• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 1990

The purpose of this investigation was to study the hematological response of Saudi Arabian Baladi fowl to protein rearing regimens. Males and females were subjected to the following 4 protein rearing regimens: conventional, C; reverse protein, RP; 2 single-stage low protein, $SS_1$ and $SS_2$ using 15% and 12% CP diets, respectively. Regimen effect was highly significant ($$p{\leq_-}.01$$) on BW, PCY, TP and U-Ac and significant ($$p{\leq_-}.05$$) on TL. Serum chol levels were not affected by regimen. In general $SS_{2}$ birds showed the lowest values for all parameters studied, except for PCV. However, the differences were not significant in each case. Age and sex effects were highly significant ($$p{\leq_-}.01$$) for all parameters, however, the regimen X sex interaction was not significant except for PCV. Regimen X age interaction, on the other hand, was highly significant ($$p{\leq_-}.01$$) only for BW, TP and U-Ac concentrations. The data may suggest that low levels of protein in the rearing regimen is an important factor influencing levels of the blood parameters studied. The data also indicate a lack of clear relationship between hen-day egg production and the blood parameters studied.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2007

The effects of microbial phytase on laying performance, egg quality, and ileal digestibility of nutrients and amino acids were examined at three levels of phytase (0, 300, 600 unit/kg) in 55-wk-old White Leghorn for 4 weeks. Egg productivity tended to increase with supplemental phytase compared to that of control. Daily feed intake of hens fed phytase also increased. Egg shell thickness was not significantly different among the treatments. Haugh unit and yolk color were not statistically different. However, egg shell breaking strength was high at phytase treatment. Excretion and absorption of nitrogen were no difference among all treatments, but those of phosphorus was higher in the phytase treatment than control. The digestibility was high at crude fiber, crude ash, calcium and phosphorus in nutrients, at lysine, methionine and phenylalanine in essential amino acids, and alanine, cystine, glutamic acid, glycine and tyrosine in non-essential amino acids. In conclusion, supplemental microbial phytase in laying hens diet may help to improve egg production and to decrease P of feces. But, further studies were needed to investigate on the digestibility.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.421-427
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• 2009

A mixture of three dietary medicinal herb extracts (MHE, mulberry leaf:Japanese honeysuckle:goldthread = 48.5: 48.5:3.0) was prepared as an additive of hen's feed. One hundred-eight, 28-wk-old Lohmann Brown hens were assigned randomly with three levels of MHE in the diet (0, 0.3, and 1%). Hens were fed for 6 wks and eggs were collected in the 6th week, and stored at $4^{\circ}C$ for 14 days to investigate the effect of MHE on the quality and oxidative stability of eggs. Internal quality of the egg including weight, shell color, albumen height, yolk color, shell weight, shell thickness, and Haugh units was not different among the dietary treatments. The oxidation stability of raw and cooked egg was determined by 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzonthianoline-6-sulfonic acid) ($ABTS^{+}$) radical reducing ability. Results indicated that TBARS value at day 0 and $ABTS^{+}$ radical reducing ability of eggs from hens fed MHE were higher than from the control group. However, DPPH radical scavenging activity showed no difference in both raw and cooked samples. Results of the present study indicate that dietary MHE may slightly enhance the oxidative stability of eggs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.1715-1724
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• 2019

Objective: As laying hens become aged, laying performance and egg quality are generally impaired. One of the practical methods to rejuvenate production and egg quality of aged laying hens with decreasing productivity is a forced molting. However, the changes in intestinal microbiota after forced molting of aged hens are not clearly known. The aim of the present study was to analyze the changes in excreta bacterial communities after forced molting of aged laying hens. Methods: A total of one hundred 66-wk-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were induced to molt by a 2-d water removal and an 11-d fasting until egg production completely ceased. The excreta samples of 16 hens with similar body weight were collected before and immediately after molting. Excreta bacterial communities were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Results: Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were the three major bacterial phyla in pre-molting and immediate post-molting hens, accounting for more than 98.0%. Lactobacillus genus had relatively high abundance in both group, but decreased by molting (62.3% in premolting and 24.9% in post-molting hens). Moreover, pathogenic bacteria such as Enterococcus cecorum and Escherichia coli were more abundant in immediate post-molting hens than in pre-molting hens. Forced molting influenced the alpha diversity, with higher Chao1 (p = 0.012), phylogenetic diversity whole tree (p = 0.014), observed operational taxonomic unit indices (p = 0.006), and Simpson indices (p<0.001), which indicated that forced molting increased excreta bacterial richness of aged laying hens. Conclusion: This study improves the current knowledge of bacterial community alterations in the excreta by forced molting in aged laying hens, which can provide increasing opportunity to develop novel dietary and management skills for improving the gastrointestinal health of aged laying hens after molting.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 2000

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cell lines, which derived from preimplantation embryo. These cells have been used as a vehicle of foreign DNA for production of transgenic mammals. this experiment was performed to examined the possible use of blastodermal cells derived from hen's egg for germline manipulation. Stage X blsdtodermal cells isolated from fertilized eggs were cultured in DMEM containing 15% fetal calf serum. Blastodermal cells wre co-cultured on the chicken embryonic fibroblast (CEF) or mouse embryonic fibroblast(MEF) cells. to examine the effects of growth factors on stem cell growth, bFGF and LIF were added. There was no significant difference in colony formation of putative ES cells between CEF and MEF as a feederlayer, but the addition of growth factors enhanced the proliferation and inhibited differentiation of blastodermal cells. To characterize the cell colonies as a putative ES cells, putative embryonic cell colonies were stained by periodic acid Schiffs (PAS) reagent. The putative ES cell colonies showed intensive positive reaction similar to the property of undifferentiated PGC upto 20days in vitro, but not in other cell types. this result demonstrates that PAS-positive cell colonies may be used for the study of establishment of chicken ES cell lines for the production of transgenic chicken.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2005

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Bacillus subtilis on the egg qualify, blood characteristics and fecal $NH_3-N$ in laying hens. A total of two hundred fifty two laying hens were randomly allocated into three treatments with seven replications for six weeks. Dietary treatments included 1) CON (control; basal diet), 2) BS0.2(control + $0.2\%$ Bacillus subtilis) and 3) BS0.4 (control +$0.4\%$ Bacillus subtilis). For overall Period, hen-day egg production tended to increase by the Bacillus subtilis $0.4\%$ in the diets, but was no significant difference. Egg weight, egg shell breaking strength, egg shell thickness, Haugh Unit, yolk color unit and egg yolk index were not affected by treatments. Difference of egg weight and egg shell breaking strength in the BS0.2 treatment tended to increase without significant difference. Difference of egg yolk index in laying hens fed Bacillus subtilis was increased (P<0.05). The concentrations of red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) were not significant difference. $NH_3-N$ concentration in feces with BS0.4 treatment was significantly (P<0.05) lower than control. In conclusion, dietary Bacillus subtilis could decrease fecal $NH_3-N$.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.1179-1189
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• 2006

This experiment was designed to examine the effects of supplemental vitamin D on laying performance, metabolic profile and egg quality of hens fed diets containing different fat sources and levels. Lohman strains (n = 480) were assigned to one of 10 diets: basal diet (BD), BD plus 2.5 and 5.0% sunflower oil (SO) or tallow (T) at vitamin D provided $1{\times}$ and $3{\times}$ of the current recommendation. The experiment lasted from week 30 to 44 of age. Each diet was tested in 12 replicate cages of 4 hens. Production, metabolism, and egg quality data were subjected to three-way ANOVA. Both fats decreased feed intake (FI) as compared to BD. Increasing SO and T levels linearly decreased and quadratically increased FI, respectively. The dietary factors did not affect egg production (EP) and egg weight. Vitamin D supplementation increased and decreased EP when diets contained SO and T, respectively. Feed conversion efficiency (FCE) for hens fed SO was lower than for hens fed T. However, increasing T level improved FCE, whereas increasing SO level worsened FCR. Vitamin D supplementation increased serum vitamin D and glucose concentrations. Vitamin D supplementation also caused a decrease and an increase in serum vitamin D concentration when diets contained SO and T, respectively. Serum glucose concentration for hens fed SO was lower than hens fed T. Increasing fat level linearly increased serum triglyceride and VLDL concentrations, regardless of the fat type. Increasing SO level linearly decreased serum cholesterol concentration. Vitamin D supplementation did not alter lipid metabolites. The dietary factors did not affect serum total protein, Ca, and P concentrations. As compared with BD, feeding SO decreased dry tibia and ash weights more than feeding T. Vitamin D supplementation tended to increase dry tibia weight and decrease tibia ash weight. Eggshell strength and thickness, yolk and albumen indexes, and Haugh unit were not responsive to the dietary factors. Eggshell strength quadratically increased with increasing T level. Yolk color for hens fed SO was lower than for hens fed T. The dietary factors did not affect most of yolk fatty acids. Increasing SO level quadratically decreased yolk $C_{18:2}$ concentration. Vitamin D supplementation increased and decreased yolk $C_{18:2}$ concentration when diets contained SO and T, respectively. In conclusion, increasing fat level improved laying performance without altering metabolic profile and egg quality. Vitamin D supplementation had minor alteration effects on laying performance, metabolic profile, and egg quality in response to fat feeding.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1993

This study carried out to build up new synthetic egg production lines which had sex-linked gene for feather color sexing and also superior combining ability for producing the best commercial chicks. The closed flock breeding method was utilized to improve the general performances in the first experiment and combining ability for heterosis was tested for new synthetic line in the second experimental year. In order to test for the egg production ability in cross breeds synthetic lines, the crossing of B$\times$4 B$\times$C, two imported strains and two domestic strains as controls were compared for the general performances. There was on difference in mortality, body weight to 56 weeks of age. Sexual maturity was delayed about 10 days by comparing with other reports, except 153 days of the Manina White, but no difference among mating systems in this experiment. The hen housed egg production in B$\times$A, B$\times$C was 186.3, 191.3 respectively and it was better than the other controls, except ISA imported lines. The hen-day egg production of B$\times$A, B$\times$C was better than other controls, with 75.7%, 76.8% respectively. In the average egg weight, the B$\times$C cross breed was highest with 64.5g. As the sex of hatching chicks was identified by difference of feather color, the genetic composition of synthetic lines must be homogenized. The feather color of female chicks was brown and that of male was silver (99%), In conclusion, the egg production ability of B$\times$A, B$\times$C cross breeds was superior to the imported and domestic lines. Therefore, it suggest that the synthetic lines with sex-linked gene might be utilized for improving egg production performances.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2002

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of plant phytase (Phytazyme$^{(R)}$) in corn-soybean meal based diets on utilization of phytase-bound phosphorus in laying hens and evaluate nitrogen(N) digestibility and phosphorus(P) availability in breeders. In the experiment one, three levels of the Phytazyme$^{(R)}$(0.05, 0.1, and 0.2% of diet) were added to diets containing a half of control TCP level(0.96%) for 4 wks. Feed consumption, egg production rate, egg weight and eggshell quality were recorded weekly. At the end of experiment, 8 birds per treatment were sacrificed, liver weight were weighed and right tibiae were removed for determination of P content. The second experiment was conducted to evaluate the P availability and nitrogen digestibility in breeders fed same diets for 2 wks. Feed and excreta were collected to determine the P and N contents for the last three days of experiment two. Addition of Phytazyme$^{(R)}$ resulted in no effects on feed intake, egg product rate, egg weight and egg shell quality. P excretion decreased and its availability enhanced as phytase supplementation increased in diets. Dietary supplementation of Phytazyme$^{(R)}$ above 0.1% level in corn-soybean meal based diets did not have an adverse effect on production and decreased level of phosphorus in excreta.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.417-421
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• 1999

This experiment examined the effects of feeding Aspergillus oryzae (AO) culture to laying hens, on fecal microbial populations, fecal pH and moisture content, egg quality, and metabolizabilities of several nutrients. Sixteen commercial 38-wk-old laying hens were randomly allotted to four diets: control; with 0.15% locally produced AO culture; with 0.3% locally produced AO culture, and; or with 0.3% imported AO. Each treatment consisted of four replicates (cages) containing one bird per cage according to a completely randomized design. After 4 wk, AO were recovered in the feces of birds fed the AO diets, indicating that AO might pass through the fore-gut alive and become active in the hind gut. The number of Lactobacillus spp. in feces was higher in all treated groups than that of the control, indicating that AO would provide a beneficial environment for the Lactobacillus spp. to proliferate in the intestine. The number of fecal E. coli was significantly reduced by the addition of AO. A similar trend was also found for aerobic bacteria. Although not significant, fecal moisture contents tended to be reduced by the addition of AO. Fecal pH was not significantly different among the treatments. The addition of AO did not affect the various economic traits of eggs. Metabolizabilities of gross energy and dry matter measured during the 5th wk were increased by the AO supplementation. It appears that AO culture alone could be used as a probiotic supplement for layers.