• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1669-1673
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• 2004

Milk yield, lamb birth weight and weaning weight responses to shearing during winter in sheep were investigated. A total of 46 Karayaka ewes were allocated into two treatment groups. Pregnant ewes in one group were shorn on day 100 of gestation (Shorn, n=24) and the remaining ewes were left unshorn to serve as controls (Unshorn, n=22). The ewes were maintained on pasture during the day and housed in the evenings. Lamb birth weight, weaning weight and ewes'' daily milk yield in fifteen dayintervals until weaning (75 days) were recorded. Shearing ewes on day 100 of pregnancy increased gestation length (p<0.01) compared to unshorn ewes (147.8${\pm}$0.45 vs. 145.9${\pm}$0.42 days). Birth weights of lambs from shorn ewes on day 100 of their pregnancy were higher (p<0.01) than those from unshorn ewes (3.7${\pm}$0.11 vs. 3.2${\pm}$0.07 kg). Shearing pregnant ewes increased (p<0.05) the lamb weaning weight at day 75 post-lambing (23.6${\pm}$1.10 vs. 19.5${\pm}$0.91). It also increased milk yield (p<0.05). Milk yields on day 75 of lactation were 302${\pm}$33 and 425${\pm}$25 g per day for unshorn and shorn ewes on day 100 of pregnancy, respectively. Lamb survival at weaning was higher (p<0.05) in lambs from shorn ewes compared to those from unshorn ewes. In conclusion, shearing pregnant ewes in winter months enhanced milk yield, lamb birth weight, lamb weaning weight and lamb survival. It is suggested that increasing both lamb birth weight and subsequent milk yield of dams by shearing ewes on day 100 of pregnancy during winter may improve postnatal lamb viability.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1601-1606
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• 2011

32 sows (Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire) and their litters were used to evaluate the effects of varying creep feed duration on pre-weaning, post-weaning performance of piglets and sows. Sows were randomly assigned with 1, 2 or 3+ parities into 1 of 4 treatments. Creep feeding was initiated at day 5, 10 and 15 from birth for treatment 1 (TRT1), 2 (TRT2) and (TRT3), respectively, with a control group provided no creep feed. In this study, TRT1 and TRT2 diets had reduced (p<0.05) the post-weaning diarrhea scores in piglets and the weaning-to-estrus interval and cortisol concentration in sows at weaning time compared with other treatments. Dietary TRT1 led to a higher (p<0.05) epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations than other treatments. No differences (p>0.05) were noted in suckling, sleeping, fighting frequency and mortality in piglet and eating, standing times, backfat and body weight loss in sows. In conclusion, creep feed initiated from day 5 and 10 reduce diarrhea scores in piglets and benefit the estrus interval in sows compared with those initiated from day 15 and no-creep feeding diets, indicating creep feeding could improve the pigs and sows performance, especially those initiated from day 5 and 10.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 1994

In order to examine the effects of PGF2$\alpha$ on intervals from weaning to estrus and serum progesterone levels seventeen crossbred primiparious sows were randomly alloted to two groups. One group was injected intramuscularly on the day of weaning with 10 mg PGF2$\alpha$ (10mg/2ml, Lutylase). The other group was treated with saline as a control. Serum progesterone concentrations were determined at 24 hour intervals for 12 days after weaning. A serum progesterone level in PGF2$\alpha$-treated group was reached to the lowest level(1.19$\pm$0.38 ng/ml) on day 3 after weaning and remained low(1.26~1.43ng/ml) thereafter. Whereas, the control group showed the lowest level of progesterone on day 4 after wearing, then showed a rapid increase up to 5.02$\pm$0.38ng/ml on day 8 and a rapid decrease was followed. The PGF2$\alpha$ treated group showed an interval from weaning to estrus(5.2$\pm$0.8 days) approximately 2 days shorter than the control(7.4$\pm$3.0 days)(p<0.05).

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.273-283
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• 2019

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of anise flavor on the performance of lactating sows and suckling pigs at different weaning ages. A total of 120 sows (Landrace ${\times}$ Yorkshire) were used in this experiment. Sows were fed with a commercial lactation diet (60 sows) or diet with flavor (60 sows) during days 100 to 114 of gestation period and the whole lactation period. Piglets were allotted to 2 dietary treatments based on their initial body weight (BW) using a $2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement of treatments with 2 levels of anise flavor (0 or 0.5 g/kg) and weaning periods (weaned at 21 day or 28 day after birth). Sows fed with flavor supplemented diets had higher (p < 0.05) back fat and average daily feed intake (ADFI) at weaning, lower (p < 0.05) back fat loss than those fed with non-flavor diets. Sows weaned at 28 day had higher (p < 0.05) weaning back fat and lower (p < 0.05) back fat loss than those weaned on 21 day. During weaning, piglet average daily gain (ADG), ADFI, digestibility of dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N), and gross energy (GE) and fecal score were affected by anise flavor, respectively. In conclusion, dietary flavor supplementation could increase feed intake of lactating sows, improve growth performance and reduce weaning stress of piglets, especially effective in the early weanling piglets. Meanwhile, interactive effects were observed about the piglet performance between weaning ages and anise flavor supplementation after weaning.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1421-1424
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• 2005

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of two diets different in crude fibre content and ingredients on performance and on caecal characteristics of rabbits around weaning. Thirty litters from thirty New Zealand White does were divided at Day 18 in two groups fed, respectively, a low fibre concentrate (LFC, consisting mainly of soybean meal, delactated whey, barley) from Day 18-28 followed by a creep feed (CF, consisting mainly in alfalfa meal, barley and wheat bran) from Day 29-32, and a CF from Day 18-32. After weaning (32 days) both groups were fed the CF ad libitum for two weeks. During the pre-weaning period, mortality, milk intake and solid feed intake (from Day 20) were recorded daily, while the live weight of kits was recorded twice, at 18 and 32 days. At day 28, one rabbit/litter was slaughtered in order to obtain data on caecal content characteristics. After weaning, the rabbits were located in collective cages, feeding ad libitum CF; feed intake, live weight and mortality were recorded weekly for two weeks. During the preweaning period, there were no differences between the groups in milk and solid feed intake and, by consequence, in live weight at weaning; instead, the mortality was higher (12.5 vs 4.5%) for the group (A) that changed diet at 28 days. Group A showed also a higher caecal pH (6.12 vs. 5.72), propionate to butyrate ratio (0.73 vs. 0.46), ammonia content (9.3 vs. 7.1 mmol/l), but a lower total volatile fatty acid content (66.8 vs. 82.1 mmol/l) than B Group, probably due to the dried milk whey in the concentrate. After weaning, there were no significant differences between the two groups. The authors concluded that the use of a low fibre concentrate for suckling rabbits is not recommended.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.259-267
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• 1999

This study was conducted to investigate to the effect of weaning food-feeding methods on Preschool-Children's food habit, food preference and iron nutritional status for the subjects of 337 children, aged 18-60 months attending day care centers in Suwon and Seoul area. It divided the subjects into two groups according to the weaning food-feeding methods during their weaning period. One group(spoon-group) was defied as one had used to spoon over two times a day for 5 months and the ohter group (bottle-group) as one had used to bottle over two times a day for 5 months in weaning periods. All of the data were analyzed based on the weaning food-feeding method, mainly using bottle or spoon during their weaning period. The study results are summarized as follows. 1) 44.2% of the mothers mostly used bottle and 46.6% of them mostly used bottle to feed weaning foods. Age difference between the two groups was not found. 2) The numbers of daily consumed foods were significantly more higher in the spoon-group than the bottle-group and the amount of daily milk consumption was more higher among bottle-group. 3) Both of food intake frequency and food preference scores of the spoon-group were significantly higher than food intake frequency and food preference scores the bottle-group. 4) Iron nutritional status assessed by Hb and Hct was low in general. Only 26-63% of the subjects at each monthly age were in normal range. The higher the children's age, the more were grouped in normal range, which was more evident among children of the bottle-group. 5) Mother's nutrition knowledge related to weaning was more higher among spoon-group than both-group. There results shows the importance of appropriate weaning food-feeding methods for Preschool-children's food habit, food preference and nutritional status especially iron nutritional status. Nutrition education for mothers with weaning aged children has to be stressed and related programs have to be intervened effectively.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 2000

This study was carried out to determine the effects of different weaning age on feeding performance and behaviour of piglets. Sixty crossbred(YLxD) litters of piglets were randomly alloted to be 15 pens with 4 piglets per pen and 5 pens per treatment by weaned at 14, 21, and 28 days. Pens were video-taped for 24 hours immediately at 7 weeks and 8 weeks of age. The piglets weaned at 14 and 21 days were significantly (P<0.05) much intake than piglets weaning at 28 days. The piglets weaning at 14 days were significantly lighter than piglets weaning at 14 and 21 days fro m2 weeks to 8 weeks age. However, feed conversion ration was significantly(P<0.05) improved according to late weaning days. Times spent engaged in Feeding, lying and walking were similar in piglets across weaning age. They also showed similar occurrence of drinking and agonistic behaviour at 7 weeks and 8 weeks of age. Piglets weaned at 14 days exhibited more belly-nosing behaviour at 7 weeks of age, but similar in piglets at 8 weeks of age across weaning age. We concluded that piglets performance influenced by weaning day, however time spent for feeding, lying and walking behaviour were no significance. Drinking, Agonistic and belly-nosing were not significantly different by weaning age.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.211-213
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• 1996

A study was undertaken to investigate the effect of feeding early weaning diets based on different vegetable protein sources fed to Afghani lambs. Three isonitrogenous and isocaloric complete formula diets viz., A, B and C were prepared having cottonseed meal, soybean meal and canola meal; respectively as major source of protein. Eighteen 30-35 days old Afghani male lambs were randomly allotted to three experimental diets. Lambs were fed individually twice a day for a period of 60 days. Daily feed intake and weekly weight gain was recorded. Results indicated that weight gain was significantly(p<0.05) higher(282 g/lamb/day) in lambs fed diet B as compared to lamvs fed on diets A(231 g/lamb/day) and C(242 g/lamb/day). No significant difference was found in feed intake among the diets. Significant difference(p<0.05) were noticed in feed efficiency in lambs fed on diets A(6.88), B(5.41) and C(6.17).The economic efficiency was observed to be the best on diet B as compared to diets A and C. It was concluded that Afghani lambs(30-35 days) can be reared on early weaning diets and soybean meal was found comparatively better protein source for early weaning diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1617-1622
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• 2005

The activity of brush border enzymes (sucrase, lactase and maltase) in the piglet small intestine was evaluated as well as piglet performance during the weaning period in the present study. There were two treatment groups: Piglets of six litters were fed dry feed plus milk replacer (Group M) and of six litters fed dry pelleted feed (Group C). One piglet from each litter was sacrificed on day 3 before weaning, and day 3, 10 and 17 postweaning, respectively. Providing milk replacer caused an increased piglet live weight at weaning (p<0.001) and until termination of the experiment (p<0.001). A slightly higher (p<0.16) level of protein was measured in the jejunum of group M piglets as compared with group C piglets. Before weaning the activity of lactase was high in the jejunum of group C piglets. The activity of lactase in the jejunum was lowered in the jejunum of group C piglets and in distal jejunum of group M piglets during the postweaning period as compared with pre-weaning period (p<0.05). Lowered activity of lactase in the distal jejunum of piglets was found at day 10 and 17 postweaning, respectively. No treatment differences were found in the activity of lactase in the piglet jejunum. No treatment differences were seen in the activity of maltase and sucrase in the piglet jejunum also. However, weaning caused a higher activity of sucrase in the distal jejunum of group M piglets as compared with pre-weaning period. In conclusion, providing milk replacer to piglets caused an improved growth performance. Feeding milk replacer did not influence the activity of lactase, maltase and sucrase in the jejunum of piglets. Weaning resulted in a markedly lowered activity of lactase, while no dramatic changes in the activity of maltase took place during the period around weaning.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1610-1615
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• 2001

Three studies were conducted to determine the effect of sex on pre- and post-weaning performance of pigs. These studies were conducted in response to observations that female pigs appear to grow faster than male pigs after weaning. In addition, female pigs have been found to grow faster than male pigs when supplied with supplemental milk before weaning. The aims of the present work were to further characterise the ontogeny of sex differences growth of nursing and growing pigs. In the first study, piglets sucking 32 sows were crossfostered to produce litters of 10 boars (n=9), 10 gilts (n=l 1) or 5 boars and 5 gilts (n=12). Liveweight of the sucking pigs was then measured weekly until weaning at 4 weeks of age. In the second study, 80 boars and 80 gilts were weaned at 26 days of age and growth performance measured until 21 days post-weaning. In the third experiment, 40 boars and 40 gilts were weaned into groups of 5 pigs at either 17 or 25 days of age and pigs were weighed until they were approximately 90 kg liveweight. All-boar litters grew more slowly than the all-gilt and mixed litters such that by 14 days of age the all-boar litters were 10% lighter than the all-gilt or mixed litters (39 vs. 43.8 kg, p=0.050). The proportional difference in litter weight appeared to be maintained at 21 days of age (53.9 vs. 59.4 kg, p=0.063) but was diminished by 28 days of age (66.5 vs. 70.8 kg, p=0.28). In the second study, gilts grew more quickly than boars over the first 7 and 21 days post-weaning and as a consequence were 10% heavier than boars at 21 days after weaning (13.7 vs 12.48 kg, p=0.001). In the third study, gilts grew more quickly than boars in the immediate 7 days post-weaning (40 vs. 5 g/day, p=0.014) whereas from 7 until 35 days post-weaning there was no significant difference in growth rate (381 vs. 360 g/day, p=0.19). Gilts also grew more quickly than boars over the 14 days after being moved into the grower (631 vs. 570 g/day, p=0.013) and finisher (749 vs. 688 g/day, p=0.038) sheds. However, these differences were not maintained over the entire period in each shed. These data support the hypotheses that gilts handle the stresses of weaning and other transitions better than boars.