• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.767-777
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• 2014

Characterizing local chicken types and their mostly rural production systems is prerequisite for designing and implementing development and conservation programs. This study evaluated the management practices of small-scale chicken keepers and the phenotypic and production traits of their chickens in Oman, where conservation programs for local livestock breeds have currently started. Free-range scavenging was the dominant production system, and logistic regression analysis showed that socio-economic factors such as training in poultry keeping, household income, income from farming and gender of chicken owners influenced feeding, housing, and health care practices (p<0.05). A large variation in plumage and shank colors, comb types and other phenotypic traits within and between Omani chicken populations were observed. Male and female body weight differed (p<0.05), being $1.3{\pm}0.65$ kg and $1.1{\pm}0.86$ kg respectively. Flock size averaged $22{\pm}7.7$ birds per household with 4.8 hens per cock. Clutch size was $12.3{\pm}2.85$ and annual production $64.5{\pm}2.85$ eggs per hen. Egg hatchability averaged $88{\pm}6.0%$ and annual chicken mortality across all age and sex categories was $16{\pm}1.4%$. The strong involvement of women in chicken keeping makes them key stakeholders in future development and conservation programs, but the latter should be preceded by a comprehensive study of the genetic diversity of the Omani chicken populations.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2017

This study was conducted from May to December 2016 to investigate the prevalence of antibody titers for Newcastle disease (ND), Infectious Bronchitis (IB), Egg drop syndrome (EDS), Avian pneumovirus (APV), Fowl Typhoid (FT), Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) in laying hens in Incheon area. In ND, 418 (99.5%) of the 420 outbreaks were positive. IB showed 330 (78.5%) positive antibody out of 420 cases. EDS showed 419 (99.7%) positive seropositive rates among 420 cases. In the case of APV, 357 cases (85%) were positive in 420 cases. In the case of PT, the positive rate of antibody was 128 (30.4%) out of 420 cases. Among the 420 cases of MG, 222 cases (52.8%) were positive for antibodies. In the case of MS, 395 out of 420 cases (94.0%) were positive. This result suggests that the positive rate of antibody for PT in Incheon area was low. And it was also clear that MS without vaccine is now rampant in Incheon.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.1275-1285
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• 2021

The objective of the present experiment was to investigate the effect of dietary palm kernel meal (PKM) and β-xylanase supplementation on productive performance, egg quality, fatty liver incidence, and excreta characteristics in laying hens. A total of 320 Hy-Line Brown laying hens (33 weeks of age) were allotted to 1 of 4 treatments with 8 replicates in a feeding trial. Each replicate consisted of 10 consecutive cages with 1 hen per cage. The corn-soybean meal-based control diet was prepared. Additional diet was prepared by including 10% of PKM in the control diet with a partial replacement of corn, soybean meal, and animal fat. In addition, 0.025% β-xylanase was supplemented at the expense of celite to those 2 diets to produce 4 treatment diets in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. All hens were provided the diet and water ad libitum for 8 weeks. Results indicated no significant interactions between inclusion of dietary PKM and β-xylanase for all measurements; therefore, the main effects were mainly discussed. Hens fed diets containing 10% PKM had greater (p < 0.05) feed intake and yolk color than those fed diets containing no PKM. However, dietary PKM did not influence fatty liver incidence and excreta characteristics. Dietary β-xylanase supplementation had no effects on all measurements, regardless of inclusion of PKM. In conclusion, PKM can be a potential feed ingredient for laying hens at the inclusion of 10% in the diet. It appears that dietary β-xylanase used in the current experiment has little effect on layer productivity, regardless of inclusion of 10% PKM in the diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.118-125
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• 2019

Objective: This study investigated the effects of soapnut (Sapindus mukorossi) shell powder (SSP) on serum hormone level, egg quality, semen characteristics and reproductive performance of broiler breeders fed with a maize-soybean meal based diet. Methods: Ninety six female and twenty four male CARIBRO-VISHAL broiler breeders, 38-week old, were individually caged and randomly allocated to four treatment groups (24 female breeders/treatment and 6 male breeders/treatment): an un-supplemented control (T1) and three groups with 0.0176% SSP (group T2), 0.026% SSP (group T3) and 0.0528% SSP (group T4), to have supplementary saponin at 0, 50, 75, and 150 ppm, respectively, for 42 days. Results: The results indicated that serum (p<0.001) and seminal plasma (p<0.05) testosterone level, semen volume (p<0.001), mass motility (p<0.001), and live spermatozoa count (p<0.001) was increased in groups T3 and T4 compared to T2 and control groups. Compared with control group, total sperm count was increased (p<0.001) and dead spermatozoa count was decreased (p<0.001) in SSP supplemented groups. Supplementation of SSP did not affected the quality of egg lay. Compared with control group, fertility (p<0.01) and hatchability (total eggs set and fertile eggs set) (p<0.001) were significantly improved in SSP supplemented groups with the highest improvement in T3 treatment group. Embryonic death was decreased (p<0.001) in SSP supplemented groups compared to control; lowest embryonic death was recorded in T3 treatment group. Conclusion: Thus, it was concluded that dietary supplementation of 0.026% SSP (saponin equivalent 75 ppm) improved the reproductive performance of broiler breeders.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1028-1041
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze the potential of school meals in South Korea as a sustainable tool to reduce carbon emissions by focusing on animal- vs. plant-based protein foods. MATERIALS/METHODS: By using a stratified proportional allocation method, 536 out of the 11,082 schools nationwide were selected including 21 kindergartens, 287 elementary-, 120 middle- and 108 high schools. A total of 2,680 meals served for 5 consecutive days (June 21-25, 2021) were collected. We analyzed the average serving amounts of protein foods (animal- vs. plant-based) per meal and then, calculated the estimated average amounts of carbon emission equivalents per meal by applying the conversion coefficients. The t-test and analysis of variance were used for statistical analyses (α = 0.05). RESULTS: The average serving amount of animal-based protein foods per meal was 12.5 g, which was approximately 3 times higher than that of plant-based ones (3.8 g) (P < 0.001); the Meat-group had the highest average amount of 17.0 g, followed by Egg-group (9.6 g), Fish-group (7.6 g), and Beans-and-Nuts-group (3.8 g) (P < 0.05). Specifically, pork (25.1 g) was ranked first, followed by poultry (19.6 g), processed meat products (18.0 g). The estimated average amount of carbon emission equivalents of animal-based protein foods per meal was 80.1 g CO₂e, which was approximately 31 times higher than that of plant-based ones (2.6 g CO₂e) (P < 0.001); the Meat-group had the highest average amount of 120.3 g CO₂e, followed by Fish-group (44.5 g CO₂e), Egg-group (25.9 g CO₂e), and Beans-and-Nuts-group (2.6 g CO₂e) (P < 0.05). Specifically, processed meat products (270.8 g CO₂e) were ranked first, followed by pork (91.7 g CO₂e), and processed fish products (86.6 g CO₂e). CONCLUSIONS: The results implied that school meals with plant-based alternatives could be a sustainable tool to improve carbon footprint.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.271-278
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• 2002

Two experiments were conducted to compare the effects of the natural and synthetic commercial pigments on the laying Performance, Pigmentation and fatty acid contents in e99 yolk of laying hens. The experimental diets were formulated to have isocalories and isonitrogen. In experiment I, the diet does not contain the com in which the xanthophylls are free, and in experiment II, the diet contained 54% of corn in which the level of xanthophylls are 19.34 ppm/kg (calculated levels). In the experiment 1, 480 ISA Brown laying hens were divided into eight groups. Each group has 60 birds fed the 0% of corn with 8 types of pigment levels for 4 weeks. in the experiment 2, 600 ISA Brown laying hens were divided into ten groups. Each group has 60 birds fed the 54% of com diet with 10 types of pigment levels for 4 weeks. Feed intake, e99 Production, egg weight and feed efficiency did not have significant difference in experiments I and II. Albumen height and haugh unit did not have significant difference in both experiments. In order to approach the yolk pigmentation to 12∼13 of Roche color fan, addition level of natural red pigment was 25∼30 ppm. In the case of synthetic red pigment, the level was 15∼20 ppm. In this experimental condition, the pigmenting effect of the synthetic pigment was better than that of the natural pigment. In the experiment 2, the pigmenting effect of mixing pigments were investigated between TM2 mixed with natural red pigment, and TM6 mixed with synthesis red pigment. The pigmenting effect of synthetic red pigment was greater than that of the natural red pigment. However, the pigmenting effect of natural pigment was greater than that of synthetic pigments when the levels of synthetic and natural red pigments in diet are higher in TM3 and TM8. The fatty acid content in yolk was not affected by pigment addition.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.173-179
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• 2011

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the dietary effects of multiple mixture of probiotics on laying performance and the faecal examination in laying hens (Hy-line Brown) at the early (21~40 wk) and middle (41~65 wk) laying term. Multiple probiotics were produced by developing products and the properties of microorganisms were examined for detecting of acid-resistance, bile salt-resistance and antibacterial activity against pathogenic enteric bacteria. Probiotics produced to the fermenting cultures of four selected organisms and soybean meal substrates by nine steps of NK proliferating system. The most microorganisms were shown higher resistance of acidity and bile salt. High antibacterial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus plantarum and Enterococcus faecium were observed, but was not against Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Total egg production of the treatment was significantly higher than control group but was not statistically different between 0.1% and 0.2% treatments (P>0.05). Average egg weight of the treatment in early laying term was also significantly higher than control but was not significantly different between 0.1% and 0.2% treatments (P>0.05). But the egg weight of the treatment in middle laying term was significantly higher than control and between 0.1% and 0.2% treatments (P>0.05). The mortality of 0.2% treatment was significantly lower than control (P<0.05), and 0.2% treatment in the early laying term was tended to decreased than 0.1% treatment and control. But there was not significantly between 0.1% and 0.2% treatments in middle laying term. In feed intake, 0.2% treatment in middle laying term was significantly increased than control and 0.1% treatment (P<0.05) but not in early laying term. In faecal examination, the total number of Lactobacillus of 0.1% treatment was significantly increased than control in whole laying term (P<0.05), but Coli form of the treatment was decreased than control in middle laying term. In conclusion, dietary long term supplementation of multiple probiotics improved performance of lay hens, egg weight and mortality drop by regulating enteric bacteria.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.95-105
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• 2020

This study presents the production characteristics and physiological characteristics of five Korean native chicken (KNC) breeds consisting of Hwanggalsaek Jaeraejong (HJ), Korean Rhode Island Red (KR), Korean White Leghorn (KL), Korean Brown Cornish (KC), and Korean Ogye (KO). We investigated their production performances, vitalities, and stress responses. We measured the survival rate, body weight, age at first egg-laying, hen-day egg production, egg weight, amount of telomeric DNA, heterophil-lymphocyte ratio (H/L ratio), and heat shock protein (HSP)-70, HSP-90α and HSP-90β gene expression levels for 493 KNCs. The survival rate was highest in KR, and lowest in KO. Body weights were steadily high in the order of KC, KR, HJ, KO and KL. Average hen-day egg production was highest in KL, and lowest in KC. While the amount of telomeric DNA was highest in KR, and lowest in KC. Furthermore, both the H/L ratio and the HSP-90β gene expression level were highest in KC, and lowest in KR. These results indicated that the KR breed was highly resistant to stress, whereas KC was more susceptible to stress. Taken together, it is considered that with improvements the KC breed would be more suited to be used as a Korean broiler breed while KL would be more appropriately used as a Korean layer breed. In addition, it is considered that the KR breed is appropriate to be used as a maternal chicken breeder based on good production capacity and excellent robustness, while the HJ breed is desirable to be improved as a high-quality Korean meat breed based on its excellent meat quality.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.318-326
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• 1990

This experiment was conducted to determine the economic housing density levels on caged laying hens The experiment was carried out with 600 ISA Babcock strain of white coder and 450 ISA Brown strain of brown color for production period(21－72 weeks) from May 11. 1987 to June 27. 1988. The levels of housing density was employed 5 or 6 by hen's color from 272 to 920$\textrm{cm}^2$/per hen. The results obtained were summarzed as follows ： 1. Although there were not statistically significant among the housing density levels, The body weight gain for pullet period(14－20 weeks) were in case of white pullet the lowest at the group of high crowding density (272$\textrm{cm}^2$/per pullet) and in case of Brown pullet was the lowest at the group of high crowding density(306$\textrm{cm}^2$/per pullet). 2. Viabillity of pullet from 14 to 20 weeks were more 97% and there urere not statistically significant among the housing density. 3. Viabillity of laying hens was increased as increasing housing density through the etire product period(21－72 weeks) but 453$\textrm{cm}^2$/per hen group(in case of brown hen) showed a significant difference (P＜.05). 4. Rate of egg production through the etire production period(21－72 weeks) were significantly increased by increasing housing density (P＜.05 or .01). 5. Average egg weight through the entire production period(21－72 weeks) was not significantly different among housing density levels at all laying kent 6. In case of white strain, egg mass per hen among treatment during the age of 63－72 weeks were decreased by increasing housing density, meanwhile, in case of brown strain were increased by decreasing housing density during the whole period and there were significant different among the all treatment 7. There were no significant different in feed intake among the all treatment through the entire production period(21－72 weeks) at the white strain laying hens but in case of brown strains, Feed intake were increased by increasing housing density and feeding spece/per hen, and there were significant different among the all treatment 8. Feed requirements per egg at white strain was the highest when the 272$\textrm{cm}^2$/per hen levels and at the brown strains was the highest when the 306$\textrm{cm}^2$/per hen levels, however, among the other treatment were no significant.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.157-163
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• 2005

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary betaine and protein levels on performance, internal e99 Qualify, blood composition, abdominal fat and liver amino acid concentration in laying hens. A total of 432 ISA-Brown laying hens were randomly allotted to four treatments with six replications for twenty few weeks. Treatments were factorially designed with two levels of crude protein(14.5 and $16.5\%$) and two levels of betaine(0 and 600ppm). The egg production was increased by feeding $16.5\%$ protein-fed group compared to that of $14.5\%$ protein-fed groups(P<0.05), but was different from betaine supplementation. Increasing protein and betaine supplementation to diets improved egg weight, egg mass and fred conversion(P<0.05). Eggshell breaking strength, thickness and Haugh unit were not influenced by either dietary betaine or protein levels. Dietary betaine did not affect serum total protein, albumin and uric acid concentration, whereas uric acid concentration was increased in $16.5\%$ protein-fed groups(P<0.05). The deposition of abdominal fat was lower in 600ppm betaine groups compared to those fed on 0ppm betaine groups(P<0.05). Concentration of the most hepatic amino acids were affected by dietary protein levels and betaine supplementation. There were synergistic effect between dietary protein and betaine. These results suggested that dietary betaine can improve the egg weight, mass, feed conversion and decrease the abdominal fat, but increase the hepatic amino acid contents.