological response, welfare aspects, and catalase were non-significant; however, at 50 weeks of age, all these factors-aside from catalase-were extremely significant. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that layers can function at lower body weights during photostimulation; hence, dietary regimens that result in lighter pullets may be preferable. Additionally, the welfare of the birds was not compromised by the lighter weight group.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.226-229
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• 2005

An experiment was conducted to produce eggs enriched with vitamins $D_3$, K and iron in eggs. Six hundred 97-wk-old ISA Brown force molted hens were allocated to completely randomized block arrangement of six dietary treatments: T1; control (C), T2; C+4,000 IU vitamin $D_3$+2.5 mg vitamin K+100 ppm Fe, T3; C+8,000 IU vitamin $D_3$+5.0 mg vitamin K+100 ppm Fe, T4; C+12,000 IU vitamin $D_3$+7.5 mg vitamin K+100 ppm Fe, T5; C+16,000 IU vitamin $D_3$+10.0 mg vitamin K+100 ppm Fe, T6; C+20,000 IU vitamin $D_3$+12.5 mg vitamin K+100 ppm Fe. Fe was supplemented with Fe-methionine. Each treatment consisted of five replicates of ten cages with two birds per cage. Egg production and egg weight were highest in T2 and incidence of soft and broken egg was highest in T6. Haugh unit was not different among treatments although it tended to be increased as dietary vitamins $D_3$ and K increased. Eggshell strength was not different among treatment. Concentrations of vitamin $D_3$ and K in egg yolk increased and plateaued approximately 20 days after feeding supplemented diets. The level of these vitamins peaked at 12,000 IU/kg vitamin $D_3$ and 7.5 mg/kg vitamin K supplementation and then decreased at the higher than these supplementation levels. The peak concentrations of vitamin $D_3$ and vitamin K were 4.6 times and 4.8 times greater than the control, respectively. Supplementary Fe also increased Fe content in egg yolk. It is concluded that vitamin $D_3$ and K in eggs can be effectively enriched by proper supplementation time and level of these vitamins.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2012

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of Macsumsuk and herb resources on the egg performance and quality in Korean native crossbred chickens. A total of three hundred sixty improved Korean native crossbred chickens in primary laying period were randomly allocated to four treatments (30 birds/treatment ${\times}$ 3 replications) for eight weeks. Dietary treatments included CON (basal diets), T1 (basal diets + 0.3% Macsumsuk), T2 (basal diets + 0.3% herb resources) and T3 (basal diets + 0.3% Macsumsuk + 0.3% herb resources). No significant differences were found for feed intake, egg weight and average egg production (P>0.05), however, cracked egg rate was higher in CON than in T1-T3, especially T3 was the lowest (P<0.05). The crude fat content of whole eggs, CON (11.20%) was higher (P<0.05) than the experimental treatments (9.67%-10.01%). Haugh unit, yolk color, eggshell thickness, and eggshell breaking strength tended to be higher in T1 and T2, but there were no significant differences (P>0.05). However, the experimental treatments were significantly higher than CON (P<0.05) for eggshell breaking strength, and T3 (14.91 mg/g) contained lower (P<0.05) cholesterol in egg yolk than other treatments. For fatty acid composition in egg yolk, CON group showed higher saturated fatty acid contents than the experimental treatments, but T1 (67.00%), T2 (66.78%) and T3 (66.82%) were higher than CON for unsaturated fatty acids (P<0.05). In conclusion, supplementating Macsumsuk and herb resources together in diets of Korean native crossbred chickens could decrease egg yolk cholesterol and improve egg quality.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.323-329
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• 2014

The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of copper-soy proteinate (Cu-SP) and herbal mixture (HBM) on growth performance, blood parameter, and immune response in laying hens. A total 800 Hy-Line Brown laying hens (60 weeks old) were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments : (1) Control : control diet, (2) Cu-SP : control diet + 100 mg/kg Cu-soy proteinate, (3) HBM : control diet + 0.15% herbal mixture, and (4) Cu-SP + HBM : control diet + 100 mg/kg Cu-soy proteinate + 0.15% herbal mixture. Each treatment was replicated 5 times with forty birds units were arranged according to randomized block design. Feeding trial lasted 5 weeks under 16L : 8D lighting regimen. The diet and water were available ad libitum. Result indicated that during feeding trial of the experiment, hen-day egg production was significantly (P<0.05) higher in Cu-SP and HBM treated groups than control. However, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg weight, broken and shell less egg production were not significantly influenced by treatments. Eggshell strength was significantly (P<0.05) higher in Cu-SP than control. Eggshell thickness, eggshell color, egg yolk color, Haugh unit were not significantly influenced by treatments. The level of WBC and stress index (heterophil : lymphocyte) were higher in supplemented groups than the control. The concentration of plasma IgG was higher in supplemented groups than the control. The result of this experiment showed that dietary copper-soy proteinate or herbal mixture tended to improve egg production and affect positively on immune response of laying hens.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 2004

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of iron reinforcing agent on the performance in laying hens for seven weeks. One hundred ninety eight 30-wk-old Brown Tetran layers were assigned to 9 treatments: control containing 45 mg Fe from iron sulfate per kg diet (FE-45), FE-90 (control multiplied two times), FE-180 (control multiplied four times), YM-45 containing 45mg Fe from yeast mutant, YM-90 (YM-45 multiplied two times), YM-180 (YM-45 multiplied four times), YF-45 containing 45mg Fe from ferritin containing yeast, YF-90 (YF-45 multiplied two times), YF-180 (YF-45 multiplied four times) in the experiment. Each treatment had four replications of 6 birds each. In the average egg production, the YF-180 was highest and the FE-45 (the control) was lowest; the YM-180, YF-90, and YF-180 were significantly (P＜0.05) higher than the control. In the comparisons of egg weight and egg mass, the YF-180 was significantly higher (P＜0.05) than the FE-90 or the control. In the FCR, the YM-90 was highest and the YF-45 was lowest. There was no significant difference between the control and YM-90 although the YF-45 was significantly (P＜0.05) lower in FCR than the control. In the eggshell thickness, the YF-180 was the thickest and the FE-90 was the thinnest; the YF-45 or the YF-180 was significantly thicker (P＜0.05) than the control. In the eggshell strength, the YF-45 was the strongest and the YM-45 was the weakest; the YM-90, YF-45, and YF-180 were significantly stronger (P＜0.05) than the control. In the cholesterol level of egg yolk, the control (FE-45) was the highest and the YF-45 was the lowest; there was a significantly different (P＜0.05) between these two treatments. In conclusion, in case of adding organic iron to feed for layers, it gives improvement on performance of layers and develop chemical composition of eggs.