• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1598-1604
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• 2017

Objective: The present study investigated the litter performance of multiparous sows fed 3% and 6% densified diets at farrowing to weaning during summer with mean maximum room temperature of $30.5^{\circ}C$. Methods: A total of 60 crossbred multiparous sows were allotted to one of three treatments based on body weight according to a completely randomized design. Three different nutrient levels based on NRC were applied as standard diet (ST; metabolizable energy, 3,300 kcal/kg), high nutrient level 1 (HE1; ST+3% higher energy and 16.59% protein) and high nutrient level 2 (HE2; ST+6% higher energy and 17.04% protein). Results: There was no variation in the body weight change. However, backfat thickness change tended to reduce in HE1 in comparison to ST treatment. Dietary treatments had no effects on feed intake, daily energy intake and weaning-to-estrus interval in lactating sows. Litter size, litter weight at weaning and average daily gain of piglets were significantly greater in sows in HE1 compared with ST, however, no difference was observed between HE2 and ST. Increasing the nutrient levels had no effects on the blood urea nitrogen, glucose, triglyceride, and creatinine at post-farrowing and weaning time. The concentration of follicle stimulating hormone, cortisol and insulin were not affected by dietary treatments either in post-farrowing or weaning time. The concentration of blood luteinizing hormone of sows in ST treatment was numerically less than sows in HE2 treatment at weaning. Milk and colostrum compositions such as protein, fat and lactose were not affected by the treatments. Conclusion: An energy level of 3,400 kcal/kg (14.23 MJ/kg) with 166 g/kg crude protein is suggested as the optimal level of dietary nutrients for heat stressed lactating sows with significant beneficial effects on litter size.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.6
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• pp.777-789
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• 2020

Intense artificial selection has been imposed to Luzhong mutton sheep population in the past years. Improvements on growth and reproductive performance are two breeding goals in the present herd. Although some progresses were phenotypically observed possibly due to inbreeding induced by strong selection in terms of these traits, the genomic evaluation was poorly understood. Therefore, a high-density SNP array was used to characterize the pattern of runs of homozygosity (ROH), estimate inbreeding and inbreeding depressions on early growth performance and litter size based upon ROH, and scan positive selection signatures of recent population. Consequently, a low inbreeding level was observed which had negative effects on litter size, but not on early growth performance. And 160 genes were under selection, of which some were reported to be linked to several traits of sheep including body weight, litter size, carcass and meat quality, milk yield and composition, fiber quality and health, and the top genes were associated with growth (growth hormone [GH]- growth hormone receptor [GHR]- Insulin-like growth factor 1 [IGF1] axis) and litter size (bone morphogenic proteins [BMPs]-associated). The effectiveness of previous breeding measures was highlighted, but purging selection was proposed to alleviate the inbreeding depression on litter size, providing some genomic insights to breeding management of Luzhong mutton sheep.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.265-270
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• 2002

This study was conducted to determine the effect of aluminum sulfate[Al$_2$(S0$_4$)$_3$$.$14H$_2$O], commonly referred to as ALUM, addition to broiler litter on 3 and 6 week old broiler performance and the nitrogen content of the litter at 6 weeks of age. The two treatment groups were 134 identical diets with the same protein levels, but one group(T$_1$) had ALUM added as a top dressing to the litter at a rate of 200 g ALUM / kg of rice bran, while T$_2$ did not have ALUM added to the litter. Feed consumption for T$_1$ was higher in the 22 to 42 day-old and 0 to 42 day-old periods (P<0.05). Body weight in T$_1$ was also higher in the 0 to 42 day -old period (P<0.0l). There was no difference, however, in the feed : gain ratio between T$_1$ and T$_2$ During the first 5 weeks, T$_1$ had significantly less(P<0.05 or 0.01) ammonia emission from the litter than T$_2$ but at 6 weeks there was no difference in ammonia concentration between the two groups. At 6 weeks, T$_1$ had a lower litter pH than Ta (P<0.05) and total Kjeldahl nitrogen(TKN) was higher far T$_1$ than T$_2$ (P<0.05). However,71 did not show any difference from T$_2$ in the content of NH4-N and NO3-N. In summary, the addition of ALUM to broiler litter improved broiler performance at 6 weeks, while increasing nitrogen content from the litter used as the nitrogen fertilizer although ammonia emission was increased in T$_1$ at 6 weeks.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.598-602
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• 2004

The Tongcheng pig breed is a famous Chinese indigenous breed. The Ministry of Agriculture of China has filed it as 1 of 19 national key conservation breeds selected from more than 100 Chinese indigenous pig breeds in 2000. In order to improve the reproductive performance, it has been intensively selected to increase the litter size for about 10 years. The population randomly sampled from conservation nucleus of eight families in the Tongcheng pigs was genotyped for identification of their estrogen receptor locus polymorphisms with the PCR-RFLPs method. Only AB heterozygotes and BB homozygotes were detected, and $X^2$ test demonstrated that the locus was in disequilibrium at a significant level (p<0.05). In the present paper, the litter sizes in different parities were regarded as different traits. Holistic status of other unspecific and unidentified genes was estimated by using the statistical methods. Coefficients of kurtosis and skewness showed that the litter size still presented segregating characteristic in the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th parities. Analysis of homogeneity of variance between families confirmed the results for the 5th, 7th and 8th parities. The heritability of litter size for the 1st to 10th parities was estimated with paternal half-sib model and individual estimated breeding values (EBVs) were evaluated by a single trait animal model as well. We found that the averages of EBVs for litter size in each parity did not differ significantly between genotypes, despite the significant difference for original phenotype records in the 3rd, 4th and 5th parities (p<0.05 or p<0.01). The results may be explained by the deduction that the polymorphisms of ESR locus are no longer the important genetic base of litter size variation when the frequency of allele B accumulated in the experience of selection procedure, and further conferring that there exist special genes associated with litter size in the recent Tongcheng pigs population can be made.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.1083-1090
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the short-term effects of dietary selenium supplementation on lactating sows on the physiological response, litter performance, milk composition, and tissue selenium retention in piglets when selenium was provided by different sources and at different levels in a lactation diet. Methods: A total of 48 multiparous sows (Yorkshire×Landrace) with average body weight, backfat thickness, and parity were assigned to one of the four treatments with 12 sows per treatment using a 2×2 factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design. Inorganic or organic Se sources were added to the diet at 0.30 ppm and 0.50 ppm Se. Treatments were as follows: i) IS30, basal diet + inorganic Se 0.30 ppm; ii) IS50, basal diet + inorganic Se 0.50 ppm; iii) OS30, basal diet + organic Se 0.30 ppm; and iv) OS50: basal diet + organic Se 0.50 ppm. Results: At Day 21 of lactation, a high tendency of litter weight (p = 0.08) and litter weight gain (p = 0.09) were observed when sows were fed an organic Se source. The milk Se concentration in the organic Se treatment was higher than that in the inorganic Se treatment at Day 21 of lactation (p<0.05). The serum Se concentrations of sows and piglets at Day 21 of lactation were significantly higher when lactating sows were fed organic Se instead of inorganic Se (p<0.01). During the suckling period, the kidney and muscle Se concentrations of piglets at Day 21 of lactation were significantly higher when the sow dietary Se source was organic (p<0.05). Liver Se concentrations were affected by Se source and level (p<0.05). This also resulted in an interaction response at 21 days of lactation (p<0.05). Conclusion: The supplementation of dietary organic Se in a lactating diet could improve sow feed consumption, piglet performance, milk Se level, and the Se status of sows and piglets.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.103-105
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• 2002

This study was conducted to determine how broiler performance with the level of crude protein(23 CP%, 21 CP% and 19 CP%) can be changed and affected, adding Alum(Al$_{2}$(SO$_{4}$)$_{3}$ㆍ14H$_{2}$O) and no Alum in litter(two ALUM levels and 3 Protein levels with 2$\times$3 factorial design). Alum was added as a top dressing to the litter at a rate of 200g ALUM / kg of rice bran. With the exception of the protein levels for feed ：gain(P〈 0.05), there were no significant differences in feed intake, weight gain and feed ：gain of chicks. For ammonia gas emission, both the main effects of Alum and protein(P〈 0.01 and 0.05) at 3weeks and interaction between Alum and protein(P〈 0.05), the main effect of Alum(P〈 0.01) at 6weeks did affected them. In litter excluded the main effects of Alum(P〈 0.05), there was a significant difference among N contents ranged from pH to the rate of C： Organic-N(P〈 0.01).

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.218-226
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• 2020

The present study investigated the effects of loose farrowing type during gestation and after farrowing on reproductive performance and of lactating sows. A total of 22 primiparous sows (Landrace; average initial body weights [BW], 228.54 ± 12.79 kg) were allotted to one of two treatments on the basis of body weight. Sows were divided into two experimental groups, conventional farrowing crates (CON), and loosed-farrowing pens (LFP). The experiment duration was around 38 days ranging from 10 days before parturition to 28 days after parturition. Gestating sows at the age of 105 d were placed in gestational stalls (group housing). All the sows were fed a common diet according to the National Research Council requirements for lactation. Cross-fostering was performed within 1 day of parturition. From 1 day after weaning, estrus detection was performed twice-daily (0900 and 1730 h) for 10 min by boar exposure. There were significant effects of LFP housing type on the farrowing duration, and farrowing interval. At the farrowing time, none of the litter parameters including total born, stillborn, mummy, born alive piglets and total litter weight and piglet weight were affected. There were no effects of housing type on the mortality of piglets at d 1, 3, 7, 21, and 28. In conclusion, the result of this study showed that there is no performance difference between the crated or LFP sows, which indicate that the LFP housing has the potential to be used as an alternative to the crated house without any detrimental effects in reproduction performance of lactating sows.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2019

Phytate induced excessive mineral excretion through poultry litter leads to poor performance and environmental pollution. Exogenous microbial phytase supplementation to poultry diets reduce the environmental excretion of nutrient and improve bird's performance. However, excessive dietary sodium (Na) level may hinder the phytase-mediated phytate hydrolysis and negate the beneficial effects of phytase. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different concentration dietary Na on phytase activity and subsequent impact on broiler performance, bone mineralisation and nutrient utilisation. In this study, six experimental diets, consisting of three different levels of Na (1.5, 2.5, or 3.5 g/kg) and two levels of microbial phytase (0 or 500 U/kg) were formulated by using $3{\times}2$ factorial design. The six experimental diets were offered to 360 day-old Ross 306 male chicks for 35 days, where, each experimental diet consisted of 6 replicates groups with 10 birds. Along with growth performance, nutrient utilization, intestinal enzyme activity, dry matter (DM) content of litter and mineral status in bone were analysed. Dietary Na and phytase had no effect on bode weight gain and feed intake. Birds on the low Na diet showed higher (p < 0.05) feed conversion ratio (FCR) than the mid-Na diets. High dietary Na adversely affected (p < 0.001) excreta DM content. Phytase supplementation to the high-Na diet increased (p < 0.01) the litter ammonia content. High dietary Na with phytase supplementation improved ($Na{\times}phytase$, p < 0.05) the AME value and ileal digestibility of Ca and Mg. The total tract retention of Ca, P, and Mg was reduced with high Na diet, which was counteracted by phytase supplementation ($Na{\times}phytase$, p < 0.001). The diets containing mid-level of Na improved (p < 0.001) the function of Na-K-ATPase and Mg-ATPase in the jejunum. The overall results indicate that high dietary Na did not affect phytase activity but influenced the nutrient utilization of birds, which was not reflected in bird overall performance.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.333-339
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• 2019

The present study investigated the litter performance of multiparous sows had different feeding frequencies during summer season. A total of 60 crossbred multiparous sows was allotted to one of two treatments based on body weight (BW) according to a completely randomized design. Two different feeding frequencies based on NRC (National Research Council) were applied as conventional feeding (T1; 2 kg per meal at 06:00, 11:00, and 17:00) and night feeding (T2; 1.5 kg per meal at 06:00, 11:00, 17:00, and 2 kg at 22:00). Sows in T2 treatment had lower (p < 0.05) BW changes during lactation. The backfat thickness change of sows was decreased in T2 treatment during lactation (p < 0.05). The daily feed intake differed significantly between T1 and T2 with increased feed intake of the T2 group at 5.47 kg/d to 5.14 kg/d in the T1 group (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference in total weight of weaned piglets between T1 (70.50 kg) and T2 (74.34 kg). A greater total litter weight gain was observed in sows in T2 treatment. Night feeding is suggested for lactating sows with significant beneficial effects on litter growth during summer season.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.125-132
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• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of moisture absorbent (MA) application timing for litter management on broiler performance, blood cell characteristics, litter moisture content, incidence of footpad dermatitis (FPD), and economics analysis. Treatment include untreated control (NC), 3-week-old litter treatment (PC), 0-week-old (W1), 0 and 3-week-old (W2), 3-week-old (W3) application of moisture absorbent. Six hundred eighty broilers (1-day-old, 42.0±0.24 g) were divided into 5 treatments (4 replications per treatment, 34 birds per replication) and raised for 5 weeks in a floor (2 m² per pen). There was no significant difference among treatments in performance, blood cell characteristics, and H/L ratio according to the application period of litter and moisture absorbent. The litter moisture content and the FPD score were significantly decreased in the litter and moisture absorbent treatments at the age of 5 weeks (P<0.05). The FPD score of broilers was lowest in PC treatment compared to NC treatment (P<0.05). The incidence of FPD was lower in PC and W3 treatments compared to other treatments, and that was the highest in NC treatment. As a result of analyzing the economic feasibility, the highest expenditure occurred in PC treatment, and the lowest expenditure occurred in W3 treatment. Income was the highest in W3 treatment, and lowest in NC treatment. The profit was 185,859 won (1,367 won/unit), the highest in the W3 treatment. In conclusion, when MA was applied to the litter of broiler house at the age of 3 weeks, the litter moisture content and FPD were improved.