• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.56 no.8
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• pp.31.1-31.9
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to describe the population structure and inbreeding, and to quantify their effects on weights at different ages of Mehraban sheep in Iran. The analysis was based on the pedigree information of 26990 animals and 10278 body weight records from birth to yearling age. Data and pedigree information were collected during 1994 to 2011 by the breeding station of Mehraban sheep. The population structure was analyzed using the CFC program. Inbreeding of all animals was calculated by INBUPGF90 program. All animals were grouped into three classes according to their inbreeding coefficients: the first class included non-inbred animals (F=0); and the second and third classes included inbred animals (0$F{\geq}0.05$, respectively). The average inbreeding in Mehraban sheep was 1.69%. Founder equivalent ($f_e$) values were estimated to be 4244, 3116 and 2965 during 1994-1999, 2000-2005 and 2006-2011, respectively. The effective population sizes ($N_e$) were 363, 5080 and 5740 during 1994-1999, 2000-2005 and 2006-2011, respectively. Generation interval was 2.15 years for this breed of sheep. Regression coefficients of birth weight, 3-month weight, 6-month weight and yearling weight on lamb inbreeding were estimated to be -6.340.69, -14.685.33, 48.009.43 and 98.6515.65, respectively. Both positive and negative inbreeding effects were found in the current study. The utilization of a program for designed mating system, in the present flock, could be a suitable approach to keep the level of inbreeding under control.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.419-427
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• 2024

Objective: The objective of this study was to obtain (co) variance components and genetic parameter estimates for post-weaning body measurements such as body length (BL), height at withers (HW), and chest girth (HG) recorded at six (SBL, SHW, and SHG), nine (NBL, NHW, and NHG) and twelve (YBL, YHW, and YHG) months of age along with yearling weight (YW) in Nellore sheep maintained at livestock research station, Palamaner, Andhra Pradesh, India and also the association among body measurements with YW was studied. Methods: Data on 2,076 Nellore sheep (descended from 75 sires and 522 dams) recorded between 2007 and 2016 (10 years) were utilized in the study. Lambing year, sex of lamb, season of lambing and parity of dam were included in the model as fixed effects and ewe weight was kept as a covariate. Analyses were conducted with six animal models with different combinations of direct and maternal genetic effects using restricted maximum likelihood procedure. Best model for each trait was determined based on Akaike's information criterion. Results: Moderate estimates of direct heritability were obtained for the studied traits viz., BL (0.02 to 0.24), HW (0.31 to 0.49), and CG (0.08 to 0.35) and their corresponding maternal heritability estimates were in the range of 0.00 to 0.07 (BL), 0.13 to 0.17 (HW), and 0.07 to 0.13 (CG), respectively. Positive direct genetic and phenotypic correlations among the traits and they ranged from 0.07 (YBL-YW) to 0.99 (SBL-SHG, SHG-YW, and NBL-YBL) and 0.01 (SBL-YBL) to 0.99 (NBL-NHG), respectively. Further, the genetic correlations among all the body measurements and YW were positive and ranged from 0.07 (YW and YBL) to 0.99 (YW and SHG). Conclusion: There was a strong association of chest girth at six months with YW. Further, it is indicated that moderate improvement of post-weaning body measurements in Nellore sheep would be possible through selection.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1074-1080
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• 2017

Objective: The growth, carcass and retail cut yield records on 1,428 Hanwoo steers obtained through progeny testing were analyzed in this study, and their heritability and genetic relationships among the traits were estimated using animal models. Methods: Two different models were compared in this study. Each model was fitted for different fixed class effects, date of slaughter for carcass traits and batch of progeny test live measurement traits, and a choice of covariates (carcass weight in Model 1 or backfat thickness in Model 2) for carcass traits. Results: The differences in body composition among individuals were deemed being unaffected by their age at slaughter, except for carcass weight and backfat thickness. Heritability estimates of body size measurements were 0.21 to 0.36. Heritability estimates of retail cut percentage were high (0.56 from Model 1 and 0.47 from Model 2). And the heritability estimates for loin muscle percentage were 0.36 from Model 1 and 0.42 from Model 2, which were high enough to consider direct selection on carcass cutability traits as effective. The genetic correlations between body size measurements and retail cut ratio (RCR) were close to zero. But, some negative genetic correlations were found with chest girths measured at yearling (Model 1) or at 24 months of age or with chest widths. Loin muscle ratio (LMR) was genetically negatively correlated with body weights or body size measurements, in general in Model 1. These relationships were low close to zero but positive in Model 2. Phenotypic correlation between cutability traits (RCR, LMR) and live body size measurements were moderate and negative in Model 1 while those in Model 2 were all close to zero. Conclusion: Therefore, the body weights or linear body measurements at an earlier age may not be the most desirable selection traits for exploitation of correlated responses to improve loin muscle or lean meat yield.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.127-133
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• 1990

Growth Comparisons of two age groups of coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, underyearling and age one, were made at Chungmu Experimental Fish Culture Station from December 17, 1988 to April 26, 1989. During the first 66 days of experimental period, the fish of underyearling group grew from 167.0 g to 633.1 g in average weight and the feed coefficient (FC) and daily growth rate (DGR) were 1.1 and $2.0\%$, respectively. In the same period, the fish of age one group grew from 396.0 g to 854.6 g in average weight and the FC and DGR were 1.1 and $2.0\%$, respectively. During the second 63 days, the fish of underyearling and age one group grew up to 1171.9 g and 1239.7 g respectively. FCs of these two groups were 1.5 and 2.6, respectively and DGRs were $1.0\%$ and $0.7\%$, respectively. Underyearling fish consumed more feed and performed better FC and DGR than age one fish. FC and DGR sharply decreased as the fish weight increased. Therefore under-yearling fish of this species seems better as seeds for seawater cage culture. For this purpose it is necessary to increase smolting rate in the underyearling group fish within a single season.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.601-605
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• 1993

This study was purposed to investigate the efficiency of protein utilization of rapeseed meal (RSM) and formaldehyde-treated RSM (TRSM) by sheep, and their influence on performance of growing heifers. Experiment 1 was conducted according to a double $3{\times}3$ Latin square design involving sex yearling Hu Sheep and three experimental diets. All diets contained 600 g ammoniated rice straw and 200 g concentrate mixture. Three dietary treatments were: (1) 100 g RSM + 40 g soybean meal (URUS), (2) 100 g TRSM + 40 g soybean meal (TRUS) and (3) 100 g TRSM + 40 g treated soybean meal (TRTS). Apparent nitrogen digestibility was significantly higher for diet TRUS than that for URUS or TRTS (p<0.05), but with no significant difference between URUS and TRTS (p>0.05). Proportion of nitrogen retention (NR) to the digestible nitrogen intake for diet TRUS and TRTS was 25.57 (p<0.05) and 23.44% (p<0.05) higher than that for URUS respectively. As a result, proportion of NR to nitrogen intake for diet TRUS and TRTS was 34.74 (p<0.05) and 23.78% (p<0.05) higher than that for URUS respectively. Experiment 2 was conducted with 59 Holstein heifers. They were 12-20 months of age at the start of the trial. The experiment was a $2{\times}2$ factorial trial in which the heifers were given the ammoniated rice straw ad libitum and 1.5 kg hay, and supplemented with either RSM or TRSM at a daily allowance of 1.2 or 1.8 kg per day. The live weight gains for heifers receiving 1.2 and 1.8 kg/d of RSM or TRSM were 0.491 and 0.556 or 0.564 and 0.665 kg/d, respectively. The results suggest that formaldehyde treatment can effectively improve the efficiency of protein utilization of rapessed meal and cattle's performance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.288-296
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• 2001

The behavior of declawed emus in a farm environment has not been described despite its importance in the husbandry and welfare of the emu. This study examined whether declawing of emus causes chronic pain resulting in permanent changes in the locomotor and general behavior of declawed yearling emus compared to emus not declawed. One group of 40 emus were declawed on the day of hatch by removing the distal phalangeal joint using a Lyon beak-trimming machine. Another group of 40 emus not declawed were the controls. Declawed emus one year of age were allocated to a paddock $250m{\times}125m$, while the control group was placed in an adjoining paddock of the same dimensions. One hour video records of individual emus from each treatment were made from 08:00 and 17:00 h over 2 periods; firstly when food and water was available and secondly during a period when food and water was not available after being withdrawn overnight. Inactive, ingestive, posture change, grooming, aggressive and locomotor behaviors were monitored from the videotape. There was no behavioral evidence to indicate loss of locomotor ability of declawed emus or to suggest declawed emus were suffering from severe chronic pain as indicated by declawed emus engaging in significantly more bouts (p<0.05) and time of searching (p<0.05). Declawed emus also engaged in less stereotype pacing (p<0.05) indicating they were under less stress and not as frustrated as control birds which engaged in more step pushing behavior (p<0.05). Modelling analysis showed that pecking behavior in birds was most closely related to foraging behavior. Birds subject to pecking attacks demonstrated higher levels of stereotype behavior presumably as a method to cope with stress. The behavioral evidence in this study would indicate that declawing does not compromise the locomotor ability of emus and has the benefit of improving the social structure in the groups by reducing stereotype behavior and aggression.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.824-832
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• 2021

Objective: This study aimed to estimate the genetic parameters and genetic correlations for related feed efficiency, growth, and carcass traits in Hanwoo cattle. Methods: Phenotypic data from 15,279 animals born between 1989 and 2015 were considered. The related feed efficiency traits considered were Kleiber ratio (KR) and relative growth rate (RGR). Carcass traits analyzed were backfat thickness (BT), carcass weight, eye muscle area, and marbling score. Growth traits were assessed by the average daily gain (ADG), metabolic body weight (MBW) at mid-test age from 6 to 24 months, and yearling weight (YW). Variance and covariance components were estimated using restricted maximum likelihood using nine multi-trait animal models. Results: The heritability estimates for related feed efficiency (0.28±0.04 for KR and RGR) and growth traits (0.26±0.02 to 0.33±0.04) were moderate, but the carcass traits tended to be higher (0.38±0.04 to 0.61±0.06). The related feed efficiency traits were positively genetically correlated with all the carcass traits (0.37±0.09 to 0.47±0.07 for KR, and 0.14±0.09 to 0.37±0.09 for RGR), except for BT, which showed null to weak correlation. Conversely, the genetic correlations of RGR with MBW (-0.36±0.08) and YW (-0.30±0.08) were negative, and those of KR with MBW and YW were close to zero, whereas the genetic correlations of ADG with RGR (0.40±0.08) and KR (0.70±0.05) were positive and relatively moderate to high. The genetic (0.92±0.02) correlations between KR and RGR were very high. Conclusion: Sufficient genetic variability and heritability were observed for traits of interest. Moreover, the inclusion of KR and/or RGR in Hanwoo cattle breeding programs could improve the feed efficiency without producing any unfavorable effects on the carcass traits.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.506-515
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• 2021

Objective: Initial consequence of inbreeding is inbreeding depression which impairs the performance of growth, production, health, fertility and survival traits in different animal breeds and populations. The effect of inbreeding on economically important traits should be accurately estimated. The effect of inbreeding depression on growth traits in sheep has been reported in many breeds. Based on this, the main objective of the present research was to evaluate the impact of inbreeding on some growth traits of Iranian Baluchi sheep breed using quantile regression model. Methods: Pedigree and growth traits records of 13,633 Baluchi lambs born from year 1989 to 2016 were used in this research. The traits were birth weight, weaning weight, six-month weight, nine-month weight, and yearling weight. The contribution, inbreeding and co-ancestry software was used to calculate the pedigree statistics and inbreeding coefficients. To evaluate the impact of inbreeding on different quantiles of each growth trait, a series of quantile regression models were fitted using QUANTREG procedure of SAS software. Annual trend of inbreeding was also estimated fitting a simple linear regression of lamb's inbreeding coefficient on the birth year. Results: Average inbreeding coefficient of the population was 1.63 percent. Annual increase rate of inbreeding of the flock was 0.11 percent (p<0.01). The results showed that the effect of inbreeding in different quantiles of growth traits is not similar. Also, inbreeding affected differently on growth traits, considering lambs' sex and type of birth. Conclusion: Quantile regression revealed that inbreeding did not have similar effect on different quantiles of growth traits in Iranian Baluchi lambs indicating that at a given age and inbreeding coefficient, lambs with different sex and birth type were not equally influenced by inbreeding.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 1977

To investigate the condition of infectious rate of fascioliasis in the farm animals. This survey was carried out, by the interdermal reaction from different animals, ages and pestures in Daejeon Suburbs and Cattle market and Abattoir. The average positive rate of infectious reaction were 31.0% in Korean Cattle, 38,7% in dairy Cattle, 33.8% in Korea native Goats and 26.9% in dairy Goat. The positive rate was higher at the age of 2~6 that compares with at age of yearling. From survey on the river side area, valley and wet area, the rate of positive was occured higher, than from plain, high land and in case of animals have not been grazing. And the detective rate of liver fluke among the positive reaction was occured 92.5% in Korean Cattle and 94.7% in Korea native Goat.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.123-127
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of the levels of inbreeding on body weight traits between two breed populations, Hanwoo and Korea Brindle cattle. Birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), body weight at 6 months of age (W6) and yearling weight (YW). Records of 1,745 calves (1,513 from Hanwoo, and 232 from Korea Brindle calves) were collected from Livestock Research Institutes in Kangwon, Gyeongbuk and Chungbuk provinces. The least squares means (LSM) and their standard errors for BW, WW, W6 and YW were $25.4{\pm}0.1$ kg, $81.0{\pm}1.8$ kg, $146.1{\pm}3.7$ kg and $291.5{\pm}2.4$ kg, respectively in Hanwoo calves and $22.6{\pm}0.3$ kg, $79.9{\pm}2.3$ kg, $137.6{\pm}4.6$ kg and $249.3{\pm}6.6$ kg, respectively in Korea Brindle calves. Pedigree data showed that 14.8% (316 out of 2131) of Hanwoo was inbred and the average inbreeding coefficient was 0.0209 (2.09%). Inbreeding coefficients of ten calves out of 316 total inbred Hanwoo calves were 12.5% or higher, whereas those of the other 306 calves were less than 12.5%. In both breeds, calves were divided into three groups of inbreeding classes - highly inbred group($F{\geq}0.125$), lowly to medially inbred group(0