• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2009

This work was conducted to evaluate the effects of induced-molting methods on visceral organs and blood stress indicators in laying hens. One hundred fifty of 63-wk-old White Leghorn hens, with over 85% of egg production and $1.7\;{\pm}0.4\;kg$ of average weight, were used in this study. Treatments were control (non-molt treatment), feeding molt treatment (FM), and starving molt treatment (SM). There were 5 replicates of 10 hens for each treatment. All treatment groups were fed basal diet (15% CP and 2,700 kal/kg of ME) for two weeks as adaptation period. Heart weights were 8.2, 7.9 and 7.5 g in control, FM and SM, respectively. Liver and oviduct weights were decreased in both molting treatments compared with control (P<0.05). Corticosterone (CS) concentrations were 4.48, 4.47 and $4.66\;{\mu}g/mL$ in control, FM and SM at 61 weeks, respectively, but increased to 7.32, 7.11 and $7.71\;{\mu}g/mL$ at 62 weeks, respectively (P<0.05). Heterophil to lymphocyte ratios were 0.27~0.29 in all groups at 61 weeks, but increased to 0.97~1.03 in SM at 62 weeks. Both CS concentrations and H:L ratios in SM were greater compared with those for the other groups. These results suggest that hens in feeding molting program in hens are less stressed than those in starving molting one.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2009

This experiment was conducted to determine optimum dietary levels of dietary energy and protein for laying performance and egg quality in organic laying hens. In a $2{\times}3$ factorial arrangement, 360 Hy-Line pullets (21 wk of age) were randomly assigned to experimental diets with 2,800, 3,080, and 3,360 kcal of ME/kg of diet, each containing 16 and 18% CP, respectively. Each dietary treatment was replicated 4 times, and feed and water were provided ad libitum. Experimental birds were raised in floor and received 14h of light throughout 52 weeks of experimental period. The birds were observed for feed consumption, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, Haugh unit, shell thickness, and shell color at 30, 50, and 70 wk of age. Egg production, egg weight, and egg mass were higher (P<0.05) in hens receiving diets with 2,800 kcal/kg of ME/kg of feed than those fed diets containing 3,080 and 3,360 kcal of ME/kg of diets. Eggshell breaking strengths were not significantly different among the dietary ME and CP concentrations. Eggshell thickness was higher (P<0.05) in hens receiving diets with 3,360 kcal of ME/kg of feed than those fed diets containing 2,800 and 3,080 kcal of ME/kg of diets at 50 and 70 week. With increasing in dietary energy levels, the concentrations of blood total cholesterol were also significantly increased. Overall, the laying hens fed organic diet of 2,800 kcal ME/kg and 16% CP showed superior egg production than those of other dietary regimens.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.149-155
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• 2009

The present study was conducted to compare the carcass yields and meat characteristics of three types of commercial male chicks White mini broilers, Ross broilers and Hy-Line brown chicks under the identical feeding condition. One-hundred 1-d chicks of each type were randomly placed into four pens per group (25 chicks per pen) and fed corn-soybean meal based commercial diets for 35d, 18d or 49d, respectively. At the end of the feeding trial, the birds were sacrificed and subjected to carcass measurements. The dressing percentages of White mini broilers and Ross broilers were significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of Hy-Line brown cockerels. The rate of breast meat of Hy-Line brown cockerels was significantly lower (P<0.05) than those of White mini broilers and Ross broilers. However, Hy-Line brown cockerels showed higher (P<0.05) leg meats than the others. There were no significant differences in serum total cholesterol and the activities of glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase among the groups. The breast meats of White mini broilers presented highest lightness value. The yellowness of breast and redness of leg meats of White mini broilers and Ross broilers were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those of Hy-Line brown cockerels. There were no significant differences in the SOD-like activity and change of pH in edible meats among the groups. The meat color in White mini broilers was significantly higher than that of Hy-Line brown cockerels. No significant differences were observed in term of flavor, tenderness and overall acceptability. In conclusion, the physico-chemical properties and sensory characteristics of edible meats were not greatly affected by genotype if they were similar body weights and kept under the identical feeding condition. But the Hy-Line brown cockerels were less desirable as a meat-type strain due to lower carcass yields and inferior growth and feed conversion ratio.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.415-421
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• 2010

This work was carried out to investigate chemical composition and meat quality of crossbred Korean native chickens (KNC). Ninety 1-d male chicks were used in this work and were divided into 4 groups as A: (KNC egg-meat type C strains $\times$ KNC meat type S strains) (female) $\times$ KNC meat type H strains (male), B: (KNC egg-meat type C strains $\times$ KNC meat type H strains) (female) $\times$ KNC meat type S strains (male), C: (KNC native R strains $\times$ KNC meat type S strains) (female) $\times$ KNC meat type H strains (male), D: (KNC native L strains $\times$ KNC meat type H strains) (female) $\times$ Ross broiler (male) strains. They were fed the broiler diets for 12 weeks at the flat house and twenty seven chickens were slaughtered at week 5 and 10. Chicken thigh and breast were weighed and physicochemical compositions and sensory characteristics were investigated. Physical compositions of meats have no difference among strains at 5 week, and B strains differed from other strains at 10 week (P<0.05). The pH, moisture, and collagen content of meat from B strains were lower than other strains at 5 week. Ash and collagen of A strains were the lowest at 10 week (P<0.05), but others have no difference among strains. In sensory test, juiciness of D strains was the highest at 5 week, and tenderness of B strains was the lowest at 10 week (P<0.05). In conclusion, the crossbreeding of KNC did not affect physical traits but affected chemical composition of the chicken meat slaughtered at 5 week.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.103-110
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• 2009

This experiment was conducted using 350 Lohmann Brown layers (67 weeks of age) to evaluate the dietary effect of organic or inorganic Se and Cu on their contents in chicken eggs. The layers were divided into seven groups and fed a commercial diet or one of the six experimental diets containing different levels of Se and Cu (T1, 0.3ppm organic Se; T2, 1.0ppm organic Se; T3, 1.0ppm inorganic Se; T4, 125ppm organic Cu; T5, 250ppm organic Cu; and T6, 250ppm inorganic Cu) for 5 weeks. No significant differences were observed in egg production and its qualities among groups. The contents of blood cholesterol in the birds fed various levels of Se and Cu were not significantly different as compared to control. Se contents in eggs were linearly increased as dietary Se levels increased for both sources, but Se contents from the groups fed organic Se were slightly higher than those fed inorganic Se. Sensory characteristics of eggs were not influenced by dietary treatments. In conclusion, Se contents in eggs were linearly increased as dietary levels of organic or inorganic Se increased, but eggs in layers fed the diet containing organic Se did not show higher Se contents than those in birds fed dietary inorganic Se.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.341-350
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• 2009

The research work was carried out to study the pathogenesis covering the clinical signs, gross and histopathological lesions in different organs, and reisolation and identification of the organisms after experimental infection with the local isolate of Salmonella enterica serovar. enterica subspecies (S.) Pullorum at different time interval of the experiment during the period February 2006 to December 2006. One hundred pullets (seronegative to S. Pullorum of 12 weeks age were purchased and divided into 5 (A, B, C, D and E) groups and each group consisted of 20 birds. Four groups (A, B, C and D) were infected orally with a dose of $10^6\;CFU$, $10^7\;CFU$, $2{\times}10^7\;CFU$, $10^8\;CFU$ of S. Pullorum, respectively, and one group (E) was treated as uninfected control. The used methods were necropsy and histopathology, culture of bacteria, staining and biochemical test of Salmonella. Five birds from each group were randomly selected and sacrificed $1^{st}$ week, $2^{nd}$, $3^{rd}$ and $4^{th}$ weeks of post infection (PI). From all the groups, the bacteriological samples (crop, liver, lung, heart, spleen, bile duodenum, ceca and blood) were collected with pre enriched in buffered peptone water in sterile poly bags. Liver, lungs, heart, spleen, intestine, etc. were collected in 10% buffered-formalin for histopathological examination. No clinical signs, gross and histopathological lesions were found in control group and no S. Pullorum was reisolated. Clinical sign of experimentally infected with S. Pullorum in pullets were loss of appetite (100%), slight depression (75%), ruffled feathers (85%), diarrhea (60%) and loss of weight (100%) in chickens. The feed intake and body weight at different weeks after PI differed significantly (p<0.01) among the groups. Grossly, the highest recorded lesion was button-like ulcer in the ceca (80%) and the lowest was white nodules in lungs (1.25%). S. Pullorum were reisolated from crop (91.25%), liver (91.25%), lung (83.75%), heart (71.25%), spleen (87.75%), bile (33.25%), duodenum (92.50%), ceca (97.50%) and from different group of infection (61.25%). The highest microscopic findings were intestinal and cecal mucosa and submucosa exhibited infiltration of mononuclear cells and congestion (96.25%), and the lowest finding was nodule formation in the lungs (3.75%). The pattern of the disease production by local isolate of S. Pullorum in Bangladesh is almost similar with other isolates in different countries.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.301-309
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• 2009

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of energy restricted (ER) diet on the expressions of lipogenic genes in liver and myogenic genes in muscle tissue of broiler chickens. Energy restriction was accomplished by providing chicks with 70% (ER70) or 85% (ER85) energy level of control diet intake. Energy restricted groups of chickens were restricted for 7 days, starting at 8 days of age. Ad libitum feeding was resumed after the restriction period, and continued through the end of the experiment. The body weight of chickens in the restricted groups gained less during the energy restriction period (P<0.05). The body weight of the ER groups were similar to the control group during the re-alimentation period. However, the body weight of the ER70 group did not catch up with that of the control group by 35 days of age. The energy restrictions during early life of chicks decreased the contents of triglycerides and cholesterol in blood (P<0.05), but those were not different among treatments after re-alimentation. The genes of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and transcription factors including SREBP and PPARγ were down regulated by restriction regimen only in ER70 (P<0.05). However, those genes were not completely recovered after re-alimentation in ER70 group. The RNA expression levels of Myo-D, Myf-5 and myogenin in all treatment groups were decreased by restriction regimen when compared with control group (P<0.05). Myogenin was highly expressed after re-alimentation, but the other genes were not different among groups. These results suggest that ER85 group shows the best growth performance by re-alimentation and the higher muscle differentiation by expressing myogenin.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.279-286
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• 2009

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of cerium (Ce), a rare earth, individually and in combination with lanthanium (La), a rare earth, in the basal diet on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, bone composition, breast meat composition, carcass characteristics and meat color in broiler chicks. A total of 1,600 day-old broiler chicks were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments with four replicates in a completely randomized block design. Treatments were T1) CON (control diet), T2) 100 ppm Ce, T3) 100 ppm La, T4) 100 ppm Ce+100 ppm La. There were no significant differences in feed intake among dietary treatments during the whole experimental period (0 to 5 weeks). Body weight gain for the first three weeks was greater in birds T4 than birds fed T3 diet. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was better in birds fed T4 diet (p<0.05) than birds fed T3 diet during 0~3 weeks, and better FCR for 0~5 weeks was noticed in birds fed T4 diet than birds fed T1 diet. Nutrient digestibility was greatest in birds fed T3 diet (p<0.05) compared with other treatments. Bone composition, carcass characteristics and meat color were no statistically different among the treatments. These results suggest that Ce supplementation, alone and combination with La could improve performance of broilers.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.391-398
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• 2009

The objective of the present study was to compare of the effects of four molting methods on performance of laying hens. In total, 120 White Leghorn layers (62 weeks of age) were used. The four molting methods consisted of 10 days of feeding and the first 3 days of water withdrawal (FW1, 2) followed by ad libitum access to a layer diet 1 and 2 from day 11; 28 days of restricted feeding (NFW1); 28 days without withdrawing their feed (NFW2). Egg production of postmolt decreased until $3{\sim}4$ days at FW1 and FW2 treatments and until $16{\sim}18$ days at NFW1 and NFW2. 50% recovery of egg production were 7, 6, 7 and 5 week at FW1, FW2, NFW1, and NFW2 treatments, respectively. At day 14 of postmolt, the weight of livers, hearts, and oviducts decreased at molting treatments (P<0.05). Egg quality was improved on egg weight, eggshell thickness, eggshell break strength, and Haugh unit except egg yolk color (P<0.05).

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.139-147
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• 2009

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of organic dietary ME and CP on performance, blood composition and meat quality of cross-bred chicks for 15 weeks. Experiments were factorially designed with 3,000, 3,050, and 3,100 kcal of ME/kg, and 21 and 22% CP for the first five weeks; 3,050, 3,100, and 3,150 kcal of ME/kg, and 19 and 20% CP for the second five weeks; and 3,100 and 3,150 kcal of ME/kg, and 17 and 18% CP for the rest of weeks. Each treatment consisted of four replicates. Weight gain increased in treatments with higher ME diets for the first five weeks, but feed intake decreased significantly as dietary ME increased (P<0.05). Feed conversion also improved in chicks fed 3,100 kcal of ME/kg diets compared with those of 3,000, and 3,050 kcal of ME/kg (P<0.05), but was not influenced by dietary protein. Weight gain and feed conversion showed similar tendency for the second five weeks to those of the first five weeks. However, feed conversion improved significantly in 3,100 and 3,150 kcal of ME /kg compared to 3,050 kcal of ME/kg (P<0.05). Dietary protein did not affect the performance at all for this period. Weight gain and feed intake tended to increase in higher ME and lower protein diets from 11 to 15 weeks of age, whereas feed conversion decreased in 3,150 kcal of ME/kg more than 3,000 kcal/kg. No difference was found by CP treatments (P<0.05). There were no interactions in performance, blood composition and meat quality between dietary ME and protein. Further studies need to describe in whole period experiments instead of periodical experiment.