• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.129-134
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• 2010

This survey was carried out to investigate the dimensions of farrowing accommodation and farrowing crate by types. Farrowing crates are used to prevent the crushing death in the swine industry generally but farrowing crates include many problems in the animal welfare viewpoint: e.g. restriction of movements and maternal instincts. Therefore, the studies of alternative systems have been discussed for a while in U.K., U.S.A. and Canada. We surveyed eight farms for about eight months. To accurately compare the farrowing housing, small scale swine farms (3,000hd or less) were excluded from all data in this survey. Lactating accommodations were divided into vertical lactating accommodation type and diagonal accommodation type, and farrowing crates were divided into vertical bar type and horizontal bar type. In this survey, nipple waterer, partial slotted floor and total slotted floor were 80%, 40% and 60% respectively, and the lactating accommodations' dimensions ranged from 3.90 to $4.92\;m^2$. We believe that these data of the survey contribute to develop alternative systems and then contribute to improve the animal welfare in Korea.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1017-1035
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• 2018

The European Union (EU) is the world's third largest producer of beef. This contributes to the economy, rural development, social life, culture and gastronomy of Europe. The diversity of breeds, animal types (cows, bulls, steers, heifers) and farming systems (intensive, extensive on permanent or temporary pastures, mixed, breeders, feeders, etc) is a strength, and a weakness as the industry is often fragmented and poorly connected. There are also societal concerns regarding animal welfare and environmental issues, despite some positive environmental impacts of farming systems. The EU is amongst the most efficient for beef production as demonstrated by a relative low production of greenhouse gases. Due to regional differences in terms of climate, pasture availability, livestock practices and farms characteristics, productivity and incomes of beef producers vary widely across regions, being among the lowest of the agricultural systems. The beef industry is facing unprecedented challenges related to animal welfare, environmental impact, origin, authenticity, nutritional benefits and eating quality of beef. These may affect the whole industry, especially its farmers. It is therefore essential to bring the beef industry together to spread best practice and better exploit research to maintain and develop an economically viable and sustainable beef industry. Meeting consumers' expectations may be achieved by a better prediction of beef palatability using a modelling approach, such as in Australia. There is a need for accurate information and dissemination on the benefits and issues of beef for human health and for environmental impact. A better objective description of goods and services derived from livestock farming is also required. Putting into practice "agroecology" and organic farming principles are other potential avenues for the future. Different future scenarios can be written depending on the major driving forces, notably meat consumption, climate change, environmental policies and future organization of the supply chain.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.25-28
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• 2016

The welfare of horses depends on satisfying both the physiological and psychological needs of the animal. The object of this study was to evaluate fence safety at the horse farm. A Thoroughbred colt with cribbing was found dead in a paddock. The fence of paddock is a four-pipe fencing. He cribbed the 2nd pipe from the top. But he couldn't pull his face because his incisors acted as hooks and two ramuses of the mandible was entrapped in a top pipe. So he was embarrassed and went down while he terribly struggled to get out his face. Finally, he was strangulated to death. Safe fencing is essential on a horse farm. The function of these fences are to protect the horses but it was more of a hazard. In order to safe management of horses, facial length of the horse and the pipe interval of the fence should be considered. Further research is needed to put a muzzle on the horses while they are at a paddock. This study provides important benchmarks for the equine industry to consider fence type and evaluate fence safety.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.71-81
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• 2017

Organic dust generated inside livestock facilities includes toxic organic matters such as bacteria and endotoxin. Dust can cause respiratory disease for worker and livestock, and consequently, degradation of welfare and productivity. Influence of dust on livestock workers has been studied since the 1970s. However, exposure limit for cattle farmer has not been established, unlike exposure limit for pig and poultry farmer. Furthermore, study on air quality inside livestock facility, especially inside dairy farm has been rarely conducted in Korea. In this study, dust concentration of TSP, PM10, inhalable and respirable dust has been monitored in the commercial dairy house according to location and working activities. Bedding material inside the stall was one of the major sources of dust. The amount of dust was related to water content level of the bedding material. Dust concentration was relatively high in leeward location, and the highest concentration was measured during TMR mixing process. The maximum value of inhalable dust concentration was 29.1 times higher than the reference value as fine particles drop to the TMR mixer. Dust generated by TMR mixing was presumed to decrease by adjusting moisture and drop height of feed.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2014

This study was conducted to analysis the reason for implementing HACCP system, advantage and disadvantage of HACCP system implemented laying hen farm. The study was carried out by randomly selected fifteen laying hen farms located in all around Korea. All data were collected from fifteen laying hen farms before and after the implementation of HACCP system. The results were as follows: The egg production rate, livability rate and monthly used animal medicine fee did not changed after HACCP system implementation. However, monthly used disinfectant fee tended to be higher in HACCP farm compared to non-HACCP farm. 26.92% of the laying hen farmer responded enhancement of their farm competitiveness as the major propose for implementing HACCP system. The advantages of HACCP implemented laying hen farms were methodical farm management (22.39%), improvement of awareness (21.18%), improvement of the farm sanitation management level (15.30%), safety egg production (15.05%), productivity enhancement (7.29%), reduction of mortality rate (6.82%), and improvement of labor's welfare (5.89%). The disadvantages of HACCP implemented laying hen farms were HACCP recording (43.30%), alteration of consciousness (22.60%), HACCP monitoring (11.11%), HACCP education (9.97%), HACCP verification (6.90%), and A high turnover of labor (6.13%). In conclusion, implementation of HACCP system to laying hen farm did not affect on the productivity or the use of animal medicine. However, the HACCP system may enhance safety and sanitation of egg production for consumer.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.200-206
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• 2019

Korea is introducing new animal welfare rearing standards for swine farmers in order to improve the breeding environment of livestock on Korean farms, Korea is establishing a policy to apply to all new farms in 2019 and to all existing farms in 2025. These guidelines are limiting stall breeding of sows after 4 weeks of pregnancy, the light intensity should be above 40lux, the ammonia level should be below 25ppm and the breeding density area should be increased from $1.4m^2$ to $2.25m^2$. In Europe, where animal welfare has been studied and applied for nearly 100 years, the facility specifications and management manuals are available and provided to farmers to introduce proper animal welfare for pigs and to enhance the convenience and utility of farmers who are converting to raising pigs. The EU has established independent standards for each country, and the EU has set the standards for floor facilities to improve animal welfare on pig farms and as applied by farmers. Yet in Korea, there are no methods and techniques for breeding methods that do not use an ordinary stall, except on a few leading farms. There has been no research on the welfare of sows so that farmer could improve sows' living conditions. Thus, farmers can minimize the difficulty of implementing the changing government policies, and they must develop farm turnover policies and specification management manuals to cope with the introduced regulations on sow group housing. We suggest that conducting research and evaluating the level of sows' welfare are important for farmers.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2017

This study was carried out to collect basic data on the egg laying performance and disease occurrence on animal welfare-approved farms (AWAF) for laying hens with different housing types (windowless, open, and free-range house) and strains (Hy-line, Lohmann). Age at first egg laying was 151 d in the windowless house and 141 d in both the open and free-range houses, and the percentage peaks of each farm were 91.8%, 92.9%, and 86.3%. Average egg production according to housing types were 70.9%, 77.4%, and 65.6% at 18~38 wk old and 91.1%, 90.1%, and 76.2% at 32~36 wk. The average dirty and cracked egg ratio of the windowless, open, and free-range houses was 2.84%, 1.15%, and 0.23%, respectively. Mortality in the open house was lower than the other house types. Age of first egg laying for the Hy-line strain was 155 d and that for the Lohmann strain was 157 d, and the percentage peaks of the two strains were 92.9% (252 d) and 87.2% (237 d), respectively. Average egg production of the strains was 83.7% and 76.9%, respectively. The average dirty and cracked egg ratio of the Hy-Line and Lohmann strains was 3.85% and 2.97%, respectively. Mortality of the Hy-Line strain was lower than that of the Lohmann strain. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the egg weight, HU, and egg yolk color of chickens raised in the open house compared with those of chickens raised in the other house types. In terms of antibody titer, that for Newcastle disease in open house chickens was lower than that of chickens raised in windowless and free-range houses. The antibody titer for low pathogenic avian influenza, avian infectious bronchitis, and avian pneumovirus was high at over 3.0 in all three farms. SG, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella pullorum, fowl adenovirus infection, and infectious laryngotrachitis were not detected in any of the three house types. The number of AWAF for laying hens has continuously increased in Korea, but there is currently little data on the housing types used on the AWAF for laying hens. Therefore, the results of the present study, in which analyzed the laying performance and disease occurrence on AWAF for laying hens, can use as basic data for the improvement of performance and prevention of disease on further AWFA for laying hens.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.424-432
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• 2004

The handling and transport of broiler birds from farm to the processing factory is known to cause injury and dead. The preslaughter period can be compromised through thermal stress, emotional stress, starvation, dehydration, metabolic exhaustion, trauma to the skin and bone fraction resulting in bruising and dead. This paper focuses on the control points of individual post Harvest stages by reference to recent literature. In catching, the injuries and deads are caused from fracture of bone, skin damage and hipbone dislocation. It can be improved by training the catchers. The primary factor of dead during transportation is from thermal stress. It is related to stocking density, type of crate and vehicle, ventilation and transportation time. Of the factors, the ventilation is very important. The holding place should be built with consideration of protection from the hostile external environment. There were not much progresses in this area, however, many researches are conducting to focus on animal welfare in European Union. Recently, it is rapidly changed in marketing custom from whole carcass to portion cut in Korea. This means the increase of economic loss due to the mishandling at post harvest. The systematic approach is demanded for this area.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.444-454
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• 2016

This study was designed to examine the characteristics of sawdust and cocopeat bedding materials, including physicochemical properties (Exp. I) and on-farm trial (Exp. II). In Exp. I, the proportion of particle size was in the order of sawdust>cocopeat India>cocopeat Vietnam (p<0.05), and cocopeat contained higher proportion of small particles ($250{\mu}m$+below $250{\mu}m$) than sawdust, causing a dust production problem. Bulk density was cocopeat India>cocopeat Vietnam>sawdust (p<0.05), thus cocopeat treatments showed 4.4 times higher bedding cost than sawdust. The water absorption rates were 702.0% in cocopeat India, 678.3% in cocopeat Vietnam, and 444.0% in sawdust, showing cocopeat had approximately 1.5 times higher water absorption rate than sawdust. Moisture evaporation rates after 12 h of air blowing (2.00 m/s) were higher (p<0.05) in cocopeat Vietnam (80.4%) than sawdust (71.2%) and cocopeat India (72.8%). In vitro ammonia emissions were higher (p<0.05) in sawdust ($2.71mg/m^2/h$) than cocopeat India ($1.59mg/m^2/h$) and Vietnam ($1.22mg/m^2/h$), and total ammonia emissions were higher (p<0.05) in sawdust ($37.02mg/m^2$) than cocopeat India ($22.51mg/m^2$) and Vietnam ($13.60mg/m^2$). In Exp. II, an on-farm trial was conducted with 48 Hanwoo cattle in 16 pens using the same bedding materials as in Exp. I, with fan (blowing 2.00 m/s) and no fan treatments, and feed bunk side (FB) and water supply side (WS) within a pen (4.5 m, $width{\times}9.0m$, length). Beddings were replaced with fresh bedding materials when moisture concentrations were over 65%. No interactions among treatments were detected for moisture concentration and increment rates, and ammonia concentrations, but a significant effect was observed (p<0.01) for each of the treatments. Both concentrations and increment rate of moisture were higher (p<0.01) in the beddings without fan than with fan. Moisture concentrations and increment rate within a pen were also higher (p<0.01) in FB than WS. Thus, the whole no-fan-FB and sawdust-fan-FB were replaced with fresh bedding material between 4 to 5 experimental weeks. The ammonia concentrations and pH of beddings were not significantly different among treatments. Therefore, using cocopeat bedding with a blowing fan can extend twice the bedding utilization period, and WS within a pen showed twice the bedding-life compared to FB. Despite the outstanding characteristics of cocopeat compared with sawdust, using cocopeat as an alternative for sawdust bedding is not recommended for cattle management, considering it has 4.4 times higher bedding cost and a dust production problem.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.261-272
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• 2018

This study was conducted to evaluate the difference in the quality of chicken thigh meat from conventional and animal welfare farms during refrigeration storage over 9 days. Chicken thigh meat from conventional (CTC, n = 30) and animal welfare farms (CTW, n = 30) was tested. The pH value was significantly lower in CTW (6.28) than in CTC (6.37) on day 1; however, no significant differences were found on subsequent days. The yellowness of CTW was higher than that of CTC on day 1, but CTW showed lower yellowness than did CTC on day 7 and 9. The cooking loss, water holding capacity, lightness, redness, and coliform levels of CTC did not show any significant difference when compared with CTW during storage. The shear force of CTW was significantly higher than that of CTC on day 1, 3, 7, and 9. Total microorganism and coliform in CTC and CTW increased with increasing storage days. On day 7 and 9, the total microorganism level of CTW was lower than that of CTC. The thiobarbituric acid value of CTW was lower than that of CTC on day 9. The volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) of CTW was lower than that of CTC during storage. Anserine content and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl(DPPH) scavenging activity of CTW was significantly higher than CTC on day 1. These results suggest that CTW stayed fresher for longer than did CTC because of low total microorganism level on day 7 and 9, and VBN during refrigerated storage.