• 한국축산식품학회지
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• 제41권6호
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• pp.1022-1035
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• 2021

This study estimated the effect of exposure to propiconazole through implementation and residues in finishing pigs. We analyzed the expression of fibrosis-related genes and performed histological analysis of the blood, liver, kidney, muscle, ileum, and fat tissues. The animals were exposed for 28 d to different concentrations of propiconazole (0.09, 0.44, 0.88, 4.41, and 8.82 mg/kg bw/d). Quantitative, gene expression, and histological analyses in tissues were performed using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, real-time PCR, and Masson's trichrome staining, respectively. Final body weight did not differ among groups. However, genes involved in fibrosis were significantly differentially regulated in response to propiconazole concentrations. Glucose, alanine aminotransferase, and total bilirubin levels were significantly increased compared with those in the control group, while alkaline phosphatase level was decreased (p<0.05) after exposure to propiconazole. The residue limits of propiconazole were increased in the finishing phase at 4.41 and 8.82 mg/kg bw/d. The liver, kidney, and ileum showed blue staining after propiconazole treatment, confirmed by Masson's trichrome staining. In conclusion, these findings suggest that propiconazole exposure disturbs the expression of fibrosis-related genes. This study on dietary propiconazole in pigs can provide a basis for determining maximum residue limits and a better understanding of metabolism in pigs and meat products.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제66권2호
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• pp.279-294
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• 2024

Agriculture has played a significant role in the national economy, contributing to food security, driving economic growth, and safeguarding the dietary habits of the population. Korean agriculture has been compelled to focus on intensive farming due to its limited cultivation area, excessive input costs, and the limitations of agricultural mechanization. In the Republic of Korea (R.O.K), the concept of environmentally friendly animal agriculture began to be introduced in the early 2000s. This concept ultimately aims to cultivate sustainable animal agriculture (SAA) through environmentally friendly production practices, ensuring the healthy rearing of animals to supply safe animal products. Despite the government's efforts, there are still significant challenges in implementing environmentally friendly agriculture and SAA in the R.O.K. Therefore, the objective of this review is to establish the direction that the animal agriculture sector should take in the era of climate crisis, and to develop effective strategies for SAA tailored to the current situation in the R.O.K by examining the trends in SAA in the U.S. The animal agriculture sector in the U.S. has been working towards creating a SAA system where humans, animals, and the environment can coexist through government initiatives, industry research, technological support, and individual efforts. Efforts have been made to reduce emissions like carbon, and improve factors affecting the environment such as the carbon footprint, odor, and greenhouse gases associated with animal agriculture processes for animals such as cattle and pigs. The transition of the U.S. towards SAA appears to be driven by both external goals related to addressing climate change and the primary objectives of responding to the demand for safe animal products, expanding consumption, and securing competitiveness in overseas export markets. The demand for animal welfare, organic animal products, and processed goods has been increasing in the U.S. consumer market. A major factor in the transformation of the U.S. animal agriculture sector in terms of livestock specifications is attributed to environmentally friendly practices such as high-quality feed, heat stress reduction, improvements in reproductive ability and growth period reduction, and efforts in animal genetic enhancement.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제66권2호
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• pp.237-250
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• 2024

The emission of noxious gases is a significant problem in pig production, as it can lead to poor production, welfare concerns, and environmental pollution. The noxious gases are the gasses emitted from the pig manure that contribute to air pollution. The increased concentration of various harmful gasses can pose health risks to both animals and humans. The major gases produced in the pig farm include methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and volatile fatty acids, which are mainly derived from the fermentation of undigested or poorly digested nutrients. Nowadays research has focused on more holistic approaches to obtain a healthy farm environment that helps animal production. The use of probiotics, prebiotics, dietary enzymes, and medicinal plants in animal diets has been explored as a means of reducing harmful gas emissions. This review paper focuses on the harmful gas emissions from pig farm, the mechanisms of gas production, and strategies for reducing these emissions. Additionally, various methods for reducing gas in pigs, including probiotic interventions; prebiotic interventions, dietary enzymes supplementation, and use of medicinal plants and organic acids are discussed. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge on reducing noxious gas in pigs and offers valuable insights for pig producers, nutritionists, and researchers working in this area.

• 한국축산식품학회지
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.95-109
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• 2021

Consumer's interest in sustainable livestock farming methods has grown in response to concerns for the environment and animal welfare. The purpose of this study is to examine the different influences of sustainability product information on sensory characteristics and purchase behaviors. To accomplish this aim, the study used salami, which is an Italian-style sausage processed by fermentation and drying. Three different types of information were provided: salami made from the pork of an antibiotic-free pig (SMAFP), of an animal welfare pig (SMAWP), and of a grazing pig (SMGP). This study was conducted as an off-line experiment with Korean participants (n=140). As a result, there were sensory differences according to the sustainability information. For the SMAFP, it had a significant difference in, sourness (p<0.05). With the SMAWP, there was a difference in gumminess (p<0.10), and the SMGP had significant differences in sourness (p<0.01), sweetness (p<0.01), andmoisture (p<0.05). Moreover, the purchase intention and willingness to pay were significantly higher when the sustainability information was given. Especially, among the three types of salamis, participants were willing to pay the most for the SMAWP. This is one of the first consumer studies to investigate sensory evaluation and purchase behavior for various types of sustainable livestock production. These results contribute by helping sustainable meat producers and marketers become aware of the kind of sustainable information to which consumers are sensitive.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.103-114
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• 2022

Zoological Parks house exclusive animal species, thus creating a source of education and awareness for visitors. Big cats like tigers and leopards are among the most visited species in zoos globally. However, they often display stressful or stereotypic behaviours. Such behaviours are influenced by multiple factors including visitors, animal history, and captive environment. To understand this impact, we investigated the behavioural response of tigers and leopards to visitation, captive, and biological factors. The behaviour of eight big cats housed in the National Zoological Park, New Delhi, was monitored using focal sampling technique during May and June 2019. We recorded the captive and biological factors and visitor density for the subjects. The study revealed high proportions of inactive and stereotypic behaviours amongst the species. Tigers and leopards were found to perform stereotypic behaviours for 22% and 28% of their time, respectively. Generalised Linear Models revealed a significant variation of stereotypy in association with the factors. Stereotypy was influenced by visitor density, age, sex, breeding history, coat colour, and enclosure design. Adults, males, white-coated, previously bred, and those housed in smaller and simple enclosures display more stereotypy than young, females, normal-coated, unbred, and those housed in larger and complex enclosures, respectively. A high density of visitors induced more stereotypic behaviours amongst the big cats. As providing entertainment and awareness amongst the public is one of the fundamental objectives of the zoo, visitors can not be avoided. Thus, we suggest providing appropriate enrichments that would reduce stereotypies and promote naturalistic behaviours.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제22권8호
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• pp.1151-1159
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• 2009

This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary level of whole flaxseed (WFS; 0, 10 and 15%) on performance, carcass characteristics and fatty acid composition of serum and subcutaneous, perirenal, and intramuscular adipose tissues of Korean Hanwoo cattle. The daily gains were not different among treatments. Dietary inclusion of WFS decreased (p<0.05) feed intake but improved (p<0.05) feed conversion ratio (feed/gain). Backfat thickness and marbling score were increased (p<0.05) by dietary WFS. Carcass weight, dressing percentage, loin-eye area, and carcass yield and quality were not different among treatments. The proportion of C18:3 in serum and, to a lesser extent, in adipose tissues were increased (p<0.01) by dietary WFS, indicating that lipids from WFS escaped ruminal biohydrogenation. Animals fed WFS had lower proportions of saturated fatty acid (SFA; C14:0 and 16:0) and higher proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; C18:2. 18:3, 20:2, 20:4, 20:5 and 22:6) in perirenal and intramuscular fat than animals fed diets without WFS, resulting in an increased PUFA/SFA ratio. Furthermore, feeding WFS increased (p<0.01) proportions of $\omega$-3 and $\omega$-6 fatty acids in intramuscular fat but decreased (p<0.05) the $\omega$-6/$\omega$-3 ratio. Relative treatment effects were similar between 10 and 15% WFS. Feeding WFS can effectively alter composition of adipose tissues with enhanced feed conversion ratio.

• 한국초지조사료학회지
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.189-194
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• 2019

The normal feeding approach of goats might be due to their precise anatomical and physiological characteristics of entity, which permit them to be highly selective, to eat legume silages and wild green grass. This review has been designed to consider the grazing behavior, fodder selection, and feed composition of goats. Various herbs and corns consumed by goats have numerous nutritive resources. Based on the general herbaceous intake activities and behavior of goats, they prefer wild grass such as grass grown in the steep hills than soft grass. Because the digestion capacity of cellulose feed has higher digestion level compared to other non-ruminants within rumen and it is advantageous to use wild forest or mountain grass which comprises high proportion of cellulose feed for goat. In South Korea, there are abundant feed resources for goats because of occupying large areas of mountains. Thus, goat production and feeding costs could be reduced if plants are used from the wild forest as a feed for goats relative to grassland grazing. Also, it is expected to contribute in improvement of goat farming with harmonious relationship between the grassland and wild forest while satisfying animal welfare and physiological desires of livestock.

• 농업과학연구
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.683-691
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• 2020

A biomarker is needed to monitor and manage the health of pigs from heat stress (HS). Therefore, we investigated the effects of HS on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood profiles in finishing pigs. A total of 12 finishing pigs (n = 12) were raised in thermal neutral (TN; 25℃) conditions for a 3-d adaptation period. After the adaption, 6 pigs were exposed to HS at 33℃ (HS33) for 5 d. The pigs were fed the same diet based on corn and soybean meal. Chromic oxide was added to all the diets at a level of 2 g·kg^-1 as an indigestible marker for the determination of the apparent total track digestibility (ATTD) of nutrients and amino acids. Blood samples were collected after the adaptation and heat treatment to verify the blood profiles. The HS33 pigs had a lower (p < 0.01) average daily feed intake (ADFI) and higher (p < 0.05) rectal temperature compared to the TN pigs. However, there was no difference in the ATTD of nutrients and amino acids. The HS33 pigs had reduced (p < 0.05) levels of serum glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), total protein, albumin, and calcium compared to the TN pigs. However, the level of total bilirubin was increased (p < 0.05) in the HS pigs. In conclusion, HS reduced the feed intake and had an adverse effect on health. Altered blood profiles as a result of a negative energy balance are expected to be biomarkers of HS in finishing pigs.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제63권2호
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• pp.281-294
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• 2021

Although somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is frequently employed to produce cloned animals in laboratories, this technique is expensive and inefficient. Therefore, the handmade cloning (HMC) technique has been suggested to simplify and advance the cloning process, however, HMC wastes many oocytes and leads to mitochondrial heteroplasmy. To solve these problems, we propose a modified handmade cloning (mHMC) technique that uses simple laboratory equipment, i.e., a Pasteur pipette and an alcohol lamp, applying it to porcine embryo cloning. To validate the application of mHMC to pig cloning, embryos produced through SCNT and mHMC are compared using multiple methods, such as enucleation efficiency, oxidative stress, embryo developmental competence, and gene expression. The results show no significant differences between techniques except in the enucleation efficiency. The 8-cell and 16-cell embryo developmental competence and Oct4 expression levels exhibit significant differences. However, the blastocyst rate is not significantly different between mHMC and SCNT. This study verifies that cloned embryos derived from the two techniques exhibit similar generation and developmental competence. Thus, we suggest that mHMC could replace SCNT for simpler and cheaper porcine cloning.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제28권10호
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• pp.1512-1518
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• 2015

This experiment was conducted to assess the welfare and productivity of gestating gilts in groups with the electronic sow feeding (ESF) system compared to conventional stalls. A total of 83 gilts ($Yorkshire{\times}Landrace$) were housed into individual stalls to be artificially inseminated. Gilts confirmed pregnant were introduced to their treatment, conventional stalls (ST) or groups with the ESF system. All gilts were taken to the farrowing crates one week prior to their expected farrowing date. In the gestation period, there were no significant differences between gilts allocated to ST and ESF on growth performance. However, backfat thickness gain (p = 0.08) and body condition score (BCS) at 110 days of gestation (p = 0.10) tended to be higher in ESF gilts than ST. Likewise, gilts housed in group showed significantly higher estimated body muscle contents at 110 days of gestation (p = 0.02) and body muscle change during gestation (p = 0.01). There was a trend for a shorter parturition time in ESF gilts (p = 0.07). In the lactation period, group housed gilts showed a tendency to increased BCS changes (p = 0.06). Reproductive performance did not differ with the exception of piglet mortality (ST = 0.2 no. of piglets vs ESF = 0.4 no. of piglets; p = 0.01). In blood profiles, ST gilts showed a higher cortisol level at 110 days of gestation (p = 0.01). Weaning to estrus interval was shorter in gilts housed in ESF than ST (p = 0.01). In locomotory behaviors, ESF gilts recorded a tendency to elevate locomotion score at 36, 70, and 110 days of gestation (p = 0.07, p = 0.06, and p = 0.06, respectively). Similarly, ESF gilts showed significantly higher incidence of scratches at 36, 70, and 110 days of gestation (p = 0.01). Moreover, farrowing rates were higher in stall treatment (97.6%) compare to group housing treatment (95.2%). In conclusion, while group housed gilts with ESF system positively affected welfare status in combination with less physiologically stressful environments and activity, it negatively effects piglet mortality, farrowing rates and injuries of gilts.