• 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.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1775-1779
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• 2005

Seventy-two crossbred gilts of approximately 33 kg initial weight were used in this study. The gilts were randomly assigned into three groups. The three dietary treatments were basal diet only (control group), basal diet+10 mg/kg lead, and basal diet+10 mg/kg lead+0.5% particulate montmorillonite (PM). The results showed that the addition of lead to the diet decreased significantly the body weight and feed efficiency, but PM could restore body weight and feed efficiency of gilts compared to the Pb exposure group. There were no significant differences in weights of ovaries and uteri with addition of either lead or PM to the diet. Supplementing the lead in the diet of gilts also significantly increased the concentration of lead in blood, decreased circulating lutenizing hormone (LH) and estradiol (E$_2$) levels in serum, the addition of PM to the diet effectively adsorbed and lowered lead concentration in the blood. These data suggested that lead disrupts the signals between the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in gilts, and possibly suppressed the secretion of relative growth hormone and sex hormone. On the other hand, PM may ameliorate Pb toxicity in pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.402-405
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• 2006

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of dietary betaine (0, 0.125%) on performance, carcass composition, pork quality and hepatic betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) activity of crossbred finishing barrows. Three replicates of ten pigs were used for each treatment. The results showed that average daily gain, feed intake and feed conversion were not affected by betaine. Compared with the control group, pigs treated with betaine had a 8.17% (p<0.05) decrease in carcass fat percentage, and a 8.84% (p<0.05) reduction in 10th-rib backfat thickness, but dressing percentage, percentage lean, longissimus muscle area, and average backfat thickness were not affected. There were also no significant differences in muscle color score, marbling score, pork pH value and water loss rate between the control and betaine-treated groups. Hepatic betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) activity was significantly increased by 13.97% (p<0.05) when pigs were offered 0.125% betaine.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.551-557
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• 2013

This study was conducted to analyze the genotypes and genes of FABP3 (Fatty-acid Binding Protein 3) in pigs using MSPI restriction enzyme and electrophoresis. Analysis of data collected from a total of 210 crossbred pigs (LYD or YLD) in Chungcheongnam-do, Korea, revealed the following. The AA genotypes of FABP3 were detected in the 750 bp and 100 bp bands, while the Aa heterotype appeared in the 850, 750 and 100 bp bands and the aa recessive homotype was detected in a single band of 850 bp. The genotype frequency of AA, Aa and aa was 46.67%, 51.43% and 1.90%, respectively. The genetic equilibrium of this population showed a significant difference (p<0.001) based on a ${\chi}^2$-test. The carcass weight, backfat thickness, marbling score, pH, drip loss, cooking loss, and meat color based on the CIE $L^*$, and $b^*$ values according to genotypes of FABP3 did not differ significantly (p>0.05); however, the CIE $a^*$ values did (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1907-1913
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• 2019

Objective: Homoacetogens play important roles in the production of acetate in the large intestine of monogastric mammals. However, their diversity in the porcine large intestine is still unknown. Marker gene analysis was performed to assess the effects of energy level on the diversity and population densities of homoacetogens in porcine feces. Methods: Crossbred pigs were fed high or low energy-level diets. The high-intake (HI) diet was sufficient to allow a daily gain of 1.2 kg. The low-intake (LI) diet provided 0.6 times the amount of energy as the HI diet. Genetic diversity was analyzed using formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase gene (FHS) clone libraries derived from fecal DNA samples. FHS DNA copy numbers were quantified using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: A wide variety of FHS sequences was recovered from animals in both treatments. No differences in FHS clone libraries between the HI and LI groups were found. During the experimental period, no significant differences in the proportion of FHS copy numbers were observed between the two treatment groups. Conclusion: This is the first reported molecular diversity analysis using specific homoacetogen marker genes from the large intestines of pigs. There was no observable effect of feed intake on acetogen diversity.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.387-397
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• 2024

Pork quality is determined by several attributes, among which odor and taste are the utmost significant. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the effects of boar odor hormone concentration on the quality traits and sensory acceptability of pork. A total twenty-six (26) non-castrated 3-way crossbred (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc) pigs were selected with an average body weight (ABW) 115.6 kg before to slaughter. The three treatment groups (low, medium and high) were divided according to the androstenone concentration. In experiment 1, for meat quality traits carcass was selected based on androstenone concentration: low (LC, 0.64-0.69 ㎍/g, n = 9), medium (MC, 0.70-0.99 ㎍/g, n = 7) and high (HC, 1.00-1.69 ㎍/g, n = 10). In experiment 2, for sensory evaluation carcasses were also selected based on the abovementioned conditions. Results revealed that androstenone concentration not effect on proximate components, meat quality traits and fatty acids except palmitoleic acid. Sensory evaluation data showed that boar taint and meat boar taint were significantly increased in a concentration-dependent manner from low to high, whereas, gravy and meat flavor preference were significantly increased in LC group than HC group. In addition, correlation analysis showed that boar taint and meat boar taint were positively, and gravy and meat flavor preference were negatively correlated with boar taint hormones. In essence, our findings indicate that androstenone concentration had no effect on meat qualities, but a high concentration of androstenone had a negative effect on the sensory characteristics in uncastrated pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.556-562
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• 2007

A total of 126 crossbred weanling pigs (average body weight of $6.3{\pm}0.3$ kg) were used to investigate the effect of chito-oligosaccharide (COS) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, pH of gastro-intestinal tract (GI), intestinal and fecal microflora of young piglets. Pigs were allocated to three dietary treatments based on body weight and gender in a single factorial arrangement. Treatments were control (No COS), T1 (0.2% COS during starter (6-13 kg) and 0.1% COS during grower (13-30 kg) phases, and T2 (0.4% COS during starter (6-13 kg) and 0.3% COS during grower (13-30 kg) phases, respectively. Each treatment had 3 replicates and 14 pigs were raised in each pen. COS is a low molecular weight water-soluble chitosan that can be obtained from chitin of the crab shell after deacetylation with concentrated sodium hydroxide at high temperature and then further decomposition by chitosanase enzyme in the presence of ascorbic acid. For the starter and grower periods, there were no significant differences (p>0.05) in average daily gain (ADG) and feed to gain ratio among treatments. However, during the overall period (6-30 kg), T2 showed better (p<0.05) feed to gain ratio than other treatments. A digestibility study was conducted at the end of grower phase which showed improvement (p<0.05) in DM and crude fat digestibility in T2 over the control. At 25 kg body weight, 6 pigs per treatment (2 per replicate) were sacrificed to determine the effect of diets on pH and microbial count at different sections of the GI tract. The pH of the cecal contents in pigs fed 0.1% COS was higher (p<0.05) than in the other treatments. Total anaerobic bacterial number increased from cecum to rectum in all treatments. The weekly total bacterial counts showed higher (p<0.05) in feces of pigs fed COS than that of untreated pigs at the $8^{th}$ week. The number of fecal E. coli in untreated pigs at $4^{th}$ wk was 7.35 log CFU/g compared to 6.71 and 6.54 log CFU/g in 0.1 and 0.3% COS-treated pigs, respectively. Similarly, at $8^{th}$ wk, fecal clostridium spp. were lower in pigs fed 0.3% COS (5.43 log CFU/g) than in untreated pigs (6.26 log CFU/g). In conclusion, these results indicated that chito-oligosaccharide could improve feed efficiency in young pigs and inhibited the growth of harmful bacteria.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.531-544
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• 2021

Heat stress (HS) damages health and decreases performance variables in pigs, and if severe enough, causes mortality. However, metabolic changes under HS and recovery following HS are poorly understood. Therefore, this study was aimed to expose the essential mechanisms by which growing pigs respond to HS and the temporal pattern of plasma concentrations (PC) of amino acids (AAs) and metabolites. Crossbred male growing pigs were penned separately and allowed to adapt to thermal-neutral (TN) conditions (20℃ and 80% relative humidity; TN[-1D]). On the first day, all pigs were exposed to HS for 24 h (36℃ and 60% relative humidity), then to TN conditions for 5 days (TN[2D] to TN[5D]). All pigs had ad libitum access to water and 3 kg feed twice daily. Rectal temperature (RT) and feed intake (FI) were determined daily. HS pigs had higher RT (40.72℃) and lower (50%) FI than TN(-1D) pigs (p < 0.01). The PC of indispensable (threonine, valine, and methionine) and dispensable (cysteine and tyrosine) AAs were higher (p < 0.05) in HS than TN(-1D) pigs and remained increased during recovery time. Nonprotein α-aminobutyric acid and β-alanine concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in HS than TN(-1D) pigs. The metabolite concentration of creatinine was higher (p < 0.01) under HS treatment than other treatments, but that of alanine and leucine remained increased (p < 0.05) through 5 d of recovery. In summary, some major differences were found in plasma AA profiles and metabolites between HS- and TN-condition pigs. This indicates that the HS pigs were forced to alter their metabolism, and these results provide information about mechanisms of acute HS responses relative to the recovery time.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.574-581
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• 2008

Two experiments, involving a total of 100 crossbred pigs (Hampshire$\times$Landrace$\times$Duroc) aged 5 weeks, were used to evaluate the effect of Roselle (Hibicus sabdariffa Linn.) calyx as an antioxidant and acidifier on growth performance. Experiment 1: growth performance response of pigs fed basal corn-soy diet was compared with that of pigs consuming diets that contained 4, 8 and 12% Roselle in powder form, 4 g/kg acidifier (Fra$^{(R)}$Acid Dry) or 100 mg/kg antibiotic (Aurofac$^{(R)}$). All diets were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Twenty-four castrated male and twelve female pigs were randomly allocated into 6 treatments which comprised 3 replicates (2 male and 1 female) of 2 pigs each. The results demonstrated no beneficial weight gain and feed intake response among treatments at 7, 9 and 11 weeks of age (p>0.05). However, feed-to-gain ratios (FCR) of Roselle-fed groups were significantly different from the basal-diet group at 7 weeks of age (p<0.05). Pigs fed with 8% Roselle had the lowest FCR. Therefore, 8% was set as an appropriate level of Roselle in feed. Experiment 2 was conducted to determine antioxidant and acidifier properties. Pigs were fed similar diets to Experiment 1 except that Roselle was fed to only one treatment at the level of 8%. Sixty-four piglets, 32 castrated male and female each were randomly allocated into 4 treatments which comprised 4 replicates (2 male and 2 female) of 4 pigs each. Body weight was measured. At 7 and 9 weeks of age, four pigs from each treatment were randomly selected. The pH in their gastrointestinal tract, pepsin activity in stomach mucosa, trypsin activity in the pancreas and protein and fat digestibility in the ileum were measured to investigate acidifier properties. For antioxidant properties, malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione concentration in plasma and liver were used as parameters. The results showed no significant difference in weight gain, pH or pepsin activity among all treatments at both ages (p>0.05). Nevertheless, trypsin activity and fat digestibility of the Roselle-fed group were higher than the basal-diet group at 7 weeks of age (p<0.05). Glutathione in plasma was significantly different between antibiotic-fed and basal-diet groups (p<0.05). Significant differences were found only in some parameters and between the basal-diet group and the other groups. Therefore, it cannot be precisely concluded that Roselle in powder form has clear acidifier and antioxidant properties in postweaning pigs. Further studies should be undertaken to clearly confirm both properties.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1496-1502
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• 2010

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of diet complexity and fermented soy protein on growth performance and amino acid digestibility. In Exp. 1, a total of 120 crossbred weanling pigs ($5.68{\pm}0.80\;kg$ BW) were randomly allocated into 4 treatments. Each treatment had 6 replicate pens comprising 5 pigs in each replicate. Experimental diets consisted of simple (soybean meal as protein source) and complex (soybean meal, rice protein concentrate, potato protein concentrate and fish meal as protein sources) diets; each diet contained 0 or 5% fermented soy protein (FSP), respectively. Dietary treatments included: i) simple diet; ii) simple diet with 5% FSP; iii) complex diet; iv) complex diet with 5% FSP. Pigs were provided each experimental diet for 20 d (phase 1) and then fed the same common diet for 10 d (phase 2). During days 0-10, pigs fed FSP diets had greater ADG than those fed non-FSP diets (p<0.05). G/F in FSP treatments was significantly higher than that in non-FSP treatments (p<0.05) from days 0 to 10. Throughout the overall period, G/F was greater in FSP treatments compared with non-FSP treatments (p<0.05). On d 10, N digestibility was higher in pigs fed FSP diets than in those fed non-FSP diets (p<0.05). Diet complexity did not affect growth performance and nutrient digestibility (p>0.05) in this experiment. In Exp 2, 12 ileal-cannulated, weanling barrows were housed in individual metabolism crates and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments (same as Exp. 1) by using a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. Among the essential amino acids, apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of Met and Val were increased in pigs fed FSP diets compared with those fed non-FSP diets (p<0.05). AID of Met, Phe and total essential amino acids were higher in pigs fed complex diets than in those fed simple diets (p<0.05). Among the non-essential amino acids, AID of Ala in FSP treatments was greater than that in non-FSP treatments (p<0.05). In addition, Asp, Cys, Glu, Pro, Ser and total non-essential amino acid digestibilities in pigs fed complex diets were higher compared with those fed simple diets (p<0.05). Interaction was observed in AID of Met, Asp and Pro. In conclusion, these results indicated that feeding of 5% FSP to nursery pigs improved feed efficiency and AID of amino acids, and diet complexity did not maximize the growth performance of pigs in the subsequent phase.