• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1744-1748
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• 2014

A dose-response experiment with seven supplemental pyridoxine levels (0, 0.66, 1.32, 1.98, 2.64, 3.30, and 3.96 mg/kg) was conducted to investigate the effects of pyridoxine on growth performance and plasma aminotransferases and homocysteine of White Pekin ducks and to estimate pyridoxine requirement for these birds. A total of 336 one-day-old male White Pekin ducks were divided to 7 experimental treatments and each treatment contained 8 replicate pens with 6 birds per pen. Ducks were reared in raised wire-floor pens from hatch to 28 d of age. At 28 d of age, the weight gain, feed intake, feed/gain, and the aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and homocysteine in plasma of ducks from each pen were all measured. In our study, the pyridoxine deficiency of ducks was characterized by growth depression, decreasing plasma aspartate aminotransferase activity and increasing plasma homocysteine. The ducks fed vitamin $B_6$-deficient basal diets had the worst weight gain and feed/gain among all birds and this growth depression was alleviated (p<0.05) when pyridoxine was supplemented to basal diets. On the other hand, plasma aspartate aminotransferase and homocysteine may be the sensitive indicators for vitamin $B_6$ status of ducks. The ducks fed basal diets had much lower aspartate aminotransferase activity and higher homocysteine level in plasma compared with other birds fed pyridoxine-supplemented diets (p<0.05). According to quadratic regression, the supplemental pyridoxine requirements of Pekin ducks from hatch to 28 days of age was 2.44 mg/kg for feed/gain and 2.08 mg/kg for plasma aspartate aminotransferase and the corresponding total requirements of this vitamin for these two criteria were 4.37 and 4.01 mg/kg when the pyridoxine concentration of basal diets was included, respectively. All data suggested that pyridoxine deficiency could cause growth retardation in ducks and the deficiency of this vitamin could be indicated by decreasing plasma aspartate aminotransferase activity and increasing plasma homocysteine.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.213-220
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• 2010

This study was executed to investigate the effects of drinking deep sea water treated by reverse osmosis process (RO-DSW) on growth performance, nutrient utilizability, relative weight of lymphoid organs and the concentration of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) in broiler chickens. A total of 200 one day old broiler chickens (Ross 308) were equally and randomly distributed into 10 ground floor pens (20 chicks per pen, 5 pens per treatment) bedded with rice-husks. The broilers were offered either fresh tap water (Control) or RO-DSW for 28 days (from d 6 to d 33) as the drinking water. The same basal phase 1 diet for first 2 weeks and phase 2 diet for last 2 weeks were offered ad libitum to the birds. The RO-DSW was prepared by diluting 1:20 ratio with deionized water before offering to chickens. The diet for control birds was supplemented with 0.21 % of food-grade salt to satisfy salt need of the birds. Broiler feeding study resulted that there were no differences in amount of water consumption, mortality and FCR between RO-DSW and control chickens. However, feed intake and body weight gain were increased (p<0.05) by RO-DSW drinking. There was no (p>0.05) difference in nutrients utilizability between RO-DSW and fresh water drinking. There were no (p>0.05) differences in the immune response between the control and treatment group. The serum IgG levels were 3.01 vs 2.87 mg/ml and the relative weights of spleen, thymus and bursa of Fabricius were 0.23, 0.18 and 0.20 vs. 0.20, 0.17 and 0.14 for RO-DSW vs. control birds, respectively. The immune responses were tended to be improved by RO-DSW drinking. This study showed an improvement in weight gain and feed intake that could be induced by RO-DSW drinking, although it is difficult to explain the reasons of the improvement at this moment. This study implied that RO-DSW could be successfully used as drinking water to broiler chickens.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.377-386
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• 2023

The effect of different commercially available bedding materials on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of ducks for 42 days was investigated. 336 one-day-old White-Pekin ducklings (60.48 ± 0.16 g) were randomly allocated into 24-floor pens with one of the three beddings namely i) coco peat, ii) rice husks, or iii) sawdust. 14 ducklings per pen and 8 replicate pens per bedding material were used. Birds were fed a starter diet from days 1-21 and a grower diet from days 22-42. Weekly growth performance evaluation was conducted for the average body weight, weight gains, daily feed intake, and feed conversion efficiency. One bird per pen was sacrificed on day 42 for the evaluation of carcass characteristics including the carcass, breast, and leg muscle percentages. Breast and leg muscle samples were then collected and analyzed for their proximate and pH values. Higher body weights (p < 0.05) were noticed with rice husks on day 42 only. Improved daily gains (p < 0.05) were also noticed for birds raised with rice husks over the entire period (days 1-42). Concerning feed intake, higher values (p < 0.05) were similarly noted with rice husks for the grower phase (days 22-42), and the entire experimental period (days 1-42). Marginally improved feed intake values were also noted with the use of rice husks as the bedding materials on day 42 (p = 0.092). Improved feed efficiency (p < 0.05) was noticed with rice husks on day 35, the grower period, and the entire 42-day period. However, no significant differences were noticed for most of the carcass characteristics that were evaluated. Nevertheless, higher (p < 0.05) pH values for the breast muscle were noticed with the use of coco peat and sawdust as the bedding. Conclusively, the bedding type could have a significant impact on the growth performance of ducks without adverse effects on carcass characteristics. The use of rice husks as bedding might be advantageous and is therefore recommended.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.245-252
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• 2018

This study investigated the effect of LED light wavelength (color) on reproductive hormones and egg production of brown laying hens raised on floor. Red, blue, green and white colors of LED light were four treatments with four pens per treatment. One hundred forty four Hy-line brown laying hens (47 wks old) were allocated in a floor pen for six weeks trial. Egg production, egg quality, yolk cholesterol and hormones ($17{\beta}$-estradiol, progesterone) concentrations in plasma and oviduct were analyzed. Egg production of red group was higher (P<0.01) than that of green group. Haugh unit of eggs from red group was higher (P<0.01) than that of blue and green groups. Egg weight of green group was heavier (P<0.05) than that of red group. Shell of blue group was stronger (P<0.05) than that of red and white groups. Shell color of white group was browner (P<0.01) than that of blue and green groups. Yolk cholesterol of red group was higher (P<0.01) than that of others. Plasma $17{\beta}$-estradiol of red group was higher (P<0.05) than that of others at $3^{rd}$ week, but that of white group was highest (P<0.05) at $6^{th}$ week. Oviduct progesterone of green group was higher (P<0.01) than that of others. The result showed that the LED colors affect the reproductive hormone concentrations, egg production, egg weight and egg quality. This study suggested that red LED would be the most appropriate color for floor raising brown laying hens to sustain the egg production when it begins to decline with aging.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.709-716
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to compare the characteristics that define the quality of Woorimatdag$^{TM}$ (WM, a certified meat-type commercial Korea indigenous chicken breed) and a commercial broiler breed (Ross, CB). Two hundred WM and 200 CB chickens that were 1-d-old and mixed sex were obtained from a commercial hatchery and randomly assigned to floor pens (20 chickens per pen, $3.0{\times}2.0m$) and raised under the same environmental conditions. WM breast meat contained significantly higher crude protein and ash as well as lower crude fat than CB breast meat (p<0.05). WM breast meat had slightly higher alanine, histidine, isoleucine, and glycine as well as lower phenylalanine content than CB breast meat (p<0.05), and the WM breast meat had a low ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acid composition (p<0.05). However, arachidonic acid composition was higher in the WM than the CB breast meat. In addition, the inosin-5'-monophosphate content was also higher in the WM compared with the CB breast (p<0.05). The WM breast meat had higher total collagen content compared with CB breast meat. WM soup taste received higher scores with regard to sensory evaluation compared with CB soup (p<0.05). From these results, we conclude that higher amount of protein and flavor precursors and lower amount of fat in the breast meat of WM could be attractive by consumer when compared with CB.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.451-461
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• 1993

Four hundred and eighty broiler chicks of both sexes were obtained from commercial hatchery (Hubbard) and raised on floor pens. All chicks were allowed free access to food from 0 to 7 and 20 to 56 days of age. At 7 days of age, all broilers were weighed individually, and divided into five groups as follows: 1. feed ad libitum as the control; 2. allowed free access to food 3 days and starved 1 day ($3{\times}1$); 3. allowed free access to food 2 days and starved 1 day ($2{\times}1$); 4. allowed free access to food 1 day and starved 1 days ($1{\times}1$) and; 5. allowed free access to food 2 days and starved 2 days ($2{\times}2$). Broilers were restricted for 12 days (d 7 through 17) of a 56-day trial. Broilers were fed a commercial starter diet (crude protein 23.8% and ME 3,070 kcal/kg) for 21 days, and commercial finisher diet (crude protein 20% and ME 3,160 kcal/kg) from 22 to 56 days of age. Although there was compensatory growth in some groups, (the $1{\times}1$ female group, and the $3{\times}1$ and $2{\times}1$ male grous), its level was not sufficient to achieve normal body weight at market age. There was sexual dimorphism for accelerated growth as well as differences in the ability to achieve a complete compensation of growth to the weight, feed conversion ratio, and body composition of ad libitum chicks. Early feed restriction could be used to reduce production cost because of the lower fed conversion ratio, mortality rate and the amount of starter diet consumed by broilers. The response of chicks to early feed restriction might depend on the degree of feed restriction, the method of feed restriction, duration of feed restriction, and sexes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.825-833
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• 2011

Forty-five Hisex commercial layers and forty-five local Saudi breed layers were used to determine the acceptable limit of short-term water restriction in the late phase of production, when the problem of high feed and water consumption is expected. The experiment was performed under hot and arid environmental conditions when the layers were at fifty weeks of age. Layers from each breed were randomly assigned in groups of five into nine floor pens. The average environmental temperature was 37.2-$38.6^{\circ}C$, and the relative humidity was between 20 to 37%. The trial was divided into 3 periods; control (1 week), water restriction (2 weeks) and rehydration (1 week). During the restriction period, layers from each breed were divided into three groups that received 20, 40, and 0% restriction of drinking water relative to their consumed water during the control period. During the study, feed and water consumption, body weight, changes in body weight, egg production, primary antibody response to SRBC, and rectal temperature were evaluated. Water restriction did not result in any clear effect on feed intake in either breed, however, commercial layers tended to consume less feed compared to the local breed. Body weight declined with water restriction during the first week of restriction in the commercial breed regardless of rate of restriction, but it was delayed until the second week in the local breed. Water restriction of 40% decreased egg production in both breeds but with a delay of 1 week in the local breed. Antibody level to SRBC was not affected by water restriction in the commercial line while it was highly affected in the local breed. A water restriction of 20% is considered to be an acceptable limit under the current experimental conditions without a negative effect on egg production in both breeds and considering the immune status of the local breed. Whereas, 40% restriction had a negative effect on egg production, and varied effects in the other traits in both breeds.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.589-594
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• 2009

The goals of this study were conducted to investigate the effects of applying liquid aluminum chloride ($AlCl_3$) to rice hulls on pH and soluble reactive P (SRP). A total of 800 broiler chicks (4 treatments $\times$ 4 replicates $\times$ 50 birds) were housed into 16 floor pens in a single house for 5 weeks. The treatments were divided into 4 groups: control, 100 g of liquid $AlCl_3/kg$ of rice hulls, 200 g of liquid $AlCl_3/kg$ of rice hulls, and 300 g of liquid $AlCl_3/kg$ of rice hulls. Liquid $AlCl_3$ was sprayed on the rice hulls surface at a rate of 100 g, 200 g, and 300 g liquid $AlCl_3$ per kg rice hull. pH values and SRP contents were significantly decreased (P<0.05) with the increased liquid $AlCl_3$ levels in comparison with control. However, no significant differences in SRP contents were observed among all treatments at 3 and 4 weeks. Applying 100 g, 200 g, and 300 g liquid $AlCl_3$ to rice hulls reduced SRP contents by 18, 25, and 52% for 5 weeks, respectively, compared with the controls. In conclusion, these results suggest that using liquid $AlCl_3$ on rice hulls should be promising for reducing water contamination and resulted in a reduction in SRP contents, which reduced pH.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.215-222
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• 2015

The objective of this research was to evaluate the growth performance, the apparent ileal digestibility of nitrogen and energy, the retention of nutrients and the apparent metabolizable energy corrected to zero nitrogen retention (AMEn) in broiler chickens supplemented with increasing doses of a worm leachate (WL) as a source of humic substances (HS) in the drinking water. In Exp. 1, 140 male broilers were penned individually and assigned to four WL levels (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%) mixed in the drinking water from 21 to 49 days of age. Water was offered in plastic bottles tied to the cage. In Exp. 2, 600 male broilers from 21 to 49 days of age housed in floor pens were assigned to three levels of WL (0%, 10%, and 20%) mixed in the drinking water. The WL was mixed with tap water in plastic containers connected by plastic tubing to bell drinkers. The results of both experiments were subjected to analysis of variance and polynomial contrasts. In Exp. 1, the daily water consumption was similar among treatments but the consumption of humic, fulvic, and total humic acids increased linearly (p<0.01) as the WL increased in the drinking water. The feed conversion (p<0.01) and the ileal digestibility of energy, the excretion of dry matter and energy, the retention of dry matter, ash and nitrogen and the AMEn showed quadratic responses (p<0.05) relative to the WL levels in drinking water. In Exp. 2, the increasing level of WL in the drinking water had quadratic effects on the final body weight, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (p<0.05). The addition of WL as a source of HS in the drinking water had beneficial effects on the growth performance, ileal digestibility of energy, the retention of nutrients as well on the AMEn in broiler chickens; the best results were observed when the WL was mixed at levels of 20% to 30% in the drinking water.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.593-599
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• 1994

This study was carried out to investigate the necrotic enteritis of chicken in Korea. Epidemiological, pathological and microbiological examination were done on 12 naturally occurred cases of necrotic enteritis of chicken. And the susceptibility of isolated bacteria to antimicrobial agents was also examined. The results obtained were as follows; 1. The Clostridium perfringens infection, necrotic enteritis of chicken, occurred in the chickens mainly raised in floor pens. Necrotic enteritis of chicken was occurred coincidently with coccidiosis and Gumboro disease frequently. And several cases were recurred at 2-3 weeks after recovery. 2. Clinical signs of the infected chickens were depression, decreased appetite, reluctance to move, diarrhea, ruffled feathers and acute death within several hours. 3. The characteristic biochemical properties of isolates were 2-band hemolysis, no motility, positive reaction of reverse CAMP test and the formation of LV precipitate in egg yolk medium. 4. Gross lesions of the infected chickens were distention of intestine with gas, thickened mucosa and formation of thick pseudomembrane in intestine. Livers were friable with yellowish brown color and, in some case, showed demarcated necrotic foci. 5. Histopathological findings of the infected chickens were severe necrosis of the intestinal mucosa and attachment of numerous large bacilli to the mucosal surface of necrotic villi. In liver, necrosis of liver tissue and numerous large bacilli in the necrotic foci were also observed. 6. In susceptibility test to antimicrobial agents, 12 isolates of Clostridium perfringens were highly sensitive to ampicillin, baytril, cephalothin and penicillin.