• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.45-52
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• 2020

A grading system is implemented to evaluate the meat quality of Hanwoo. In the grading system, grade 1++A is the highest grade. Livestock farms breed Hanwoo with good quality feed in order to obtain the highest grade. In this process, the content ratios of muscles in individual regions can be changed. To find out the muscle distribution ratios of Hanwoo steers, grade 1A, 1+A, and 1++A Hanwoo steers were compared with grade 1+A Hanwoo female. Grade 1A Hanwoo steers had higher ratios of shank (SK), brisket and flank (BF), neck chain (NC), and inside skirt (IS) meats and a lower ratio of striploin (SL) meat compared to grade 1+A Hanwoo feamle. Grade 1++A Hanwoo steers had higher ratios of neck (NK) and loin (LN) meats and lower ratios of inside skirt (IS), tenderloin (TL), top round (TR), eye round (ER), bottom round (BR), bottom sirloin triangle (BST), and knuckle (K) meats compared to grade 1+A Hanwoo steers. In comparison between grade 1A and 1++A Hanwoo steers, the ratio of shank (SK) was significantly lower in higher quality meats. If the changes are continuously studied to improve the process so that the ratios of partial meats of the regions highly preferred by consumers can increase, it will contribute to increases in the incomes of livestock farms and enable Hanwoo to grow into a global brand.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.1482-1486
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• 2003

In order to compare effects of feeding systems on rumen fermentation characteristics and nutrient digestion, steers were fed either total mixed ration (TMR) or separate concentrate-roughage ration (CR). Total tract digestibility of nutrients was higher in steers receiving TMR. Especially, DM, ADF and NDF in TMR were digested to a greater extent than those in CR. Rumen pH was not influenced by the feeding systems. Holstein steers on TMR had higher ruminal $NH_3$-N than those on CR. Feeding system did not alter VFA production but TMR feeding resulted in lower A/P ratio. TMR feeding tended to increase the number of bacteria and protozoa in the rumen fluid. Also steers fed TMR generally had higher fiber degrading enzyme activities, which might be the result of increased number of cellulolytic microbes in the rumen of animals on TMR. Our results indicate that TMR may provide more favorable condition for nutrient digestion both in the rumen and in the total tract of steers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.420-426
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• 2005

Effect of pasture finishing on $\alpha$-tocopherol and $\beta$-carotene concentrations, drip loss, cooking loss, Warner-Bratzler shear force, fatty acid composition, meat color and metmyoglobin percentage of m. longissimus thoracis of Japanese Shorthorn steers was studied. Japanese Shorthorn steers (n=8), fattened indoors with a concentrate-based diet until they were 19 months of age were divided into two groups of four steers. Steers of the concentrate-fed group were fattened indoors with a concentrate-based diet until they were slaughtered. Steers of the pasture-fed group were fattened on pasture until they were slaughtered. The $\alpha$-tocopherol and $\beta$-carotene concentrations in the muscle of the pasture-fed group were higher (p<0.05) than those of the concentrate-fed group. The drip loss of the muscle of the pasture-fed group was lower (p<0.05) than that of the concentrate-fed group. Compared with the concentrate-fed group, the concentration of peroxidisable lipids (fatty acids with three or more unsaturated bonds) in the muscle of the pasture-fed group was high (p<0.05). The metmyoglobin percentage during display of the muscle of the pasture-fed group was higher (p<0.05) than that of the concentrate-fed group. These results suggested that pasture finishing decreased drip loss of the beef but lowered meat color stability.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1594-1600
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• 2010

A study was conducted to determine the dietary effects of a clay mineral (sodium bentonite, NaB) on manure gas emission, health, production, and meat characteristics of Hanwoo steers. Two diets fed to steers included a control diet (concentrate mix and rice straw) and a treatment diet (control diet+1.0% clay mineral/concentrate mix). Dietary NaB addition considerably reduced concentrations of gases ($H_2S$, $SO_2$ and $NH_3$) in the manure of Hanwoo steers. Growing steers fed NaB had similar blood profiles with the exception of lower (p<0.05) concentrations of blood alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase. Dietary NaB addition tended to increase (p = 0.10) live weight by 30 kg at slaughtering and did not affect carcass yield and quality traits. Dietary NaB addition increased concentrations of P (p<0.01), Mg (p<0.01), Na (p<0.01), Zn (p<0.005), K (p = 0.08), Fe (p = 0.08) and Cu (p = 0.07) in the longissimus muscle compared to the control but did not affect (p>0.05) fatty acid composition. The study demonstrated that the dietary addition of a clay mineral could be effective in improving mineral bioavailability to Hanwoo steers, which could be one of the reasons for their improved performance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.900-904
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• 2002

The duration of spatial memory in cattle is potentially important for grazing management. The ability of livestock to remember the location of food patches may lead to uneven range use. In this experiment, how long cattle are able to remember food locations was determined. Six steers were used to conduct this study in a pasture with an 8 row by 8 column grid of 64 plastic containers 5 meters apart. Four randomly chosen containers were loaded with feed pellets. All steers were trained to find the loaded locations until a minimum of empty containers were visited. After this initial training, each steer was tested at 5, 10, 20 and 48 days post-training. Total number of visits (TV), number of containers visited (NC), the ratio of loaded containers (LC) to NC were recorded. Once the steers learned the locations of loaded containers NC did not increase with time since last training up to 48 days (p>0.05). Logarithmic transformation of NC (LNC) was 0.70 and 0.80 for the control and 48 day treatments, respectively. Steers were equally efficient in locating containers with feed. The steers also showed that their ability in locating food was much better than expected by chance (Z>1.62). Findings of the present study do not suggest using spatial memory decay as a tool to promote better grazing distribution. Because steers remembered food locations accurately for at least 48 days.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.666-673
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• 2016

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of the level of corn dry distillers grains with solubles (CDDGS) supplementation on growing performance, blood metabolites, digestion characteristics and ruminal fermentation patterns in steers grazing dormant forage. In Exp. 1, of growth performance, 120 steers ($204{\pm}5kg$ initial body weight [BW]) were distributed randomly into 3 groups (each of 40 steers), which were provided with the following levels of CDDGS supplement: 0%, 0.25%, or 0.50% BW. All groups of steers were grazed for 30 days in each of 3 grazing periods (March, April, and May). Approximately 1,000 ha of the land was divided with electric fencing into 3 equally sized pastures (333 ha in size). Blood samples were collected monthly from 20 steers in each grazing group for analysis of glucose (G), urea-nitrogen (UN) and non-esterified fatty acids. Final BW, average daily gain (ADG) and supplement conversion (CDDGS-C) increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05).The CDDGS supplementation also increased the plasma G and UN concentrations (p<0.05). In Exp. 2, of digestive metabolism, 9 ruminally cannulated steers ($BW=350{\pm}3kg$) were distributed, following a completely randomized design, into groups of three in each pasture. The ruminally cannulated steers were provided the same levels of CDDGS supplementation as in the growing performance study (0%, 0.25%, and 0.50% BW), and they grazed along with the other 40 steers throughout the grazing periods. The dry matter intake, crude protein intake, neutral detergent fiber intake (NDFI), apparent digestibility of dry matter (ADDM), crude protein (ADCP) and neutral detergent fiber (ADNDF) increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05). The ruminal degradation rates of CP (kdCP), NDF (kdNDF) and passage rate (kp) also increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05). Ruminal ammonia nitrogen ($NH_3$-N) and propionate concentrations also increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05). However, acetate concentrations decreased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05). Liquid dilution rate increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation but ruminal liquid volume decreased (p<0.05). On the basis of these findings, we can conclude that CDDGS supplementation enhanced the productive performance of cattle grazing native rangeland without negatively affecting forage intake, glucose and urea-nitrogen blood concentrations, ruminal degradation and ruminal fermentation patterns.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.404-412
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• 2016

We hypothesized that supplementing finishing diets with palm oil would promote adipogenic gene expression and stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) gene expression in subcutaneous (s.c.) and intramuscular (i.m.) adipose tissues of feedlot steers. Eighteen Angus and Angus crossbred steers were assigned to three groups of 6 steers and fed a basal diet (control), with 3% palm oil, or with 3% soybean oil, for 70 d, top-dressed daily. Tailhead s.c. adipose tissue was obtained by biopsy at 14 d before the initiation of dietary treatments and at 35 d of dietary treatments. At slaughter, after 70 d of dietary treatment, tailhead s.c. adipose tissue and i.m. adipose tissue were obtained from the longissimus thoracis muscle. Palm oil increased plasma palmitic acid and soybean oil increased plasma linoleic acid and ${\alpha}$-linolenic acid relative to the initial sampling time. Expression of AMP-activated protein kinase alpha ($AMPK{\alpha}$) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ($PPAR{\gamma}$) increased between the initial and intermediate biopsies and declined thereafter (p<0.03). SCD gene expression did not change between the initial and intermediate biopsies but declined by over 75% by the final period (p = 0.04), and G-coupled protein receptor 43 (GPR43) gene expression was unaffected by diet or time on trial. Soybean oil decreased (p = 0.01) $PPAR{\gamma}$ gene expression at the intermediate sample time. At the terminal sample time, $PPAR{\gamma}$ and SCD gene expression was less in i.m. adipose tissue than in s.c. adipose tissue (p<0.05). $AMPK{\alpha}$ gene expression was less in s.c. adipose tissue of palm oil-fed steers than in control steers (p = 0.04) and CCAAT enhancer binding protein-beta ($CEBP{\beta}$) gene expression was less in s.c. and i.m. adipose tissues of palm oil-fed steers than in soybean oil-fed steers (p<0.03). Soybean oil decreased SCD gene expression in s.c. adipose tissue (p = 0.05); SCD gene expression in palm oil-fed steers was intermediate between control and soybean oil-fed steers. Contrary to our original hypothesis, palm oil did not promote adipogenic gene expression in s.c. and i.m. adipose tissue.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.245-250
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• 2005

This study was carried out to find out how space allowance affect the social behavior of Korean native cattle (Bos taurus coreanae) steers. Twelve Korean native cattle (Bos taurus coreanae) steers were used as subjects, each of which was 30-month-old and observation period was from June to July 2003. Five (T1) and seven (T2) steers were allotted to two pens of $5m{\times}10m$ in a building with slate roof and open sides respectively. They were fed at 09:00 h and 16:00 h, twice a day. The behaviors of steers were recorded from 06:00 h to 17:00 h, using two color CCD cameras (Samsung SDC-411, Korea), one B/W CCD cameras (Samsung SBC-340, Korea), one multiplexer (Samsung SDM-081, Korea) and a time lapse VCR (Samsung SRV-30, Korea). The behaviors of each steer were recorded every 2 min using an instantaneous point sampling method. While the mean percentage of time budget in WA of T1 was lower than that of T2 (p<0.05), the mean percentage of time budget in SF of T1 was higher than that of T2 (p<0.05). When it gets hot, steers in T1 rested from 10:00 h to 14:00 h when it gets cool, showing 40~80% of LD rate while steers in T2 rested from 12:00 h, when it very hot to 17:00 h, showing 20~50% of LD rate, which is relatively low. Steers in T1 were fed from 06:00 h to 08:00 h when it was cool and from 16:00 h to 18:00 h, showing 20~45% of EA rate while steers in T2 were fed from 08:00 h to 14:00 h when it was hot, showing 25~50% of EA rate. In conclusion, it turned out that the number of steers affected their social behavior, and T1 was better environment than T2 in terms of welfare.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1562-1568
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• 2013

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of indigenous herbal supplements on growth, blood metabolites and carcass characteristics in the late fattening period of Hanwoo steers. In a 6 month feeding trial, thirty Hanwoo steers ($647{\pm}32$ kg) were allotted to one of 5 treatment groups, control (basal diet contained lasalocid), licorice, clove, turmeric and silymarin, with six steers per pen. All groups received ad libitum concentrate and 1 kg rice straw/animal/d throughout the feeding trial. Blood samples were collected at the beginning, middle, and the end of the experiment and the steers were slaughtered at the end. Blood glucose, triglyceride, total protein, and albumin concentrations were higher in the turmeric treatment compared with other treatments. Blood urea nitrogen and creatinine concentrations were highest (p<0.003 and p = 0.071, respectively) in steers treated with silymarin. Alanine aminotransferase activity was lower (p<0.06) for licorice and silymarin compared with the control group. There were no alterations in serum aspartate aminotransferase and gamma glutamyltransferase activities as a consequence of herb treatments (p = 0.203 and 0.135, respectively). Final body weight, body weight gain, average dairy gain and dry matter intake were not significantly different among treatments. Yield grade, marbling score and quality grade were higher for silymarin group than those of the control group (p<0.05). Therefore, the results suggest that silymarin can be used an effective dietary supplement as an alternative to antibiotic feed additive and a productivity enhancer, providing safe and more consumer acceptable alternative to synthetic compounds during the late fattening period of steers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.181-186
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• 2017

Objective: Leucaena leucocephala (Leucaena) is a perennial tropical legume that can be directly grazed or harvested and offered to ruminants as hay, silage, or fresh. However, Leucaena contain phenolic compounds, which are considered anti-nutritional factors as these may reduce intake, digestibility and thus animal performance. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to determine effects of Leucaena silage (LS) feeding levels on rumen microbial populations, N-balance and microbial protein synthesis in dairy steers. Methods: Four, rumen fistulated dairy steers with initial weight of $167{\pm}12kg$ were randomly assigned to receive dietary treatments according to a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. Treatments were as followings: T1 = untreated rice straw (RS; Control), T2 = 70% RS+30% LS, T3 = 40% RS+60% LS, and T4 = 100% LS. Dairy steers were fed rice straw and LS ad libitum and supplemented with concentrate at 0.2% of body weight/d. Results: Results revealed that the rumen microbial population, especially cellulolytic, proteolytic bacteria and fungal zoospores were enhanced in steers that received 60% of LS (p<0.05), whereas the amylolytic bacteria population was not affected by treatments (p>0.05). Protozoal population was linearly decreased with increasing level of LS (p<0.05). Moreover, N-balance and microbial protein synthesis were enhanced by LS feeding (p<0.05) and were the highest in 60% LS group. Conclusion: Based on this study, it could be concluded that replacement of RS with 60% LS significantly improved microbial population and microbial protein synthesis in diary steers.