• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.825-832
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• 2010

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as "Any technological application that uses biological systems, dead organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use" Biotechnology has made tremendous contributions to improve production efficiency of agriculture during the last century. This article reviews successful examples of application of bio-fermentation in improving swine nutrition efficiency mainly based on the authors'z own research experience. Production of feed grade supplemental amino acids by bio-fermentation allowed nutritionists to formulate accurate feed for optimal lean growth and reduced nitrogen excretion. Recent issues with high feed grain prices caused potential feed quality problems. Bio-fermentation allowed nutritionists to use exogenous supplemental enzymes such as phytase and NSPases in swine diets, thereby improving nutrient utilization and reducing nutrient excretion to the environment. Yeast metabolites are also produced by bio-fermentation and have been repeatedly shown to improve milk production of sows during early lactation even though actual mechanisms are still to be investigated. Bio-fermentation technology also allowed nutritionists to prepare vegetable protein sources with large protein molecules and anti-nutritional factors suitable for feeding newly weaned piglets, as selected microorganisms significantly reduce specific anti-nutritional factors and size of peptides. Preparations of vegetable protein sources suitable for newly weaned pigs will greatly contribute to swine nutrition by providing efficient alternatives to the use of animal protein sources that are often expensive and somewhat against societal preference. Considering the few examples listed above, biotechnology has closely influenced improvement of production efficiency in the swine industry. As we have limited resources to produce meat to satisfy ever-increasing global demands, extensive adaptation of biotechnology to enhance production efficiency should be continued. However, at the same time, wise and careful application of bio-technology should be considered to ensure production of safe food and to meet the expectations of our society.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.125-134
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• 2024

In this research, the growth efficiency, nutritional utilization, fecal microbial levels, and fecal score of weaned pigs were evaluated using therapeutic zinc oxide (ZnO) and zinc aspartic acid chelate (Zn-Asp). In a 42-day feeding trial, 60 weaned pigs ([Yorkshire × Landrace] × Duroc) were arbitrarily allotted (age: 21 days; 7.01 ± 0.65 kg preliminary body weight) to 3 different treatment groups with 5 repetitions (2 male and 2 female piglets) in each pen. The trial had 2 different phases, including 1-21 days as phase 1, and 22-42 days as phase 2. The nutritional treatments were: basal diet as control (CON), basal diet incorporated with 3,000 ppm ZnO as TRT1, and basal diet incorporated with 750 ppm Zn-Asp as TRT2. In comparison to the CON group, the pigs in the TRT1 and TRT2 groups had greater (p < 0.05) body weight on day 42; an average daily gain, and an average daily feed intake on days 22-42. Furthermore, during days 1-42, the average daily gain in the treatment groups trended higher (p < 0.05) than in the CON group. Additionally, the fecal score decreased (p < 0.05) at week 6, the lactic acid bacteria count tended to increase (p < 0.05), and coliform bacteria presented a trend in reduction (p < 0.05) in the TRT1 and TRT2 groups compared to the CON group. However, there was no difference in nutrient utilization (p > 0.05) among the dietary treatments. Briefly, the therapeutic ZnO and Zn-Asp nutritional approaches could decrease fecal score and coliform bacteria, increase lactic acid bacteria, and improve growth efficiency; moreover, Zn-Asp (750 ppm) can perform a comparable role to therapeutic ZnO (3,000 ppm). So we can use Zn-Asp (750 ppm) instead of therapeutic ZnO (3,000 ppm) for the better performance of weaning pigs and the reduction of environmental pollution, as therapeutic ZnO is responsible for environmental pollution.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.59-63
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• 1991

For the purpose of effective therapy and prevention of post weaning E. coli diarrhea, Enrofloxacin-(Baytril premix) was administered in the feed and a series of investigations were made the occurence of diarrhea, weight gain, feed conversion rate, changes In the counts of faecal E. coli and susceptibility of the isolated E. coli strains to antimicrobials. The results obtained were as follows 1. The weaned piglets which were treated with Baytril premix gained the average body weight of 3.2kg over the control group at the age of 62 days. The result indicates a marked weight gain effect which, by statiscal analysis, showed a significant difference(P<0.01). Administration of Baytril premix also resulted in the improvement of feed conversion rate and provention of post weaning diarrhea. 2. The counts of faecal E. coli in Baytri premx treated piglets showed a marked decrease from 3.14${\times}$10$\^$8/cells/g to 2${\times}$10$\^$7/cells/g at 5days post treatment and 1${\times}$10$\^$5/cells/g at 10 days post treatment. 3. 10 strains of E. coli isolated fred the experimental pig farm were highly susceptible to Bayoil, gentamicin and trimethoprim plus sulfamethoxazole.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1492-1497
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• 2005

The goal of the trial was to evaluate the effects of ractopamine (20 ppm in the ration) given pregnant sows during three different pregnancy stages (T1: 25 to 50 d; T2: 50 to 80 d; T3: 25 to 80 d of gestation, and T4: control-no ractopamine) on fetal muscle development (through counts of the number of fibers of the semitendinosus muscle), on the growth and carcass characteristics of the progeny. Forty eight weaned piglets (12 per treatment) were assessed for number of muscle fibers, while performance and carcass characteristics were evaluated on a separate 48 animals (12 per treatment) grown to 100 kg. Animals produced by sows treated from 25 to 50 d of pregnancy (T1) resulted in non-significant increase of 6.85% in the number of muscle fibers in the semitendinosus muscle when compared to animals from the control group. Performance results were significantly different (p<0.05), and animals produced by sows from the T1 group gained more weight during the growth I stage (25 to 50 kg) and during the total period (6 to 100 kg) (991 vs. 903 grams, and 844 vs. 772 grams, respectively) when compared to controls. For carcass characteristics, results showed that animals produced by the T1 group of sows were heavier at slaughter (p<0.05) when compared to the controls (T4) (100.17 vs. 93.09 kg). There was a positive correlation between number of muscle fibers and bodyweights, carcass weights, Longissimus dorsi muscle depth and dressing out (0.80, 0.86, 0.67, and 0.50, respectively). Sows treated with ractopamine between 25 to 50 d of pregnancy produced piglets that performed better and had superior carcass characteristics than those produced by untreated sows. The ractopamine used for pregnancy sows (25 to 50 d) can be indicated as a device to increase the progeny performance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.280-287
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• 2001

These studies aimed to determine how lighting might be used to improve feed intake and reduce aggressive behavior in newly weaned pigs. To examine whether this objective could be achieved an experiment was conducted to compare performance, behavior and body condition of weaners over 17-45 days, provided similar lighting quality (i.e. color temperature, color rendering index and lighting distribution) after weaning that piglets experienced prior to weaning. Triphosphor (TP) lighting to simulate daylight was provided during the day while at night, Pascal red (PR) lighting was provided to simulate the night-light piglets previously had received from infrared heating lamps. This treatment was compared to weaners provided conventional cool-white fluorescent light during the day only. Weaners on treatment lighting from 17-45 days of age showed no improvement in body weight or feed conversion at 24, 31, 38 and 45 days compared to the controls. There was, however, a significant improvement (p<0.05) in feed intake in the first week of weaning for weaners provided TP/PR lighting. Over the first 3 days of weaning, pigs on TP/PR lighting showed an increase (p<0.05) in the incidence of ear chewing but reduced (p<0.05) levels of nosing the abdomen of other pigs and reduced (p<0.05) occurrences of being stood on by other pigs. Females exhibited more (p<0.05) mounting and nosing behaviors and rubbing the heads of other pigs than males. On the other hand, males engaged in more (p<0.05) fighting, nipping, ear chewing and standing on other pigs compared to females. Pigs provided PR lighting on the first night of weaning engaged in higher (p<0.05) incidences of nosing and tail sucking behaviors, more (p<0.05) head thrusting, fighting and ear chewing compared to control pigs. The body condition of weaners provided the TP/PR lighting treatment was significantly poorer (p<0.05) compared to weaners on control lighting. In conclusion there was no improvement in production performance of weaners provided new technology lighting apart from the improvement in feed intake in the first week weaners were exposed to the TP/PR lighting.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.975-988
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• 2022

Objective: In this study, we aimed to identify long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that play important roles in starvation stress, analyze their functions, and discover potential molecular targets to alleviate starvation stress to provide a theoretical reference for subsequent in-depth research. Methods: We generated a piglet starvation stress animal model. Nine Yorkshire weaned piglets were randomly divided into a long-term starvation stress group (starved for 72 h), short-term starvation stress group (starved for 48 h), and the control group. LncRNA libraries were constructed using high-throughput sequencing of piglet ileums. Results: We obtained 11,792 lncRNAs, among which, 2,500 lncRNAs were novel. In total, 509 differentially expressed (DE)lncRNAs were identified in this study. Target genes of DElncRNAs were predicted via cis and trans interactions, and functional and pathway analyses were performed. Gene ontology functions and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes analysis revealed that lncRNA-targeted genes mainly participated in metabolic pathways, cellular processes, immune system processes, digestive systems, and transport activities. To reveal the mechanism underlying starvation stress, the interaction network between lncRNAs and their targets was constructed based on 26 DElncRNAs and 72 DEmRNAs. We performed an interaction network analysis of 121 DElncRNA-DEmRNA pairs with a Pearson correlation coefficient greater than 0.99. Conclusion: We found that MSTRG.19894.13, MSTRG.16726.3, and MSTRG.12176.1 might play important roles in starvation stress. This study not only generated a library of enriched lncRNAs in piglets, but its outcomes also provide a strong foundation to screen key lncRNAs involved in starvation stress and a reference for subsequent in-depth research.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1785-1795
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• 2023

Objective: This study was to estimate heritabilities, additive genetic correlations, and phenotypic correlations between number of piglets born alive (NBA), litter birth weight (LTBW), number of piglets weaned (NPW) and litter weaning weight (LTWW) in different parities of Landrace (L), Yorkshire (Y), Landrace×Yorkshire (LY), and Yorkshire×Landrace (YL) sows in a commercial swine operation in Northern Thailand. Methods: Two models were utilized, a single trait repeatability model (RM) and a multiple trait animal model (MTM). The RM assumed reproductive records from different parities to be repeated values of the same trait, whereas the MTM assumed these records to be different traits. The two models accounted for the fixed effects of farrowing year-season, genetic group of the sow, heterosis, and age at first farrowing, and the random effects of sow, boar, and residual. Results: Heritability estimates from RM were 0.02±0.01 for NBA, 0.10±0.01 for LTBW, 0.04±0.01 for NPW, and 0.11±0.01 for LTWW. Heritability estimates from MTM fluctuated across parities, ranging from 0.04±0.01 in parity 2 to 0.09±0.02 in parity 4 for NBA, 0.07±0.02 in parity 2 to 0.16±0.02 in parity 3 for LTBW, 0.04±0.02 in parity 4 to 0.08±0.01 in parity 1 for NPW, and 0.16±0.02 in parity 1 to 0.20±0.02 in parity 2 for LTWW. Additive genetic correlation estimates from MTM were also variable, ranging from 0.29±0.24 between NBA in parity 1 and NBA in parity 2 to 0.99±0.05 between LTWW in parity 3 and LTWW in parity 4. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the advantage of using MTM for the genetic improvement of reproductive traits in swine and contribute to the development of sustainable swine breeding programs in Thailand.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.1308-1315
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• 2001

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different methods of feeding and processing of diets on performance, morphological changes in the small intestine and nutrient digestibility of young pigs. A total of 120 pigs (Youkshire${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Duroc; initial body weight of $5.83{\pm}0.67kg$) were randomly allotted into six treatments in a $2{\times}3$ factorial design. Treatments were 1) dry feeding with a mash diet (DM), 2) dry feeding with a pelleted diet (DP), 3) dry feeding with an expanded crumble diet (DEC), 4) wet feeding with a mash diet (WM), 5) wet feeding with a pelleted diet (WP), 6) wet feeding with an expanded crumble diet (WEC). Average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) were not significantly (p>0.05) different among treatments. However, feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly improved when pigs fed a pelleted diet or an expanded crumble diet. Pigs fed an expanded crumble diet showed 9.2% and 17.3% improvement in ADG and FCR compared with those fed a mash diet. The morphological changes in the small intestine were examined at the termination (4 weeks after weaning) of the experiment. Differences in morphological changes of gastrointestinal tract were not significant among treatments. Though villus height was not significantly affected by feeding method or feed processing, the villus height of weaned pigs tended to be preserved by wet feeding. The use of a pelleted diet also helped to prevent the shortening of villus height. Pigs fed a WP diet maintained the highest villus height at all parts of the small intestine. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in nutrient digestibility among treatments. However, nutrient digestibility for pigs fed a pelleted diet had a higher than that of pigs fed mash diets. Especially, pigs fed a WP diet digested 5.3% more P each day than those fed a DM diet. Compared with the mash diet, the expanded crumble diet decreased feed cost per kg weight gain by 15%. The net profit per pig was 79% higher in the expanded crumble diet pigs than in mash diet pigs. In conclusion, this study suggests that feeding processed diets to piglets can be more beneficial in terms of FCR and production cost.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.396-401
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• 2006

A total of 72 castrated, crossbred ($Landrace{\times}Yorkshire$) piglets ($5.7{\pm}0.7kg$ BW) were allotted to one of three treatments including: a dry crumbled feed fed for 40 days; liquid feed provided for 10 days followed by dry crumbled feed for 30 days; and liquid feed provided for 20 days followed by dry crumbled feed for 20 days. Liquid feed was produced fresh each day by mixing water with dry crumbled feed at a ratio of 3:1. Pigs fed liquid feed for 10 days had a higher weight gain during the first 10 days (+16.8%; p = 0.01) and over the entire experimental period (+4.9%; p = 0.07) than pigs offered dry feed. Pigs fed liquid feed for 20 days also had a higher weight gain during the period from d 0 to 10 (+12.8%; p = 0.01), from d 10 to 20 (+8.5%; p = 0.06) and from d 0 to 20 (+9.7%; p = 0.01) than pigs offered dry feed. Pigs fed liquid feed for the first 10 days had higher feed intakes from d 0 to 10 (+22.6%; p = 0.01) and from d 0 to 40 (+5.3%; p = 0.02) than pigs offered dry feed. Pigs fed liquid feed for the first 20 days had a higher feed intake from d 0 to 10 (+21.8%; p = 0.01), from d 10 to 20 (+10.6%; p = 0.06), from d 0 to 20 (+14.6%; p = 0.01) and from d 0 to 40 (+6.6%; p = 0.02) than pigs offered dry feed. Feed conversion from d 0 to 40 tended to be poorer for pigs fed liquid feed during the first 20 days (p = 0.08) indicating an increase in feed wastage with liquid feeding. Nutrient digestibility at day 10 was unaffected by dietary treatment. However, at day 30, pigs fed liquid feed for 10 days had higher digestibility of dry matter (p = 0.08), energy (p = 0.10), crude protein (p = 0.03) and neutral detergent fibre (p = 0.05) than pigs fed liquid feed for 20 days. In conclusion, liquid feeding for 10 or 20 days increased the performance of weaned pigs during the specific time period that liquid feeding occurred but there were no carry over effects into subsequent production periods.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.347-356
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and cross-protection of serovar 12 against serovar 4 or 5 of H parasuis with M+$Parapac^{(R)}$. A total of 141 piglets from 2(A and B) farms were used and divided into experimental group and control group in each farm. Farm A has been detected H parasuis serovar 12, whereas farm B has been detected H parasuis serovar 4 or 5 from post-weaned pigs with PMWS. The piglets were vaccinated intramuscularly with 2.0ml of M+$Parapac^{(R)}$ in experimental group or normal saline in control group at 1 week of age. A same booster dose was given at 3 weeks of age. In order to value the antibody titer to H parasuis using by tube agglutination test, blood samples were collected from piglets at the aged of 1 week, 6 and 14 weeks. In experimental group and control group, the average antibody titers were $32.5{\pm}21.0,\;114.5{\pm}34.0,\;98.1{\pm}55.4$ and $32.9{\pm}18.6,\;25.8{\pm}36.9,\; 746.7{\pm}1,215.8$ at the aged of 1 week, 6 and 14 weeks, respectively. The cumulative clinical sign indexes by standard guideline of Schering-Plough Animal Health Corp were 486 and 1,069, respectively. The average daily gains and feed conversion rates were $0.553{\pm}0.016kg$ and $0.492{\pm}0.004kg$, and 1.99 and 2.24, respectively. The average gross lesion scores were $1.0{\pm}0.8$ and $1.9{\pm}0.6$, respectively. According to these results, the M+$Parapac^{(R)}$ containing H parasuis serovar 12 may be induce circulating antibodies that cross-react with serovar 4 or 5 and have a protection of PMWS with H parasuis.