• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.217-223
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• 2006

Fifty castrated crossbred ($Landrace{\times}Yorkshire$) pigs, weighing an average of $60.6{\pm}3.1kg$ were allotted to one of five treatments in a randomized block design to examine the effects of dietary inclusion of 0.1% L-carnitine (50 ppm carnitine), 0.1% selenium-enriched yeast (0.3 ppm selenium), 0.1% Jujube fruit or 0.1% Hwangto (Red clay) on pig performance and carcass quality. All diets were based on corn, wheat, soybean meal and wheat bran and were formulated to supply 13.8 MJ DE/kg. Dietary supplementation did not influence daily gain (p = 0.57), feed intake (p = 0.52), or feed conversion (p = 0.32). Digestibility of dry matter (p = 0.60), organic matter (p = 0.74), crude protein (p = 0.76), crude fibre (p = 0.70) and energy (p = 0.75) were also unaffected by inclusion of any of the additives. Tissue samples taken from the longissimus muscle showed that the levels of carnitine (p = 0.0001) and selenium (p = 0.0001) were significantly higher with dietary inclusion of carnitine or selenium-enriched yeast. Dietary treatment did not affect dressing percentage (p = 0.33), carcass lean yield (p = 0.99) or first, $10^{th}$ and last rib midline backfat depth (p = 0.45, 0.82 and 0.47, respectively). Dietary treatment also did not affect the percentages of tenderloin (p = 0.37), bacon (p = 0.36), fat and bone (p = 0.56), picnic shoulder (p = 0.25), skirt (p = 0.80), fresh ham (p = 0.31) or ribs (p = 0.79). However, pigs fed the diet containing Jujube fruit had a higher percentage of Boston butt than pigs fed the carnitine or selenium supplemented diets (p = 0.01). Pigs fed added Hwangto had a higher (p = 0.04) percentage of loin compared with pigs fed supplementary selenium or Jujube fruit. Loin muscle from pigs fed carnitine had a significantly lower Hunter colour value for L (whiteness, p = 0.004) and a higher value for $a^*$ (redness; p = 0.069). The overall results indicate that supplementation with L-carnitine and selenium-enriched yeast can produce pork containing higher levels of carnitine and selenium, which could provide health benefits for consumers of pork without detrimental effects on pig performance.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.147-154
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• 2001

An experiment was conducted to examine environmental influences upon the behavioral pattern of pigs. The resting areas of an enclosed growing-finishing pig house were checked in two seasonal ventilation systems, and the excretion habit of pigs influenced by the different closing rates (50, 75 and 100%) of side walls of pens was surveyed. 1. The excretion habit of pigs was not influenced by temperature, humidity and the flow speed of running air as they excreted in a fixed area of the side walls. However, the lighting effects on the excretion habit was observed because pigs excreted in the darkest area of the pig pen. 2. The accumulated height and width of feces showed 10 and 30 cm; 5 and 25cm; and 3 and 20cm for 50, 75 and 100% of closing rates of side walls, respectively. It indicates that pigs excrete all over the floor in the pen with 100% closed side walls. 3. Ammonia concentrations of the resting areas on the pen floor were determined to 4.2, 5.1 and $5.8mg/{\ell}$ for 50, 75 and 100% of closing rates of side walls, respectively. It indicates that the ammonia concentration was highest in the pen with 100% closed side walls. Thus, the high ammonia concentration of the resting areas could be reduced by illuminating the darker areas with relation to the excretion habit. 4. The flow speed of running air was likely the biggest factor influencing the resting areas of pigs; pigs took a rest at the place of 0.04 m/s air flow speed point during midwinter, and at the place of 0.24 m/s air flow speed point during midsummer.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.290-296
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• 2006

Crossbred pigs (female, 198 days old, $102{\sim}118kg$, Tamra Marketing Farm) were fed a diet supplemented with tangerine peel fer an extended period to study its effect on the physicochemical properties and palatability of the pork. The samples for this study consisted of the pork from pigs fed a diet without tangerine peel (T0), and the pork from pigs fed a diet containing 8% tangerine peel during the entire breeding period, from early pregnancy through the finishing period (T1). The pH Hunter's $L^*$ value, water holding capacity, freezing loss, thawing loss, cooking loss, hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, sensory raw meat color and cooked meat palatability of loin and belly were not significantly different between T0 and T1 pork (p>0.05). However, the Hunter's $a^*\;and\;b^*$ value, gumminess, shear force value (SFV) and smell were significantly higher in meat from loin of T1 than T0 pigs (p<0.05). Thus T1 pork exhibited an improved SFV, DPPH reduction and aroma of cooked belly meat (p<0.05).

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.131-138
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• 2009

This study was conducted to find ways to control environment with the difference between body temperature and background temperature based on swine activity, and to apply to the environment control system of swine barns based on the findings. Following are the results. 1. Swine activity related to background temperature was achieved as color images and swine activity status was categorized into cold, comfortable, and hot periods with visualization system (thermal image system). 2. Thermal image system consisted of an infrared CCD camera, an image processing board - DIF (TH3100), an main computer (400Hz, 128M, 586 Pentium model) with C++ program installed. 3. Thermal image system categorizing temperatures into cold, comfortable, and hot was applicable to the environment control system of swine barns 4. Feed intake was higher in cold temperature, and finishing weight and weight gain per day in cold temperature were lower than others (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.597-607
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• 1998

Processing is generally employed to alter the physical and chemical properties of feeds used in pig diets, using hammer/roller mills, pellet mills and extruders/expanders. The reported optimum particle sizes of corn are approximately $500{\mu}m$, $500-700{\mu}m$, $400-600{\mu}m$, for nursery, growing-finishing, and breeder pigs respectively. Optimum particle size of grains are affected by diet complexity. There was a trend towards reducing particle size in order to increase ADG in pigs fed a simple diet, though such was not the case for pigs fed a complex diet. Uniformity of particle size also affects the nutritional values of swine feeds. Uniform particle sizes would consistently give greater nutrient digestibilities. In terms of pellet quality, it is reported that a higher incidence of fmes in pelleted feeds has a direct correlation with poorer feed conversion ratio in pigs. Particle and pellet sizes are also very important for pelleting in terms of grinding, digestibility, stomach ulceration and pellet durability. A particle size of $600{\mu}m$, or slightly less, seemed optimal for com in fmishing pigs, and the 5/32 in. diameter pellets supported the best efficiencies of gain during nursery and finishing phases. Extruder and/or expander processes would allow the feed industry an increased flexibility to utilize a wider spectrum of feed ingredients, and improve pellet quality of finished feeds. It would appear that extruded or expanded diets containing highly digestible ingredients have little effect on the growth performance of pigs, and the feeding values of the feeds over pelleted diets were not improved as pigs grew. The extruder or expander is much more effective than a pelletizer in salmonella control. Gastric ulcerations and/or keratinizations were consistently reported in pigs fed mash and processed diets containing finely ground grains, whereas carcass quality was not affected by diet processing methods such as pelleting, extruding or expanding. In corn- or sorghum-based diets, the electrical energy consumption is 4-5 times higher in the expanding than in the pelleting process. But the expander's processing cost was half of that shown by an extruder. Finally, the decision of which feed processing technology to adopt would depend on the processing cost, and any potential improvement in growth performance and digestibilities of nutrients should offset the increased operating and capital costs related to the extruder/expander technology over mash or pelleting processes in pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1214-1219
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• 2008

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementing tuna oil to diets of growing-finishing pigs (barrows and gilts) on backfat characteristics when slaughtered at different weights. Four hundred and eighty crossbred (Large White$\times$Landrace$\times$Duroc) pigs averaging 30 kg were allotted to 12 treatment combinations (40 pigs/treatment combination) in a completely randomized design with a $2{\times}2{\times}3$ factorial arrangement of treatments. The treatments were: dietary tuna oil supplementation (0 and 2%); sex (barrows and gilts); and slaughter weight (90, 100 and 110 kg). As pigs reached their slaughter weight, they were randomly selected (8 pigs/treatment combination; 96 pigs in total) and slaughtered. Backfat colour, hardness and fatty acid profile were assessed. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in colour (L* and a* values) among treatments. Backfat of the control group was harder than on the tuna oil (p<0.001) and that of barrows was harder than of gilts (p<0.05). In addition, the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values of fat from the tuna oil group stored for 3 days were higher (p<0.001) than the control group. The TBARS values of gilts tended to be higher than those of barrows and increased with increasing slaughter weight in the tuna oil group. The cholesterol and triglyceride levels were not affected by diet and sex but the triglyceride level increased with increasing slaughter weight (p<0.01). The tuna oil group had higher polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content, ratio of PUFA: saturated fatty acid (SFA) and total n-3 fatty acids but lower monounsaturated fatty acids content and n-6:n-3 fatty acids than the control group (p<0.01). Gilts had higher PUFA and n-6 fatty acids in backfat than barrows (p<0.05). The backfat from both 90 and 100 kg slaughter-weight groups had a lower ratio of n6:n3 fatty acid than the 110 kg slaughter-weight group (p<0.05). However, this was more pronounced in the tuna oil group. The PUFA: SFA was also increased while the n-6:n-3 ratio tended to reach the recommended levels for healthy eating in human beings of <5. However, due to oxidative susceptibility, barrows should not be slaughtered at more than 100 kg for the meat to be acceptable to consumers.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.427-433
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• 2012

The present study was performed to investigate long-term effects of the low-crude protein and lysine (low CP/lys) diet and a yeast culture supplemented to the low CP/lys diet on growth and carcass characteristics in growing-finishing pigs. Forty-five gilts and 45 barrows weighing approximately 25 kg born to Yorkshire ${\times}$ Landrace dams and Duroc sires were allocated to nine pens, with five gilts and five barrows assigned per pen. Every three pens received CP/lys-rich grower and finisher diets (control), low CP/lys grower and finisher (basal), or the low CP/lys grower and finisher supplemented (2%) with a yeast culture providing $3.2{\times}10^8$ Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells/kg diet (yeast) for 31 and 79 days, respectively. The ADG was less in the low CP/lys (basal + yeast) group than in the control group (P<0.01) during both grower (0.59 vs. 0.70 kg) and finisher (0.75 vs. 0.89 kg) phases. However, marbling score was greater (P<0.05) in the low CP/lys group vs. control (3.86 vs. 3.12) at slaughter, which resulted in a twice percentage of the $1^+$-quality grade carcasses in the former compared with that for the latter. Supplementation of the yeast culture to the basal diet caused a decrease in ADG during the grower phase (P<0.01), but not during the finisher phase (0.64 vs. 0.53 kg and 0.73 vs. 0.77 kg for the basal vs. yeast group during the grower and finisher phases, respectively), without influencing the marbling score or percentage of the $1^+$-quality grade carcasses. In conclusion, results indicate that long-term provision of the low CP/lys diet has a beneficial effect on marbling and carcass quality grade as well as a negative effect on weight gain and that the yeast culture supplemented to the low CP/lys diet has no beneficial effect on weight gain or carcass quality.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.537-546
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• 1994

This experiment was carried out to compare the effects of six different plant protein sources such as soybean meal, extruded full-fat soybean, canola meal, rapeseed meal, cottonseed meal and perilla meal as a sole protein source of diets on growth performance and amino acid bioavailabilities in growing-finishing pigs. A total of 54 pigs with average 25 kg of body weight were used as experimental subjects for a 65-d feeding trial. Digestion trial was carried out with seven ileal-cannulated pigs. The most rapid rate of weight gain was observed in pigs fed soybean meal and full-fat soybean, the moderate one in pigs fed canola meal and cottonseed meal and the least one in pigs fed rapeseed meal and perilla meal (p<0.005). Feed efficiency was better for groups fed soybean meal and full-fat soybean than other protein meals (p<0.05). The apparent ileal digestibilities of essential amino acids of soybean meal and full-fat soybean (82.5% and 81.6%) were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those of other protein sources (61.2 to 69.4%). Regardless of protein sources, the apparent ileal digestibility of arginine was highest, whereas that of histidine was lowest among essential amino acids. Proline had the lowest digestibility among non-essential amino acids. True amino acid digestibilities tended to be higher than apparent amino acid digestibilities. The differences between true and apparent ileal digestibilities were greater in canola meal, rapeseed meal or cottonseed meal than other protein sources. The differences was greatest in praline except for cottonseed meal. The fecal digestibility appeared to be higher than the ileal digestibility. The differences between fecal and ileal digestibilities were greater in canola meal, rapeseed meal, cottonseed meal and perilla meal than in soybean meal and full-fat soybean. In general, praline was the most disappeared amino acid in the hind gut, while the net synthesis of lysine in the large intestine was observed in all protein sources except perilla meal. It is appropriate that swine feeds should be formulated based on true ileal amino acid digestibility of protein sources for pig's normal growth.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1785-1793
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• 2008

Fifty-four PIC barrows were used to evaluate the effects of lower dietary lysine content and energy level on carcass characteristics and meat quality in slaughter pigs. Pigs were allotted to one of three treatments by body weight with six replicate pens in each treatment. The dietary treatments for body weights of 20-50 kg, 50-80 kg and 80-90 kg were as follows, respectively: control diet (digestible energy 14.22 MJ/kg, lysine/DE 0.67 g/MJ, 0.53 g/MJ and 0.42 g/MJ); a low lysine group (digestible energy 14.22 MJ/kg, lysine/DE 0.49, 0.38 and 0.30 g/MJ); and a low lysine-low energy group or low nutrient group (digestible energy 13.11 MJ/kg, lysine/DE 0.49, 0.38 and 0.30 g/MJ). The daily weight gain, daily feed intake and feed efficiency were calculated in the overall growth period (nearly 12 weeks). Meanwhile, carcass characteristics and meat quality were evaluated at 60 and 90 kg body weight respectively. During the overall growth trial, lowering dietary lysine and nutrient level both decreased weight gain (p<0.05) and feed efficiency (p<0.01). At 60 kg body weight, decreasing dietary lysine and nutrient level noticeably decreased dressing percentage (p<0.01) and back fat depth at last rib of PIC pigs (p<0.01), but enhanced marbling scores (p<0.10), intramuscular fat content (p<0.10) and water loss rate (p<0.01) of the longissimus dorsi muscle. At 90 kg body weight, lean percentage (p<0.01) was evidently reduced by both lowering lysine content and nutrient level in the diet. However, the shoulder back fat depth (p<0.05) and marbling scores of the loin eye muscle (p<0.05) were increased; Lowering dietary nutrient level could improve back fat depth of 10th rib (p<0.01) and last rib (p<0.01), intramuscular fat content (p<0.10), redness (p<0.01) and water loss rate of the loin eye muscle (p<0.05), but decrease loin area (p<0.05). Finally, when comparing the 60 kg and 90 kg slaughter weights, it was found that the shoulder back fat depth (p<0.01, p<0.10), 6th-7th rib (p<0.01, p<0.01), 10th-rib (p<0.01, p<0.01) and last rib back fat depth (p<0.01, p<0.01) of the low lysine and low nutrient group were all obviously increased comparing with the control group. Taken together, the results showed that decreasing dietary lysine content and nutrient level increased intramuscular fat content and water loss rate of longissimus dorsi muscle; On the other hand, both lowering dietary lysine and nutrient level markedly compensated to increase back fat deposition in the later finishing period (body weight from 60 to 90 kg) in contrast to the control group.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.183-190
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• 2002

A study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary probiotics or antibiotics on growth and pathological status in growing-finishing pigs. Ninety male pigs weaned at 24 days of age were divided into three groups of 30 pigs each on the basis of body weight and litter. Three groups of ten pigs(one pen) each were assigned to one of the following diets; a control diet or diets containing 0.1% probiotics or 0.1% antibiotics (1:1 mixture of kitasamycin and sulfamethazine). Average daily gain (ADG), feed efficiency(G/F) and the pathological status were monitored. ADG, feed efficiency and carcass quality were not different (P>0.05) among the three treatments. But pork quality in pigs fed probiotics tended to be improved, compared to other treatments. The pigs fed probiotics had lower pathological lesion in intestinal monitoring than that of other treatments pigs. The chemical composition of slurry(BOD, COD, SS, T-N, T-P and ammonia) in the probiotics treatments tended to be decreased, compared to other treatments. Results of this study suggest that dietary probiotics improve pigs' housing environment, and decrease the contents of polluting materials in slurry.