• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.221-226
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• 2000

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of replacing limestone by sea shell on digestibility, egg strength and thickness, Ca and P of serum and Ca and P of tibia in layer hens. A total 54 brown layers was assigned to the treatments. There were six layers per replicate with three replicate per treatment. Treatments were layer diet with 7.5% limestone as control, 7.0% limestone and 0.5% sea shell in diet(SS0.5) and 6.5% limestone and 1.0% sea shell in diet(SS1.0). Digestibility of DM was significantly difference between SS0.5 and SS1.0(P〈0.05). Digestibilities of Ca and P were not affected by treatments(P〉0.05), however, SS1.0 tended to increase Ca and P digestibility compared to control. Egg thickness and egg strength were no differences among the treatments(P〉0.05). Differences of initial and finial period on Ca of plasma were significantly affected in the a.m. between SS0.5 and SS1.0(P〈0.05). However, there was no difference in Ca of plasma in the p.m. among the treatments and Ca of plasma in control had a tendency to decrease in the p.m. compared to that of treatments(P〉0.05). Ca of tibia was significantly increased by SS1.0 compared to control(P〈0.05). However, there was no difference in P of tibia among the treatments(P〉0.05). Based on these results, dietary supplemental sea shell mat have a role to improve the egg quality of layer hens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.290-296
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• 2003

Tsaiya ducks and Leghorn hens are the two major laying birds raised in Taiwan. They are all excellent egg layers. Tsaiya ducks are small in body size (1.3 kg) with bigger egg weight (65 g) and stronger eggshell breaking strength than eggs from hens. The eggshell consists mainly of calcium carbonate, hence calcium plays an important role in the eggshell formation. Magnesium is also present in eggshell in small amounts, which may have effect on maintaining eggshell quality. In comparison studies, it was shown that the duck eggshells contained higher calcium and lower magnesium content than chicken eggshells. The eggshell magnesium content was not affected by the dietary magnesium levels (690-2380 ppm) in ducks, but in hens, it increased linearly with dietary magnesium levels. The palisade layer ($5000{\times}$) of the eggshell was found to have a compact form for ducks while there are many hallow vesicles in chicken eggshells. The eggshell magnesium deposition model is different for ducks and hens with ducks having a one-peak and hens having a two-peak model. The calcium deposition model is similar for both birds. Both the carbonic anhydrase specific activity and total activity in the shell gland mucosa of ducks are higher than those in hens. Ducks retain higher magnesium and lower calcium in the shell gland mucosa and secret less magnesium and more calcium into the shell gland lumen for eggshell deposition. The ATPase specific activity is maintained fairly constant during the eggshell forming stage, indicating continuous calcium transport into the shell gland lumen for eggshell formation. The magnesium content in duck eggshells is much lower than that in hens indicating that the magnesium content in the eggshell may have an effect on eggshell quality.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.313-322
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• 2020

Objective: An experiment was conducted to investigate the response of laying hens fed corn distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) that are naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON). Methods: One hundred and sixty 52-week-old Lohmann Brown Lite hens were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments with 8 replicates per treatment. The dietary treatments were formulated to provide a range of corn DDGS contaminated with DON from 0% to 20% (i.e., 5% scale of increment). All laying hens were subjected to the same management practices in a controlled environment. Body weight, feed intake and egg production were measured biweekly for the entire 8-week experiment. The egg quality was measured biweekly for 8 weeks. On weeks 4 and 8, visceral organ weights, blood metabolites, intestinal morphology, and blood cytokine concentrations were measured. Results: The inclusion of corn DDGS contaminated with DON in the diet did not alter (p>0.05) the body weight, feed intake, hen-day egg production, egg mass and feed efficiency of the laying hens. No difference was found (p>0.05) in the egg quality of hens that were fed the dietary treatments. Furthermore, hens that were fed a diet containing corn DDGS contaminated with DON showed no change (p>0.05) in the visceral organ weights, the blood metabolites, and the cytokine concentrations. The crypt depth increased (p<0.05) as the amount of corn DDGS contaminated with DON increased. Proportionately, the villus height to crypt depth ratio of the laying hens decreased (p<0.05) with the increasing level of corn DDGS contaminated with DON in the diet. Conclusion: The inclusion of corn DDGS contaminated with DON up to 20% in layer diets did not cause changes in egg production performance and egg quality, which indicates that DON is less toxic at the concentration of 1.00 mg DON/kg.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.173-178
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• 1988

To study the effects of utilizing extruded full fat soybean (FFS) in layer diets, 300 White Leghorn pullets were put in trial divided into 5 treatments; control (commercial soybean meal as protein source), FFS 50% (replacing 50% of soybean meal with FFS), FFS 100% (replacing all amount of soybean meal with FFS), soybean oil and tallow added treatment. Each treatment consisted of 5 replicates of 12 birds. Egg production and feed efficiency from hens fed control diet were significantly lower than from hens fed the other diets. Significant differences in egg production and feed efficiency were found between the control and the other treatments. Cholesterol concentration of serum and egg yolk were not affected by any dietary treatment. Feeding extruded full fat soybean did not cause pancreatic hypertrophy nor change in mortality. There was an indication that linoleic acid (C18:2), linolenic acid (C18:3) and iodine contents increased in the thigh and egg yolk lipid of the groups fed FFS or soybean soybean can serve as effective protein source for layer diets if economically justified.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2007

Avian pneumovirus(APV), also known as avian rhinotracheitis(ARTV), affects both turkeys and chickens and is known to be the primary causative agent of turkey rhinotracheitis(TRT). The aim of this study was to establish the presence or absence of antibodies to APV by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and confirm APV by a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR). The tested serum and feces were collected from laying hens in Gyeongbuk province. The positive farms with antibody against APV by ELISA were 90(96.7%) of 93 and positive serum samples were 433(93.1%) of 465 different sera. By regional group, sera from Uiseong, Cheongsong and Bonghwa were noted as 100% positive and positive rates of samples from Yeongju, Andong and Yeongyang were 93.3%, 85.7% and 50%, respectively. However, APV was not detected in feces samples by RT-PCR.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.107-113
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• 1979

In the chickens removed the left thyroid gland or administrated with thiouracil, fatty liver (FL) and fatty liver-hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) were induced within five weeks after treatment. FL was observed in all of the thyroidectomized layer and broiler hens, and the occurrence of FLHS was higher in rate at the fifth week than that at the third week after removal. FL and FLHS were observed in the thiouracil-administrated broiler hens, but the rate of incidence was appeared to be lower in the thiouracil-administrated hens than in the thyroidectomized chickens. It was suggested that hypothyoidism could be an important factor inducing FLHS.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.1465-1471
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• 2004

A trial was conducted to determine the effect of abrasive strips and abrasive paint in layer cages on claw length and claw sharpness, foot condition, feather cover and mortality of hens. During the preparation of the cages for the experiment it was simpler and took less time to apply the pre-prepared paint with a spatula to the egg guard compared to sticking the abrasive strips onto the egg guard. Fitting the strips took longer because it had to be cut from a 25 mm roll, cut into the appropriate lengths, the tape backing removed and then stuck onto the egg guard section. Abrasive paint was more effective as a claw shortener than abrasive strips. The birds using the abrasive paint had the shortest (p<0.05) claw length and lowest (p<0.05) claw sharpness. One of the original reasons for reducing claw length with claw shorteners was to reduce mortality by minimising skin skin abrasions caused by the claws. Surprisingly hen mortality from prolapse and cannibalism was higher (p<0.05) in cages fitted with abrasives. There are no other reports in the literature showing an increase in prolapse and cannibalism from hens using abrasives.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2001

This study conducted to investigate the effects of feeding Fermkito 50 on the egg production and egg quality hens. One hundred forty four, 50 weeks old ISA brown commercial layer, were used in a 28 d growth assay. Dietary treatments included 1) control(basal diet), 2) FERMO.5(based diet+0.5% Fermkito), 2) FERM1.0(basal diet+1.0% Fermkito), 3) FERM+YU(basal diet+0.5% Fermkito and 0.05% yucca extract). Overall (d 0 to 28), egg production tended to increase as the concentration of Fermkito 50 in the diets was increased without significant difference(P〈0.05). As adding level of Fermkito 50 increased in the diets, egg weight tended to increase. Laying hens fed FERM+YU diet were higher egg weight than laying hens fed control diet(P〈0.05). Egg shell breaking strength was not influenced by Fermkito 50. As adding level of Fermkito 50 was increased in the diets, yolk color tended to increase. Laying hens fed FERM+YU diet had improved egg yolk index compared to laying hens fed control diet. Total-cholesterol of egg yolk in FERM1.0 and FERM+YU treatments was significantly decreased compared to that in control diet(p〈0.05). Total-cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in serum tended to increase as the concentration of Fermkito 50 in the diets was decreased(P〈0.05). Also, HDL-cholesterol concentration in serum with FERM1.0 and FEUM+YU treatments was significantly higher than control diet(P〈0.05). However, LDL-cholesterol concentration in serum with FERM1.0 and FERM0.5+YU treatments was significantly lower than control diet(P〈0.05). In conclusion, supplemental Fermkito 50 in laying hen diets can be used to improve egg quality.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.1766-1775
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• 2021

Objective: The oxidative stress status and changes of chicken ovary tissue after shading were studied, to determine the mechanism of the effect of shading on follicular development. Methods: Twenty healthy laying hens (40 weeks old) with uniform body weight and the same laying rate were randomly divided into two groups (the shading group and normal light group). In the shading group, the cage was covered to reduce the light intensity inside the cage to 0 without affecting ventilation or food intake. The normal lighting group received no additional treatment. After 7 days of shading, oxidative stress related indicators and gene expression were detected. Results: Analysis of paraffin and ultrathin sections showed that apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) increased significantly after light shading. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay results revealed that the levels of total antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione, catalase (CAT), and other substances in the sera, livers, ovaries, and follicular GCs of laying hens increased significantly after shading for 7 days; and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in the livers of laying hens also increased significantly. ROS in the serum, ovarian and GCs also increased. After shading for 7 days, the levels of 8-hydroxy-2 deoxyguanosine in the sera and ovarian tissues of laying hens increased significantly. Cell counting kit-8 detection showed that the proliferation activity of GCs in layer follicles decreased after shading for 7 days; the expression level of the anti-apoptotic gene B-cell lymphoma-2 in ovarian tissue and follicular GCs was significantly reduced, and the expression levels of pro-apoptotic caspase 3 (casp3), and SOD, glutathione peroxidase 2 (GPX2), and CAT were all significantly increased. Conclusion: Oxidative stress induced by shading light has a serious inhibitory effect on follicular development during reproduction in laying hens.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.1275-1285
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• 2021

The objective of the present experiment was to investigate the effect of dietary palm kernel meal (PKM) and β-xylanase supplementation on productive performance, egg quality, fatty liver incidence, and excreta characteristics in laying hens. A total of 320 Hy-Line Brown laying hens (33 weeks of age) were allotted to 1 of 4 treatments with 8 replicates in a feeding trial. Each replicate consisted of 10 consecutive cages with 1 hen per cage. The corn-soybean meal-based control diet was prepared. Additional diet was prepared by including 10% of PKM in the control diet with a partial replacement of corn, soybean meal, and animal fat. In addition, 0.025% β-xylanase was supplemented at the expense of celite to those 2 diets to produce 4 treatment diets in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. All hens were provided the diet and water ad libitum for 8 weeks. Results indicated no significant interactions between inclusion of dietary PKM and β-xylanase for all measurements; therefore, the main effects were mainly discussed. Hens fed diets containing 10% PKM had greater (p < 0.05) feed intake and yolk color than those fed diets containing no PKM. However, dietary PKM did not influence fatty liver incidence and excreta characteristics. Dietary β-xylanase supplementation had no effects on all measurements, regardless of inclusion of PKM. In conclusion, PKM can be a potential feed ingredient for laying hens at the inclusion of 10% in the diet. It appears that dietary β-xylanase used in the current experiment has little effect on layer productivity, regardless of inclusion of 10% PKM in the diet.