• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1718-1728
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• 2011

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the in vitro ability of keratinase to hydrolyze soybean glycinin and ${\beta}$-conglycinin and to evaluate the in vivo effects of keratinase when included in corn-soybean diets with different levels of crude protein and fed to nursery pigs. In experiment 1, a saturated keratinase solution (1 ml) was added to two blank controls of either glycinin or ${\beta}$-conglycinin resulting in the hydrolysis of 94.74% glycinin and 88.89% ${\beta}$-conglycinin. In experiment 2, 190 pigs (8.3${\pm}$0.63 kg BW) were allotted to one of four treatments in a 2${\times}$2 factorial arrangement on the basis of body weight, and sex was balanced among the pens. The effects of crude protein (19 vs. 22%) and keratinase (0 vs. 0.05%) were studied. Each treatment was applied to six pens with seven (two pens) or eight pigs per pen. Pigs were fed the experimental diets for 21 d. Weight gain and feed conversion ratio were improved (p<0.05) with keratinase supplementation while feed intake was reduced (p<0.05). Keratinase supplementation increased (p<0.05) the apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, energy, crude protein and phosphorus. Keratinase supplementation also increased n-butyric acid in the cecum and colon, lactobacilli and total anaerobe counts in the colon as well as the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in the ileum. Additionally, fecal score, ammonia nitrogen and branch chain volatile fatty acids in the colon, E. coli and total aerobe counts in the colon, crypt depth in the jejunum and ileum as well as serum interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 concentrations were also decreased (p<0.05) by keratinase supplementation. A reduction in dietary crude protein decreased (p<0.05) colon ammonia nitrogen concentration and cecal propionic acid and branch chain volatile fatty acid concentrations. In addition, cecal E. coli counts, colon total anaerobe counts, ileal crypt depth, and serum interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 concentrations were also decreased (p<0.05) with the reduction of dietary crude protein. With the exception of fecal scores, there were no significant interactions between crude protein and keratinase. This study provides evidence that dietary keratinase supplementation improved nursery pig performance by improving intestinal morphology and ecology, thus improving nutrient digestibility and alleviating the inflammatory response.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1285-1293
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• 2005

The present study was conducted to evaluate and compare the effects of various animal and plant protein sources on piglet' performance, digestibility of amino acids and gut morphology in weaned pigs until 28 days after weaning. The plant protein sources used were soybean meal (SBM), fermented soy protein (FSP), rice protein concentrate (RPC); and animal protein sources tested were, whey protein concentrate (WPC) and fishmeal (FM). Iso-proteinous (21%) diets were formulated and lysine (1.55%) content was similar in all the diets. The level of each protein source added was 6% by replacing SBM to the same extent from the control diet containing 15% SBM. The ADG was higher (p<0.05) in the groups fed animal proteins as compared with plant proteins at all the levels of measurement, except during 15-28 days. The highest ADG was noted in WPC and FM fed diets and lowest in SBM fed diet. The feed intake was higher in animal protein fed groups than plant proteins at all phases, but the feed:gain ratio was not affected by protein sources except during overall (0 to 14 day) measurement which was improved (p<0.05) in animal protein fed diets compared to plant protein sources. The digestibilities of gross energy, dry matter and crude protein were higher in animal protein fed groups than for plant protein fed sources. The apparent ileal digestibilities of essential amino acids like Leu, Thr, and Met were significantly (p<0.05) higher in animal proteins fed animals as compared with plant protein fed animals. But the apparent fecal digestibilities of essential amino acids like Arg and Ile were significantly higher (p<0.05) in plant protein diets than animal protein sources. The villous structure studied by scanning electron microscope were prominent, straight finger-like, although shortened and densely located in FM fed group as compared with others. The lactic acid bacteria and C. perfringens counts were higher in caecal contents of pigs fed plant proteins than the animal proteins. Overall, it could be concluded that animal protein sources in the present study showed better effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and gut morphology than plant protein sources.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.515-523
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to investigate the variability in broiler performance, apparent metabolisable energy (AME) and ileal digestible energy (IDE) between five different maize samples fed with and without xylanase at 16,000 U/kg. Various in vitro characterisations were conducted to determine if any could predict performance or AME. Samples of the maize were harvested in five diverse regions and fed individually in a mash diet as follows (g/kg): test maize 608.3; soya bean meal (SBM) 324.1; poultry fat 25.2; salt 4.6; met 2.6; lys 1.6; thr 0.5; limestone 9.7, dical 18.4; vit/min 5.0; CP 210 and ME (kcal/kg) 3,085. The diets were fed to 720 broilers with 6 replicates, each containing 12 birds per treatment, from 0 to 18 d of age. Maize samples were analysed for starch, protein, crude fibre, fat, protein solubility index (PSI) and vitreousness using near infra red reflectance spectroscopy (NIR). They were also assayed using an in vitro starch digestibility method. The results showed that there was no effect of harvest region on the feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG) or feed conversion ratio (FCR) of the broilers over the 18 d period (p = 0.959, 0.926, 0.819 respectively). There was an improvement in all parameters with the addition of xylanase (FI p = 0.011; BWG and FCR p<0.001). There was a significant positive effect of xylanase on IDE, AME, IDE Intake (IDEI) and AME intake (AMEI) (p<0.0001 in all cases). Although there was no significant effect of maize source, there was a strong trend towards variability in IDE (p = 0.066) and AME (p = 0.058). There were no significant correlations (p<0.05) between any proximate or physiochemical values and any performance or AME values. This may suggest that none of those selected were suitable predictors for performance or AME. The broilers performed well according to the breed guidelines, with slightly increased FI, increased BWG and similar FCR prior to the addition of xylanase. When FCR and BWG were analysed with FI as a covariate, xylanase addition remained significant suggesting that the improvement in BWG and FCR was driven by an increase in digestibility and nutrient availability.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1732-1741
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• 2013

Two experiments were conducted to determine physical and chemical properties of vermicelli waste (VW) and effect of VW inclusion levels on growth performance of broilers. In experiment 1, VW samples were randomly collected from vermicelli industry in Thailand to analyze nutritional composition. Vermicelli waste contained 9.96% moisture, 12.06% CP, 32.30% crude fiber (CF), and 0.57% ether extract (EE), as DM basis. The ratio of insoluble:soluble non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) was 43.4:8.9. A total of 120 chicks (6 pens per treatment and 10 chicks per pen) were fed a corn-soybean meal-based diet or 20% VW substituted diet to determine the apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen retention ($AME_n$) of VW. The $AME_n$ of VW was $1,844.7{\pm}130.71$ kcal/kg. In experiment 2, a total of 1,200 chicks were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments for 42-d growth assay. There were 300 chicks with 6 pens per treatment and 50 chicks per pen. The dietary treatments contained 0%, 5%, 10%, or 15% VW, respectively. All diets were formulated to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous. From 0 to 18 d of age chicks fed VW diets had higher (p<0.001) feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared with those fed the control diet. No difference was observed during grower and finisher phase (19 to 42 d). Chicks fed VW diets had lower relative weight of abdominal fat (p<0.001) but higher relative weight of gizzard (p<0.05) than those of chicks fed the control diet. Increasing VW inclusion levels increased ileal digesta viscosity (p<0.05) and intestinal villus height of chicks (p<0.001). For apparent total tract digestibility assay, there were 4 metabolic cages of 6 chicks that were fed experimental treatment diets (the same as in the growth assay) in a 10-d total excreta collection. Increasing VW inclusion levels linearly decreased (p<0.05) apparent total tract digestibility of DM and CF.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.1314-1327
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• 2021

Bacillus is characterized by the formation of spores in harsh environments, which makes it suitable for use as a probiotic for feed because of thermostability and high survival rate, even under long-term storage. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Bacillus-based probiotics on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, immune response, and intestinal microbiota of weaned pigs. A total of 40 weaned pigs (7.01 ± 0.86 kg body weight [BW]; 28 d old) were randomly assigned to two treatments (4 pigs/pen; 5 replicates/treatment) in a randomized complete block design (block = BW and sex). The dietary treatment was either a typical nursery diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) or CON supplemented with 0.01% probiotics containing a mixture of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis (PRO). Fecal samples were collected daily by rectal palpation for the last 3 days after a 4-day adaptation. Blood, ileal digesta, and intestinal tissue samples were collected from one pig in each pen at the respective time points. The PRO group did not affect the feed efficiency, but the average daily gain was significantly improved (p < 0.05). The PRO group showed a trend of improved crude protein digestibility (p < 0.10). The serum transforming growth factor-β1 level tended to be higher (p < 0.10) in the PRO group on days 7 and 14. There was no difference in phylum level of the intestinal microbiota, but there were differences in genus composition and proportions. However, β-diversity analysis showed no statistical differences between the CON and the PRO groups. Taken together, Bacillus-based probiotics had beneficial effects on the growth performance, immune system, and intestinal microbiota of weaned pigs, suggesting that Bacillus can be utilized as a functional probiotic for weaned pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.574-584
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• 2019

Objective: Research was conducted to test the effect of including fiber-rich feedstuffs in practical pig diets on nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance and ammonia emissions from slurry. Methods: Three Vietnamese fiber sources were screened, namely cassava leaf meal (CL), cassava root residue (CR), and tofu by-product (TF). Accordingly, a control diet (Con) with 10% of dietary non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) and three test diets including one of the three fiber-rich feedstuffs to reach 15% of NSP were formulated. All formulated diets had the same level of crude protein (CP), in vitro ileal protein digestible and metabolisable energy, whereas the in vitro hindgut volatile fatty acid (VFA) production of the test diets was 12% to 20% higher than the control diet. Forty growing barrows with initial body weight at $28.6{\pm}1.93kg$ ($mean{\pm}standard$ deviation) were allocated to the four treatments. When pigs reached about 50 kg of body weight, four pigs from each treatment were used for a nitrogen balance trial and ammonia emission assessment, the remaining six pigs continued the second period of the feeding trial. Results: The TF treatment increased fecal VFA by 33% as compared with the control treatment (p = 0.07), suggesting stimulation of the hindgut fermentation. However, urinary N was not significantly reduced or shifted to fecal N, nor was slurry pH decreased. Accordingly, ammonia emissions were not mitigated. CR and CL treatments failed to enhance in vivo hindgut fermentation, as assessed by fecal VFA and purine bases. On the contrary, the reduction of CP digestibility in the CL treatment enhanced ammonia emissions from slurry. Conclusion: Dietary inclusion of cassava and tofu byproducts through an increase of dietary NSP from 10% to 15% might stimulate fecal VFA excretion but this does not guarantee a reduction in ammonia emissions from slurry, while its interaction with protein digestibility even might enhance enhanced ammonia emission.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.54-63
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• 2022

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the replacement of degummed soybean oil (DSO) by acid soybean oil (ASO) in diets with or without the inclusion of emulsifier on broiler performance, relative organ weight, lipase activity, intestinal morphometry, and nutrient digestibility. Methods: A total of 704 1-day-old male broiler chicks were allotted to a 2×2 completely randomized factorial design (with or without emulsifier × two lipid sources [ASO and DSO]), with eight replicates and 22 birds each. The metabolizable energy level in diets with emulsifier was reduced by 40 kcal/kg from 1 to 21 d and 50 kcal/kg from 22 to 49 d. Results: Broilers fed diets containing ASO without emulsifier had higher (p = 0.005) weight gain than DSO-fed animals and with the inclusion of emulsifier had worse (p = 0.018) feed conversion ratio (FCR). Birds fed diets with emulsifier worsened FCR regardless of lipid source from 1 to 21 days (p = 0.006) and from 1 to 49 days (p = 0.0002). There was an increase (p = 0.026) in the relative pancreas weight, at 14 days, in birds fed diets containing ASO. Lipase activity and morphometry of the duodenum and jejunum, at 14 and 21 days, were not affected (p>0.05). The dietary inclusion of emulsifier improved the digestible energy (p = 0.053) in the presence of ASO. For the digestibility coefficients (gross energy, crude protein, and mineral matter), no interference was observed (p>0.05). Conclusion: The inclusion of emulsifier to energy-restricted diet with ASO maintained broiler performance in the first week, but worsened FCR in subsequent phases. The ASO can be considered as an alternative lipid source to DSO and does not interfere with the morphophysiological characteristics and performance of broilers. The combination of ASO and emulsifier increased the digestible energy content by 6.2%.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.69-95
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• 2023

In order to evaluate the effects of ARG sources (arginine [ARG] and Guanidinoacetic acid [GAA]) and phenylalanine (PHE) supplementation on performance, susceptibility to ascites, intestinal morphology, and nutrient digestibility in the cold-stressed broilers fed a canola meal (CM)-based diet, a 2×2 factorial experiment with four treatments was conducted. The dietary treatments included CM-based diet + 2.57 g/kg ARG, CM-based diet + 2.57 g/kg ARG + 1.5 g/kg PHE, CM-based diet + 1.8 g/kg GAA and CM-based diet + 1.8 g/kg GAA + 1.5 g/kg PHE. The corn-CM diet without supplementation was used as a negative control (NC) group in the fifth treatment that excluded the factorial arrangement. The results showed that adding ARG to diets without PHE supplement increased (p < 0.05) feed intake. Also, birds fed diets containing ARG had higher (p < 0.05) body weight gain (BWG) compared to those fed GAA added diets. Supplementation of PHE improved (p < 0.05) the FCR compared to groups fed diets without added PHE. Further, ARG addition increased (p < 0.05) plasma nitric oxide (NO) concentration, carcass, breast and leg yields, duodenal, jejunal, and ileal villus height (VH) to crypt depth (CD, and dry matter digestibility, while decreasing (p < 0.05) ascites mortality and right ventricle (RV) to total ventricle (TV) ratio compared to GAA added groups. Supplementation of PHE also declined susceptibility to ascites by reducing (p < 0.01) RV to TV ratio while increasing (p < 0.05) plasma NO level. The digestibility of ether extract also increased (p < 0.05) in broilers fed GAA supplemented diets versus those fed ARG added diets. The findings suggested that ARG may improve BWG and lower ascites incidence in broilers fed a diet based on CM under cold stress because of its antihypertensive effects. Moreover, the findings of this study demonstrated the importance of including PHE formulation in ARG-deficient diets to attenuate the adverse effects of cold stress on broilers. It was also concluded that GAA could be efficaciously used in cold-stressed broilers fed an ARG-deficient diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2000

This study was conducted to evaluate changes in the lysine to digestible energy (DE) ratio on performance, apparent ileal and fecal nutrient digestibilities as well as blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and to estimate optimal lysine:DE ratios for growing pigs of different sexes. A total of 150 pigs ($(Landrace{\times}Yorkshire){\times}Duroc$, 16.78 kg average body weight, 75 barrows and 75 gilts) was randomly allotted into a $2{\times}3$ (sex by diet) factorial design. Three diets were formulated to contain a crude protein level of 19%, a DE level of 3.5 Mcal/kg with three lysine:DE ratios of 3.2 (low), 3.5 (middle) and 3.8 (high) g lysine/Mcal DE per kg diet for both barrows and gilts throughout the study. With increasing dietary lysine:DE ratio, the average daily gain (ADG) of barrows decreased but there was no significant difference among treatments (p>0.05). However, ADG was significantly higher in gilts fed the diet containing the high lysine:DE ratio (p<0.05), followed by the middle and low lysine:DE ratio dietary groups. No significant effects of lysine:DE ratios on feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion (F/G) were observed for barrows and gilts during overall period (p>0.05), while the optimal F/G was found in barrows fed diets of low and in gilts fed high lysine:DE ratio. Blood urea nitrogen had a positive relationship with growth rate. The results showed that the optimal lysine:DE ratios were 3.2 and 3.8 g lysine/Mcal DE per kg diet for barrows and gilts of 16 to 57 kg body weight, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.817-823
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• 2000

Four groups of six growing gilts each were fed ad libitum diets composed of cereals and soyabean (SBM) or rapeseed (RSM) meal and containing two levels of crude protein: high - 18.0% (RSM-H) and 16.9% (SBM-H) or low - 15.6% (RSM-L) and 15.1% (SBM-L). The diets were balanced by supplementation with crystalline amino acids and contained apparent ileal digestible lysine, methionine, threonine and tryptophan in proportions (1.00:0.32:0.57:0.18) according to CVB (1995). Voluntary feed intake, weight gain and slaughter and chemical body composition of animals were assessed. Protein and energy balances from 25 to 70 kg body weight were calculated by the comparative slaughter method. Protein source had a significant effect on voluntary feed intake; it was 0.12 kg/d lower in pigs fed the SBM than RSM-diets. Pigs fed on the SBM-L diet consumed the least amount of feed (2.17 kg). Daily gain (average, $900{\pm}12.59g$) and feed conversion ratio ($2.54{\pm}0.04kg/kg$) were not statistically affected by source (SMB and RSM) and protein level (high and low). In empty body similar amounts (g/kg) of protein (163 g), water (635 g) and ash (28 g) were found. However, pigs fed the RSM-L diet were fatter than those fed the SBM-L diet (188 vs. 161 g/kg). No statistical differences were observed in daily protein deposition, which on average amounted to $142{\pm}11g$, or carcass characteristics. An improvement of crude protein utilization by 6.3 percentage units was found by decreasing the protein concentration in the diets. Heat production in the body was not significantly affected by the treatments.