• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.357-364
• /
• 2005

We surveyed the incidence of urinary calculi for feeding period, urinary lesion, composition of calculi and changes of serum chemistry with Korean native castrated steers, which are growing until 26 through 31 months. Without showing any clinical signs such as urethral obstruction, hydronephrosis and strangury for all group, $37.8\%$ (34 out of 90) of Korean native steers carried urinary calculi in carcass. The incidence of urine calculi far different feeding stages from 26 to 31 months were observed as $13.3-60.0\%$er, no significant differences were detected. The distribution of calculi were kidney $(24.4\%)$, kidney and bladder $(10\%)$ and kidney, bladder and urine $(3.3\%)$. Congestion of urinary bladder was shown in $26.6\%$ of Korean native steers. Korean native steers with urinary calculi $(41.2\%)$ had more possibilities (P<0.05) to bring outbreaks of congestion of urinary bladder than those of without calculi $(17.8\%)$. The main composition of calculi were struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate crystals), calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, calcium oxalate, non-oxalate calcium, ammonia and phosphate. The distribution of urine pH was $71.7\%$(above pH 8.0), $12.2\%$ (between pH 7.0 and pH 8.0) and $16.6\%$ (under pH 7.0). Like shown in herbivores, most of the urine pH was distributed as alkaline urine. Serum creatinine was shown significant difference (P<0.05) according to incidence of calculi but other serum chemistry didn't show any difference in serum chemistry. These results suggest that feeding until 26 to 31 months in Korean native steers castrated at 6 months of the age elicits urinary calculi and congestion of urinary bladder, but not clinical abnormality. And adjustment of the dietary Can ratio to a level of 2:1 or greater during feeding period may reduce the possibility of incidence of urinary calculi in Korean native steers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.25 no.11
• /
• pp.1553-1558
• /
• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of stocking density or group size on feed intake, daily gain, and carcass characteristics of Hanwoo (Korean indigenous breed) steers reared from 7 months to 31 months of age. Thirty Hanwoo steers were divided into four groups with three replicates each (a total of 12 pens). In each group, one (G1), two (G2), three (G3), and four steers (G4) per pen were allocated as treatments. Pen size was $32.0m^2$, and therefore Hanwoo steers in G1, G2, G3, and G4 were reared under different space allowances, i.e. 32.0, 16.0, 10.6, and $8.0m^2$/steer, respectively. Steers were reared following a conventional beef cattle management method in Korea, and were offered a fixed amount of commercial concentrate with ad libitum forages. Results were subjected to analysis of variance with stocking density as the main effect, and significance was declared at p<0.05. Although total feed intake was not significantly altered, it numerically increased in animals of low stocking density (G1) compared to those subjected to high stocking density treatment (i.e. G4). Feed conversion ratio was higher (p<0.05) in G3 compared to G1 and G2. Animals in G1 (low stocking density) grew faster (p<0.05) than those of high stocking density (G3 and G4). Back fat thickness, meat yield index, and meat yield grade were similar among all levels of stocking density. However, longissimus muscle area was larger in G1 and G2 (p<0.01) compared to G3 and G4, and animals in G3 produced smaller carcasses (p<0.05). Carcass quality traits, including marbling score, meat color, fat color, texture, maturity and meat quality grade, as determined by a group of experts, were not significantly different among the treatments. In conclusion, lower stocking density resulted in increased feed efficiency, daily gain, and carcass weight in Hanwoo steers. However it remains unclear whether such differences are the results of stocking density or group size, or a combination of both. Nonetheless, these results confirm previous studies reporting a negative effect of increased stocking density on animal productivity. Further, animal welfare under an intensive farming system in relation to economical return is discussed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.530-538
• /
• 2016

Two experiments were conducted to determine the nutrient composition, in vitro ruminal ammonia concentrations and pH of wet distillers grains (WDG, produced from tapioca 70% and rice 30%) and to evaluate dietary effects of fermented total mixed ration (TMR) using WDG on the performance, blood metabolites and carcass characteristics of Hanwoo steers from mid fattening to slaughter. In Exp. I, average dry matter (DM), crude protein, ether extract, crude fiber, ash, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and nitrogen free extract of seven WDG samples from an ethanol plant with different sampling dates were 19.9%, 24.8%, 3.8%, 21.8%, 8.87%, 60.3%, 34.5%, and 40.7% (DM basis), respectively. For in vitro ammonia concentrations and pH, each sample was assigned to 7 incubation times (0, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h). Linear increase was observed between 12 and 48 h for ammonia concentrations, but final ammonia concentrations (72 h) were not significantly different among WDG samples and fermentation patterns of WDG samples showed similar tendency. In vitro pH varied among treatments from 0 to 24 h, but were not different statistically after 48 h. In Exp. II, 45 Hanwoo steers of 23 months ($641{\pm}123kg$) from mid fattening period to slaughter (248 days) were randomly divided into three groups of 15 pens each (five repetitions/each treatment) and assigned to one of three dietary treatments; i) Control (TMR), ii) WDG 15 (TMR containing 15% of WDG, as fed basis) and iii) WDG 28 (TMR containing 28% of WDG, as fed basis). The body weight (BW), ADG, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of control and WDG 15 and 28 during 248 days were 760.8, 740.1, and 765.5 kg, and 0.50, 0.50, and 0.52 kg/d, and 18.6, 17.6, and 17.1, respectively. The dry matter intake (DMI) (kg/d) of control (9.11) was higher (p<0.05) than WDG treatments (WDG 15%, 8.57; 28%, 8.70). Nevertheless, DMI did not affect BW, ADG, and FCR of Hanwoo finishing steers. Blood metabolites were in normal ranges and were not different among treatments except the albumin concentration. In carcass characteristics, WDG 15 (30%) showed higher frequency of A-carcass yield grade than WDG 28 (15%) and control (7%), and WDG 28 (61%) showed higher frequency of $1^{{+}{+}}$ and $1^+$-carcass quality grade than WDG 15 (40%) and control (60%). In conclusion, using WDG up to 28% in TMR did not show any negative effect on the performance and blood metabolites, and improved carcass quality of Hanwoo steers. Therefore, WDG can be a useful feed ingredient for Hanwoo steers in mid-fattening period to slaughter.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.22 no.7
• /
• pp.993-1004
• /
• 2009

Three experiments were conducted to determine the effects of non-ionic surfactant (NIS) supplementation on ruminal fermentation, nutrient digestibility and performance of beef steers fed high-roughage diets. The objective of experiment 1 was to investigate the effects of NIS supplementation on in vitro ruminal fermentation of cultures administered with corn and barley as grain substrate and rice straw and timothy hay as roughage substrate. The in vivo ruminal fermentation, nitrogen balance and digestibility of nutrients were also examined with steers fed a high-roughage diet in experiment 2. The aim of experiment 3 was to determine the responses to NIS of growing steers fed a high-roughage diet. In experiment 1, ammonia nitrogen concentration for NIS supplementation was higher (p<0.05) than for the control with all substrates. However, concentrations of total volatile fatty acid (VFA), acetate, butyrate and valerate of the incubated roughage substrates, rice straw and timothy hay, were higher (p<0.05) for NIS supplementation than for the control whereas VFA concentrations in the cultures of corn and barley were unaffected. These results indicated that effects of NIS on ruminal fermentation are diet dependent, specifically on roughage sources. In experiment 2, ruminal pH of steers supplemented with NIS was lower (p<0.05) than the control. Ruminal concentrations of ammonia nitrogen, acetate, total VFA and urinary concentrations of purine derivatives were increased (p<0.05) by NIS supplementation. In experiment 3, supplementation of NIS increased (p<0.05) intakes of total feed and corn silage, average daily gain, and feed efficiency of growing steers although they varied depending on supplementation level. Due to the roughage-specific feature of NIS effects, NIS appears to enhance ruminal fermentation of fibrous parts of feeds and, consequently, performance of steers fed a high-roughage diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.30 no.10
• /
• pp.1486-1494
• /
• 2017

Objective: This research analyzed behavioral characteristics of Hanwoo (Bos taurus coreanae) steers during each season and growth stage to enable measurement of the animals' welfare level for precision livestock farming. Methods: A hundred-eight beef steers were divided into three equal groups at a Hanwoo farm according to their growth stage: growing stage (GS), 8 months; early-fattening stage (EFS), 19 months; and late-fattening stage (LFS), 30 months. Twelve behavioral categories were continuously recorded for 13 day-time hours in each four seasons with three replications. Results: Time spent standing was found to be significantly longer in summer at all growth stages (p<0.05). Hanwoos at the GS spent significantly longer standing time in spring and summer than those at the EFS and LFS (p<0.05). Lying time in summer was the shortest for all growth stages (p<0.05). Steers at the LFS spent significantly longer lying time than that at the GS (p<0.05) in summer. For GS and EFS, time spent eating in spring and autumn were longer than in summer and winter (p<0.05). Eating time was the longest for the GS in spring, autumn, and winter, excluding for the LFS in winter (p<0.05). Regarding ruminating, steers at the LFS spent significantly shorter time than those at other stages in all seasons (p<0.05). GS and EFS steers showed the longest walking time in summer compared with other seasons (p<0.05). At GS and LFS, drinking time in summer was the longest of all seasons (p<0.05). Sleeping time was significantly shorter in summer compared with the other seasons (p<0.05). Self-grooming time was the longest in winter for all growth stages (p<0.05). Conclusion: Steers were found to have more variable behavioral patterns during summer and the GS and less active behaviors during the LFS, thus extra care seems necessary during the GS, LFS, and summer period.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.57 no.6
• /
• pp.25.1-25.7
• /
• 2015

Rumen bypass fat is commonly added to increase energy intake in dairy cattle. The objective of this study is to examine the addition of rumen bypass fat during finishing period on performance and carcass characteristics in grain fed steers. This study was conducted as a completely randomized block design with 126 cross-bred steer calves (initial BW $471.5{\pm}7.5kg$) randomly assigned to pens with 9 steers/pen (n = 7 pens/treatment). Each pen was randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups; rumen bypass fat treatment (CCS, calcium soap of palm fatty acids) and control diet (CT, tallow). The diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isocaloric. Animals were fed twice daily at 110 % of the previous daily ad libitum intake. Blood from each sample was taken from the jugular vein. Muscle and adipose samples were collected from the longissimus dorsi regions. Feedlot performance and carcass characteristics were assessed. To examine adipogenic gene expression, quantitative real-time PCR was completed. Steers fed the CT had a greater level of performance for most of the parameters measured. The CT group had greater DMI (P < 0.05) and tended to have greater ADG (P < 0.10). Marbling score (P < 0.05) and quality grade (P < 0.05) were greater for steers fed the CT diet than those fed CCS. The longissimus muscle area tended to be greater (P < 0.10) in steers fed CT ($87.60cm^2$) than those fed CCS (84.88 cm2). The leptin mRNA expression was down-regulated (P < 0.05) in adipose tissue of steers fed a CCS when compared to those fed CT. These data suggest that calcium soap of palm fatty acids can be added to finishing diets without significant reduction in final body weight, although there may be modest reductions in marbling and quality scores.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.66 no.2
• /
• pp.353-365
• /
• 2024

Rumen cannulation is a surgical technique used to collect rumen contents from ruminants. However, rumen cannulation surgery may potentially impact the composition of the rumen microbiota. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal alterations in the rumen microbiota composition of Hanwoo steers after cannulation surgery. In this study, eight Hanwoo steers were used; four steers underwent rumen cannulation surgery (cannulation group), while the remaining four were left intact (control group). Rumen samples were collected from all eight steers using the stomach tubing method on the day before surgery (day 0) and on postoperative days 1, 4, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, and 28, resulting in 80 samples (10 timepoints × 8 animals). The microbiota of all 80 samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with Quantitative Insights into Microbial Ecology version 2 (QIIME2). There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in all major phyla and most major genera representing at least 0.5% of total sequences across all 80 samples between the control and cannulation groups on the preoperative and postoperative days. However, while the alpha diversity indices did not differ (p > 0.05) between the two groups on the preoperative day, they significantly differed (p < 0.05) between the two groups on the postoperative days. Further, the overall microbial distribution based on both unweighted and weighted principal coordinate analysis plots significantly differed (p < 0.05) between the two groups on both the preoperative and postoperative days. Orthogonal polynomial contrasts indicated that major genera and microbial diversity in the cannulation group decreased following surgery but returned to their initial states by postoperative day 28. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that rumen cannulation surgery affects some major taxa and microbial diversity, suggesting that the rumen cannulation method can alter the composition of rumen microbiota in Hanwoo steers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.209-213
• /
• 2005

This study was conducted to determine the optimum substitution level of dried leftover food (DLF) in formula feed for Hanwoo (Korean Native Cattle) steers. A total of forty growing steers were assigned to 5 treatments based on substitution level of DLF (at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% level of formula feed). The experiment was carried out with growing steers from 6 months of age to 24 months of age. Average daily gain (ADG) was not affected by DLF substitution level up to 75% of formula feed. However ADG decreased at 100% substitution level. Daily feed intakes were similar among treatments but the amount of feed per 1 kg gain increased with increasing substitution level of DLF. Dressing percentage was around 62% in all treatments without any significant differences. Proportion of quality beef higher than grade 1 was the greatest from animals fed 25% substitution level of DLF. Economic efficiency for Hanwoo steer operator was the highest with 50% substitution level of DLF.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.550-556
• /
• 2009

Two experiments were carried out to investigate the relationship of slaughter age and carcass traits of Hanwoo cattle. A total number of 11,284 heads of cattle (4,624 bulls, 6,120 steers, and 540 females) were used in the experiment (Exp.) 1. In the Exp. 2, 3,887 heads of steers slaughtered at age of 24-36 mon were used. After 24 h post-slaughter chilling, the carcasses were weighed and evaluated by an official grader of carcass traits according to the Korean carcass grading standard. Backfat thickness was the main variable in yield index and grade whereas marbling score was the main variable in carcass quality grade. Meat color was an important factor affecting carcass quality grade of bulls; fat color was an important factor affecting those of steers and females; and maturity was an important factor affecting that of females. After 24-mon-old, extension of slaughter age did not automatically increase the quantity and quality of meat. However, 29 mon of age can be regarded as the optimum time to slaughter steers to attain the highest take home money for farmers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.7
• /
• pp.1014-1018
• /
• 2004

Relationships between muscle $\alpha$-tocopherol oncentrations and metmyoglobin percentages during display of six muscles, m. serratus ventralis (SV), m. psoas major (PM), m. gluteus medius (GM), m. semimembranosus (SM), m. semitendinosus (ST) and m. longissimus lumborum (LL), of Japanese Black steers slaughtered at 28 months of age were studied. Steers were supplemented with 0, 2,000 and 4,000 mg $\alpha$-tocopheryl acetate/head/day for 28 days prior to slaughter in the VE 0, the VE 2,000 and the VE 4,000 groups, respectively. $\alpha$-Tocopherol concentrations in PM, GM, SM, ST and LL of the VE 2,000 and the VE 4,000 groups were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those of the VE 0 group. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in $\alpha$-tocopherol concentrations in all muscles between the VE 2,000 group and the VE 4,000 group. The muscle $\alpha$-tocopherol concentrations ($\ell$/g meat) which can retard metmyoglobin formation in muscles were estimated to be 5.3 for SV, 4.5 for PM, 4.2 for GM, 4.0 for SM, 3.6 for ST and 3.5 for LL. The equation to predict color-shelf-life of each muscle from the $\alpha$-tocopherol concentration in each muscle could be obtained.