• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.1911-1920
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• 2022

Objective: This study was performed to determine the apparent metabolizable energy (AME_n) content of tannin-free red/bronze, white/tan and U.S. No. 2 varieties of grain sorghum for feeding Japanese quail and validate their nutrient profile by evaluating effects on performance and carcass traits with full-substitution of corn. Methods: Experiment 1 determined the AME_n content of red/bronze, white/tan, and U.S. No. 2 grain sorghum varieties fed to mixed-sex Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) (n = 314) at 3 and 6-weeks of age. Analyses were based on a 2×4 factorial treatment design with age and grain types defining the treatments, and a randomized complete block experiment design with cage and trials defining the block. AME_n values were validated by evaluating the performance and carcass traits of Japanese quail (n = 644) from 1 to 40 days of age in Experiment 2 with birds were fed 1 of 4 complete diets. Statistical analyses were conducted on performance data and select individual carcass trait measurements. Results: Determined AME_n values at 3-weeks of age were 3,524±122.03 (red/bronze), 3,252±122.03 (white/tan), and 3,039±123.44 (U.S. No. 2) kcal/kg. At 6-weeks of age, determined AME_n were 3,373±297.35 (red/bronze), 3,279±297.35 (white/tan), and 2,966±298.64 (U.S. No. 2) kcal/kg. Carcass traits showed live body weight (p = 0.0409) and hot carcass weight (p = 0.0234) were greatest in U.S. No. 2; however, carcass yield (p<0.0001) was lowest. No significant differences were observed among treatments for feed intake, feed conversion ratio, breast weight and breast yield (p>0.05). Conclusion: These studies demonstrated that tannin-free grain sorghum varieties may be a potential alternative to corn in quail diets while maintaining growth performance and carcass parameters.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.704-710
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• 2005

The objective of this experiment was to compare corn and wheat in finishing pig diets in order to determine whether performance, carcass quality, fatty acid composition or fat colour is altered by choice of cereal grain. A total of 126 crossbred pigs were used in this experiment. At the start of the experiment, a portion of the experimental animals were assigned to receive a wheat-based diet formulated using soybean meal as the sole source of supplementary protein. The remainder of the pigs were assigned to a corn-based diet formulated to supply a similar level of lysine (0.65%) and energy (3,300 kcal/kg DE). At two week intervals, a portion of the pigs on the corn-based diet were switched to the wheat-based diet so that a gradient was produced with pigs being fed the corn and wheatbased diets for different proportions of the finishing period ranging from 100% on wheat to 100% on corn. There were no significant differences in the growth rate of pigs fed the two diets (p = 0.834). Pigs fed wheat tended to consume slightly less feed (p = 0.116) and had a significantly improved feed conversion (p = 0.048) compared with pigs fed corn. Choice of cereal did not affect dressing percentage (p = 0.691), carcass value index (p = 0.146), lean yield (p = 0.134), loin fat (p = 0.127) or loin lean (p = 0.217). Fatty acid composition of backfat was unaffected by the cereal grain fed (p>0.05). Total saturated fatty acid content was 33.31% for both corn and wheat fed pigs (p = 0.997) while the polyunsaturated fatty acid content was 12.01% for corn fed pigs and 11.21% for wheat fed pigs (p = 0.257). The polyunsaturated/saturated ratio was 0.36 for pigs fed corn and 0.34 for pigs fed wheat (p = 0.751). Hunter Lab Colour Scores indicated no difference either in the whiteness or yellowness of the fat. In conclusion, wheat can substitute for corn in growingfinishing pig rations without detrimental effects on pig performance. There were no differences in either the fatty acid composition of backfat or in backfat colour indicating that the decision to use wheat vs. corn needs to be made on economic grounds rather than being based on their effects on fat quality.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1225-1233
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• 2009

Fat composition of beef, taken here to mean marbling, can be manipulated by time on feed, finishing diet, and breed type. These three factors also strongly influence the fatty acid composition of beef. Both the amount of marbling and the concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) increase with time on feed in grain-fed and pasture-fed cattle, but much more dramatically in grain-fed cattle. High-concentrate diets stimulate the activity of adipose tissue stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), which is responsible for the conversion of saturated fatty acids (SFA) to their $\Delta{9}$ desaturated counterparts. Also, grain feeding causes a depression in ruminal pH, which decreases those populations of ruminal microorganisms responsible for the isomerization and hydrogenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The net result of elevated SCD activity in marbling adipose tissue and depressed ruminal isomerization/hydrogenation of dietary PUFA is a large increase in MUFA in beef over time. Conversely, pasture depresses both the accumulation of marbling and SCD activity, so that even though pasture feeding increases the relative concentration of PUFA in beef, it also increases SFA at the expense of MUFA. Wagyu and Hanwoo cattle accumulate large amounts of marbling and MUFA, and Wagyu cattle appear to be less sensitive to the effects of pastures in depressing overall rates of adipogenesis and the synthesis of MUFA in adipose tissues. There are small differences in fatty acid composition of beef from Bos indicus and Bos taurus cattle, but diet and time on feed are much more important determinants of beef fat content and fatty acid composition than breed type.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.968-973
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• 2002

To evaluate the chewing activity of ruminant feeds, four Holstein steers (average body weight $742{\pm}15kg$) were employed. Experimental feeds were four roughages ($NH_3$-treated rice straw, alfalfa hay, corn silage, orchard grass hay) and four concentrate ingredients (cotton seed hull, beet pulp pellet, barley grain, oat grain). Regarding palatability for each experimental feeds which was overviewed during the adjustment period, animals were fed roughages alone, but with 50% $NH_3$-treated rice straw ($NH_3$-RS) for concentrate ingredients. Therefore, all the data for concentrate ingredients was derived by extracting the result per unit obtained from steers fed $NH_3$-RS alone. The experiment was conducted using a 4${\times}$4 Latin square designs for roughages and concentrate ingredients. Experimental feeds were fed during a 10 d adaptation and 2 d chewing data collection during each experimental period. Animals were gradually adjusted to the experimental diet. Dry matter intake (DMI) was restricted at a 1.4% of mean body weight (10.4 kg DM/d). Time spent eating and eating chews per kilogram of DMI were greatest for beet pulp pellet, and lowest for barley grain (p<0.05). Time spent rumination per kilogram of DMI was greatest for $NH_3$-RS, cotton seed hull and orchard grass, but rumination chews were greatest for cotton seed hull and orchard grass except $NH_3$-RS (p<0.05). Roughage index value (chewing time, minute/kg DMI) was 58.0 for cotton seed hull, 56.1 for beet pulp pellet, 55.5 for $NH_3$-RS, 53.1 for orchard grass hay, 45.9 for corn silage, 43.0 for alfalfa hay, 30.0 for oat grain, and 10.9 for barley grain. The ratio of rumination time to total chewing time (eating plus ruminating) was about 72% for the roughages except corn silage (66.9%), and followed by cotton seed hull (69.5%), and ranged from 49.5% to 52.9% for other feeds. Higher percentages of rumination in total chewing time may be evidently indicate the characteristics of roughage. Therefore, this indicate that the chewing activity of concentrate ingredients can be more fully reflects by the ruminating time than total chewing time (RVI), although it is reasonable to define the RVI for roughages.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.538-544
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• 1998

One hundred and twenty-eight finishing pigs (51.3 kg average initial body weight) were used to determine the effects of adding cellulase enzymes and lactobacillus acidophilus to sorghum-based diets on growth performance, carcass merit, and nutrient digestibility in finishing pigs. Treatments were: 1) corn-soybean meal-based positive control; 2) sorghum-soybean meal-based negative control; 3) Diet 2 with celluloytic enzymes; and 4) Diet 2 with a bacterial feed additive (lactobacillus acidophilus). There was a trend for greater average daily gain (ADG) in pigs fed com versus the sorghum treatments for day 0 to 28 (p < .09), but there was no effect of treatment (p > .15) on overall ADG (i.e., day 0 to 63). Feed consumption was not affected by treatment during the experiment (p > .19). Pigs fed the corn-soybean meal-based diet had 3.5% greater overall gain/feed than pigs fed the other diets (p < .009). Dressing percentage was not affected by treatment (p > .22), but there was a trend for backfat thickness at the last rib to be greater for pigs fed com versus the sorghum treatments (p < .09). Pigs fed the sorghum treatments had 1 % greater fat free lean index (p < .10) compared to pigs fed the corn-soybean meal-based positive control. Pigs fed com had greater apparent digestibilities of DM, N, and GE than pigs fed the sorghum treatments (p < .03), and greater DE intake (p < .07) suggesting that the increased carcass fatness for pigs fed the corn-based control diet resulted from greater energy status of those pigs. In conclusion, pigs fed the corn-soybean meal-based control diet had no improved growth performance but tended to be fatter than pigs fed sorghum. Adding cellulolytic enzymes or a bacterial feed additive to diets for finishing pigs did not affect growth performance, carcass merit, or nutrient utilization.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.197-206
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• 2003

Physiological functions of raw grain diet composed of brown rice and Job's Tear (1 : 1) were evaluated in rats raised with nutritionally unbalanced diet including 1% cholesterol, high proportion of animal lipids (lard: soybean oil : 8 : 2), sub-optimal levels of vitamin and mineral mixture along with 0.5% ethanol in drinking water for 4 weeks. Control rats were fed the AIN-93G diet for 9 weeks, and nutritionally unbalanced rats were divided into 3 groups, and fed one of the following diets with 0.5% ethanol in drinking water for another 5 weeks: unbalanced control diet (UCD), raw grain diet (RGD) (UCD +20% brown rice and Job's Tear mixture, and cooked grain diet (CGD)(autoclaved RGD at 121$^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours). Feeding UCD for 5 weeks significantly lowered the food efficiency ratio (FER) of rats than the value for control animals, and dietary supplementation of brown rice and Job's Tear mixture to UCD significantly restored the FER. Serum total cholesterol concentration was significantly lowered in rats fed RGD (24% decrease) or CGD (16% decrease) compared to the value for rats fed UCD. Feeding RGD for 5 weeks significaly lowered the serum LDL+VLDL-cholesterol concentration (26% decrease), as well as the hepatic cholesterol level (16% decrease) than the values for UCD rats. Animals fed CGD (38% decrease) or RGU (59% decrease) showed significantly lower level of hepatic thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) compared to the value for rats fed UCD (p<0.05), although hepatic activities of antioxidative enzymes were not influenced by dietary supplementation. Feeding RGD for 5 weeks significantly increased CD4$^{＋}$ T-cell population along with CD4$^{＋}$/CD8$^{＋}$ ratio of mesenteric lymph nodes compared to those for UCD rats (p<0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of brown rice and Job's Tear mixture as raw grains exhibited superior activity lowering blood and hepatic levels of cholesterol, and improving mesenteric lymph nodes immune function of rats to the cooked grain mixture of identical ingredients.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.646-650
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• 2001

The effect of feeding concentrate mixture devoid of grain on the performance of crossbred dairy cows was studied. Twelve crossbred cows of first/second lactation were randomly distributed into two equal groups. The animals of group 1 were fed on a concentrate mixture containing 30% maize grain whereas, the cows of group 2 were offered a concentrate mixture where grain was completely replaced with deoiled rice bran (DORB) and molasses. Wheat straw was given ad libitum to the cows of both the groups. The feeding was continued for 112 days. The intake of dry matter, CP and TDN were similar in both the groups. Digestibility of DM, OM, EE, NDF and ADF were also comparable between the groups. The average daily fat corrected milk (FCM) yield was 7.70 kg and 7.43 kg in group 1 and 2, respectively. The chemical composition of milk (protein, fat and total solids) also remained unaffected. The animals of both the groups gained 9-10 kg body weight which indicates that both the diets were nutritionally adequate and grain can be successfully replaced with DORB and molasses from the diet to sustain about 6-7 kg FCM production.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.323-330
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• 1990

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of processing and method of ensiling on the digestion and utilization of high moisture barley (HMB) in cattle. In experiment 1, four Holstein heifers were assigned in a Latin square design to diets containing 70% barley, 25% alfalfa hay and 5% supplement on a dry matter (DM) basis. Diets differed only in the type of barley fed: rolled dry barley (R-DB), rolled HBM (R-HMB), ground HMB (G-HMB) or unprocessed HMB (U-HMB). In experiment 2, three Holstein steers were fed 85.2% barley, 10.2% whole plant barley silage and 4.6% supplement on a DM basis. Again, diets differed only in the type of barley fed: R-DB, rolled HMB from a pit silo (Pit-HMB) or rolled HMB from a Harvestore silo (HAV-HMB). In experiment 1, digestibility coefficients for animals fed R-HMB were significantly higher than observed for U-HMB. While not significant, a similar trend for decreased digestibility was observed for R-DB and G-HMB. Animals fed HMB had significantly lower ruminal propionate concentrations. In addition, the rate of degradation of the degradable DM and crude protein (CP) fractions was slower for HMB than for dry barley. In experiment 2, a trend to lower digestibility coefficients was observed for animal fed R-DB compared to those fed Pit-HMB or HAV-HMB. Ruminal propionate concentrations for animals fed R-DB also tended to be higher than for those fed the HMB diets. Dry matter and CP disappearances from nylon bags was substantially lower for Pit-HMB than for R-DB or HAV-HMB. The results suggest that replacement of dry barley by rolled or unprocessed HMB in the diet of animals fed high grain diets may contribute to a more stable rumen environment.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.62-74
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• 1998

In feedlot cattle the abrupt change of diet from roughage to a large quantity of grain for the purpose to improve production often results in increased occurrence of rumen acidosis or acute carbohydrate encouragement enterotoxemia, bloats diarrhea liver abscess and laminitis or robot disease. The common management practice to control these problem is to increase the amount of concentrates in the diet in a stepwise manner until the animals are adapted to a high-grain ration. However this practice requires at least about 3 weeks adaptation period and specially prepared adaptation rations which contain various amount of concentrates. Present experiment was undertaken in order to findout the more simple and rapid adaptation method of cattle to a high grain ration. Nineteen Korean calves aging from four to six month were fed artifical hay (Youngchoun Chuk-Hyup, Korea) which contains 10% of concentrates or alfalfa and rye grass hays for two months and randomly alloted to three experimental groups and two control groups. The experimental group-1 was inoculated by stomach tube for two days with li500 ml/day of ruminal fluid fished from Korean beef cattle that had been previously adapted to a high-energy ration. The experimental group-2 was inoculated by trocalization for two days with the same ruminal fluid. The experimental group-3 was inoculated by trocalization with 1,500 ml/day of bacterial culture which contained 2$\times $10$^{9}$/m1 of Gram-negative bacteria derived from adapted luminal fluid. The two control groups were treated with normal saline solution by the same methods. All animals were fed high-energy ration that contained 80% of grain ad libitum for 30-74 days beginning on the third of the treatment. The effect of the inoculation on the adaptation was observed clinicopathologically with the following results; All of the experimental calves inoculated with the ruminal fluid or Gram-negative bacterial culture derived from adapted cattle did not show any signs of rumen acidosis or other related diseases, while most of the control calves did show diarrhea and bloat and a calf laminitis. The average daily weight gain and feed efficiency of experimental calves were slightly improved compared with control calves. Following the feeding of high-grain rational the pH of the ruminal fluid was lowered in both the experimental and control groups. However severe acidosis with the pH of below 5.0 was observed in only a control group-2. The protozoal number in ruminal fluid was markedly decreased during the high-grain feeding in both the experimental and control calves. However the decrease was mere severe in control calves compared with the experimental calves. The activation of the protozoa were completely disappeared within nine hours at the refrigerator temperature (4"C). No significant differences in heamatological and blood chemical values between the experimental and control calves were recognized. However in one control calf which showed clinically laminitis marked elevations of serum glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase and lactic dehydrogenase activities and a decrease of serum glucose level were observed. From these results it would be concluded the intraruminal transplantation of unadapted calves with the adapted ruminal fluid from cattle previously adapted to a high-energy ration prevents disease problem associated with high-grain feeding and improve weight gain and feed efficiency.ency.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.102-109
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• 2015

Purpose: Slow manual harvesting of rain-fed chickpeas cultivated in fallow fields in developing countries have encouraged the design of a mechanical harvester. Methods: A tractor-pulled harvester was built, in which a modified stripper header detached pods from an anchored plant and a chain conveyor transferred material. The stripper harvester was redesigned to use: 1) the maneuverability of tractor-mounted frames, 2) the adaptability of floating headers, and 3) the flexibility of pneumatic conveyors. Results: A mobile vacuum conveyor, which was an innovator open system, was designed for the dilute phase transferring mode for both grain and material other than grain. A centrifugal fan transferred harvested material to a cyclone separator that settled harvested material in a grain tank 1 m high. The machine at the spot work rate of $0.42ha{\cdot}h^{-1}$ harvested chickpea pods equal to the output of 16.6 farm laborers. Conclusion: The low cost and reasonable projected purchase price are the advantages of the concept. Additionally, the shattering loss reduction confirms the feasibility of the prototype chickpea harvester for commercialization.