• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.1419-1424
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• 2001

Previous research in our laboratory has demonstrated the importance of lactose in phase I and II pig starter diets. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of a carbohydrate by-product (food by-products) as a replacement for lactose. In Exp. I, 120 weaned pigs ($14{\pm}2d$ and 5.65kg) were allotted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) to 10 replications with four pigs per pen. This experiment evaluated three carbohydrate sources (lactose, carbohydrate by-product, and 50-50 blend of the carbohydrate by-product and lactose). The carbohydrate sources were added at 26% in the phase I diets and 15% in the phase II diets. Phase I diets contained 7.5% spray dried plasma protein (SDP). The phase I diets were fed from d 0 to 14 and the phase II diets from d 15 to 28. There were no significant differences between carbohydrate sources on pig performance in phase I. However, during phase II pigs fed the diet with lactose had an improved gain/feed ratio (G/F) (p=0.06) compared to pigs fed the carbohydrate by-product. For the entire 28 d trial ADG, ADFI and G/F were similar for the 50-50 blend and those fed lactose. Total replacement of lactose with the carbohydrate byproduct resulted in a reduced G/F (p=0.09). Exp. 2 used 100 weaned pigs ($17{\pm}2d$ and 4.75kg) with five replications with five pigs per pen. This experiment evaluated four carbohydrate treatments (lactose, carbohydrate by-products, 50-50 blend, and corn). All phase I diets contained 3.5% SDP with the carbohydrate sources included at 15%, and were fed d 0 to 14. The phase II diets contained 7.5% of the carbohydrate sources and were fed d 15 to 27. A common phase III diet was fed d 28 to 42. During all phases pigs fed com tended to have a lower ADG than pigs fed the other carbohydrate sources with the 50-50 blend resulting in the highest ADG. The results of both experiments suggest that this carbohydrate by-product can replace at least 50% of the lactose in phase I and phase II pig starter diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.1444-1449
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• 2001

Two feeding trials were conducted to determine the effect of inclusion levels or deletion of vitamin-trace mineral (VM) premixes on growth performance and pork quality in finishing pigs. In exp. 1, a total of ninety-six crossbred pigs $(Landrace\;{\times}\;Yorkshire\;{\times}\;Duroc,\;85.09{\pm}3.12kg)$ were used for a 4-week feeding triaL Treatments were premix supplementation at the level of 50% (Control), 100%, 150%, and 200% of NRC (1998) requirements for vitamins and trace minerals. In exp. 2, a total of one hundred and eight crossbred pigs $(Landrace\;{\times}\;Yorkshire\;{\times}\;Duroc,\;84.76{\pm}0.58kg)$ were used for a 4-week feeding trial. Treatments were premix supplementation at the level of 0% (Control), 200% VM, and 200% vitamin E and Se listed in NRC (1998) requirements. Average daily gain (ADG) and feed/gain (F/G) were the highest at 150% VM addition level (quadratic, p<0.05) among treatments. Dressing percentage and backfat thickness in pigs were not affected by different addition levels of VM premixes. Pork stability in terms of TBARS was linearly (p<0.05) improved as dietary VM premix was increased (exp. 1). ADG, F/G and pork stability (TBARS) were also reduced (p<0.05) when VM premixes were deleted. However, supplementation of vitamin E and Se improved (p<0.05) ADG and pork stability when pigs were fed diets without VM premixes (exp. 2). In conclusion, deleting dietary VM premixes gave negative effects on growth performance and pork quality for the last 4 weeks of finishing period.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.1178-1181
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• 2002

Records from a total of 202 crossbred pigs were classified by their ear type and coat color to examine the presence of interrelationships with growth performances. Crossbred pigs were F2 generations of full sib family out of ten Landrace sows bred by 5 Korean domestic boars. Heavily drooped ear type was predominant, 195 out of 202 pigs over the other two types (1 straight and 6 slightly drooped). Coat colors were classified as four categories, all white, all black, dominant white or dominant black. Ratio among coat color categories did not fall within Mendelian principle of independence regarding two loci involved. There was dependency between ear type and coat color. However, due to rarity of ear types other than heavy drooped, dependency comes from distribution of those rare ear types. Three least squares models to test the effect of ear type and coat colors on growth performances were analyzed. First model analyzed effects on birth weight, body weight at 3 and 6 weeks and ADG' before weaning and between 3 and 5 weeks of age. This model included sex in addition to ear type and coat color. Second model analyzed postweaning growth traits (initial weight, final weight and ADG between these periods) upon initiation of performance testing. This model included effects of sex, test group and start age (as a covariate) in addition. Third model was fit for fasted weight before slaughter and included the effects of sex, test group and age at slaughter (as a covariate). The effects of sex and ear type were not significant source of variation for all traits. Test group was a significant source of variation for all the postweaning traits. Effect of coat color was not significant until the initiation of performance testing and became significant then after. Least squares means of dominantly black pigs were significantly lower than the other three coat colored pigs in final weight around 195 days of age and in ADG from the start of performance test and final weight measure.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.792-798
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• 2010

Four experiments with 2,020 nursery pigs (Triumph-4${\times}$PIC Camborough 22) were conducted at a commercial research site to evaluate the effects of including 30% distillers dried grain with solubles (DDGS) in late nursery diets on pig growth performance and to compare the effects of pelleted and meal diets containing 30% DDGS on growth performance and nutrient digestibility. In Exp. 1, 312 pigs (10.54${\pm}$0.16 kg) were allotted to two diets: corn-soybean meal based control diet and a corn-soybean meal diet containing 30% DDGS. In Exp. 2, 337 pigs (16.70${\pm}$0.14 kg) were used to validate Exp. 1 with similar diets. In Exp. 3, 665 pigs (11.77${\pm}$0.12 kg) were allotted to diets containing 30% DDGS, but in different forms: meal or pellet. Fecal samples were collected during the final day of the trials to measure nutrient and energy apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD). In Exp. 4, 706 pigs (18.40${\pm}$0.18 kg) were allotted to the same diets as Exp. 3. In Exp. 1 and 2, there was no (p>0.05) effect of DDGS on ADG, ADFI or G:F. In Exp. 3, pelleting improved (p<0.01) ADG (578 vs. 541 g/d) and G:F (714 vs. 674 g/kg), with no difference (p>0.05) in ADFI. The ATTD of most nutrients and energy were improved by pelleting (p<0.05). In Exp. 4, ADG (717 vs. 675 g/d) and G:F (680 vs. 648 g/kg) were improved by pelleting (p<0.01), with no difference (p>0.05) in ADFI. In conclusion, 10-23 kg pigs in late nursery phase can be fed up to 30% DDGS without having a detrimental effect on pig performance, and pelleting the diet will increase nutrient and energy availability.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.102-111
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• 2010

Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) power plants are one of most attractive electricity generation systems for the use of biogas to generate high-efficiency ultra-clean power. However, MCFCs are considerably more expensive than comparable conventional electricity generation systems. The commercialization of MCFCs has been delayed more than expected. After being effective in the Kyoto protocol and considerably increasing the fossil price, the attention focused on $CO_2$ regression and renewable energy sources has increased dramatically. In particular, the commercialization and application of MCFC systems fed with biogas have been revived because of the characteristics of $CO_2$ collection and fuel variety of MCFCs. Better economic results of MCFC systems fed with biogas are expected because biogas is a relatively inexpensive fuel compared to liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, the pretreatment cost is added when using anaerobic digester gas (ADG), one of the biogases, as a fuel of MCFC systems because it contains high $H_2S$ and other contaminants, which are harmful sources to the MCFC stack in ADG. Thus, an accurate economic analysis and comparison between MCFCs fed with biogas and LNG are very necessary before the installation of an MCFC system fed with biogas in a plant. In this paper, the economic analysis of an MCFC fed with ADG was carried out for various conditions of electricity and fuel price and compared with the case of an MCFC fed with LNG.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.475-483
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• 2022

Objective: Methionine (Met) is involved in methyl group transfer besides protein synthesis. As the availability is limited and cost is high for synthetic Met, reductions in its inclusion in broiler diet may be possible by supplementing the low Met diets with methyl donors (MD) like betaine (Bet), folic acid (FA), vitamin B12 (B12), and biotin (Bio). An experiment was conducted to study the effects of supplementing the MD on performance (average daily gain [ADG], daily feed intake, feed efficiency [FE]), anti-oxidant variables, immune responses and serum protein concentration in broilers fed sub-optimal concentrations of dietary Met. Methods: Maize-soybean meal diet was used as control (CD). Different MD like Bet (0.2%), B12 (0.1 mg), FA (4 mg), or Bio (1.5 mg/kg) were supplemented to basal diet (BD) having no supplemental Met. The BD without MD was kept for comparison. Each diet was fed ad libitum to 10 replicates of 25 chicks in each from 1 to 42 d of age. Results: At the end of experiment, the ADG in MD group was higher than BD and lower than CD. The FE improved with FA or Bet compared to the BD. Breast meat weight was higher in Bet compared to the BD, while it was intermediate between BD and CD in other groups. The lipid peroxidation reduced with Bio, B12, or Bet, while the glutathione peroxidase activity improved with Bio or B12 compared to the BD. Lymphocyte proliferation improved with Bet compared to the BD. The serum protein concentrations increased with FA, Bio, or Bet compared to those fed BD. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the ADG can be improved partially with supplementation of MD while the FE improved with FA or Bet. Some MD also reduced the stress indices and improved immune responses compared to the BD fed broilers.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.471-483
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the interactive effects of dietary digestible tryptophan (dTry) and soy oligosaccharides (SO) on growth performance, caecal skatole level, and microflora of broiler chickens aged from 14 to 42 days. Methods: Three hundred and sixty broiler chicks were allocated equally to 36 cages at 14-day-of-age according to body weight and gender. Using a 3×2 factorial arrangement, 3 dietary dTry levels (0.18%, 0.23%, and 0.28%) supplemented with 0 or 3.5 g/kg of SO were used to create 6 diets (treatments). Each diet was fed to six replicates of 10 birds (60 birds/treatment), growth performance was measured. Caecal content samples were collected at 42 days of age. Results: Results showed that significantly different dTry level×SO interactions were found for average daily gain (ADG), caecal levels of indole, propionic acid, and butyric acid, and microbial Shannon index (p<0.05). Birds fed diet containing 0.23% dTry level with SO supplementation had higher ADG and lower feed/gain ratio than those fed the other diets (p<0.05). Broilers fed diets containing 0.28% dTry increased their caecal levels of indole and skatole compared with those containing 0.18% or 0.23% dTry (p<0.01), regardless of SO addition. SO supplementation to diets decreased the caecal skatole level by 16.17% (p<0.05), and increased the relative frequency of Clostridium IV (p<0.05), regardless of dietary dTry level. Conclusion: These results indicated that diets containing 0.23% dTry with SO supplementation positively promoted ADG, and decreased caecal skatole levels of broiler chickens. The dietary dTry level, SO affected the caecal skatole level, however, there was no interaction between them.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.1576-1583
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• 2000

Three experiments were conducted to determine the nutritional value of wheat gluten (WG) and spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) in diets for nursery pigs. In Exp. 1, 120 weanling pigs (5.7 kg avg initial BW) were used in a 35-d growth assay. Treatments for d 0 to 14 were: 1) dried skim milk (DSM)-dried whey-SBM based control; 2) WG to replace the protein from DSM; 3) SDPP; and 4) WG-SDPP (50:50 blend on a protein basis) to replace the protein from DSM. From d 14 to 35, all pigs were fed a common corn-SBM-whey-based diet. For d 0 to 14, there were no differences in ADG, ADFI, and gain/feed (p>0.11). However, for d 14 to 35, pigs fed diets with WG had greater gain/feed than those fed SDPP (p<0.05), and pigs fed diets with the WG-SDPP blend had greater ADG than pigs fed diets with WG or SDPP alone (p<0.07). In a second experiment, 60 weanling pigs (5.1 kg avg initial BW) were used in a 28-d growth assay. All pigs were fed the WG-SDPP diet fed in Exp. 1 for d 0 to 14, and changed to experimental diets for d 14 to 28. Treatments were: 1) the whey-SBM-based diet used for d 14 to 28 in Exp. 1; or 2) a whey-SBM based diet with 3% added SDPP. There were no differences in ADG, ADFI, gain/feed, or apparent digestibilities of DM and N among treatments for d 14 to 28 or overall (p>0.14). In a third experiment, 150 weanling pigs (5.6 kg avg initial BW) were used in a 32-d growth assay to determine the optimal blend of WG and SDPP for use after weaning. The SDPP was added as 8% of the control diet, and WG was substituted on a protein basis to yield the desired SDPP:WG blends. Treatments were (d 0 to 14): 1) SDPP; 2) 75% SDPP and 25% WG; 3) 50% SDPP and 50% WG; 4) 25% SDPP and 75% WG; and 5) WG. As in Exp. 1, all pigs were switched to a common corn-SBM-whey-based diet for d 14 to 32. For d 0 to 14, ADG and ADFI increased as replacement of the SDPP was increased up to 50% and decreased when more of the SDPP was removed from the diet (quadratic effects, p<0.004 and 0.02, respectively). Apparent digestibilities of DM and N (at d 13) were not affected by treatments (p>0.18). For d 14 to 32, treatments did not affect ADG (p>0.2), although there were quadratic responses in ADFI (p<0.04), with pigs fed the 50:50 blend suggested the greatest intake of feed. For the overall experimental period (d 0 to 32), ADG, ADFI, and gain/feed increased as WG was used to replace as much as 50% of the SDPP (quadratic effects p<0.04, 0.02, and 0.06, respectively). In conclusion, WG can successfully replace up to 50% of the SDPP in a complex nursery diet, when SDPP is included at the 8% level. There is no advantage to keeping SDPP in the diet after Phase I (d 0 to 14).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.252-261
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• 2006

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of organic or inorganic acid supplementation on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal measurements and white blood cell counts of weanling pigs. In growth trial (Exp I), a total of 100 crossbred pigs ({$Landrace{\times}Yorkshire$}${\times}$Duroc), weaned at $23{\pm}2$ days of age and $7.25{\pm}0.10kg$ average initial body weight (BW), were allotted to 5 treatments by body weight and sex in a randomized complete block (RCB) design. Three different organic acids (fumaric [FUA], formic [FOA] or lactic acid [LAA]) and one inorganic acid (hydrochloric acid [SHA]) were supplemented to each treatment diet. Each treatment had 5 replicates with 4 pigs per pen. During 0-3 wk, average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed efficiency (G/F ratio) were not significantly different among treatments. However, pigs fed LAA or SHA diet showed improved ADG by 15 or 13% respectively and 12% greater ADFI in both treatments compared to CON diets. Moreover, compared to organic acid treatments, better ADG (p = 0.07) and ADFI (p = 0.09) were observed in SHA diet compared to pigs that were fed the diet containing organic acids (FUA, FOA or LAA). However, during 4-5 wk, no differences in ADG, ADFI and G/F ratio were observed among treatments. Overall, ADG, ADFI and G/F ratio were not affected by acidifier supplementation. Although it showed no significant difference, pigs fed LAA or SHA diets showed numerically higher ADG and ADFI than pigs fed other treatments. In metabolic trial (Exp II), 15 pigs were used to evaluate the effect of acidifier supplementation on nutrient digestibility. The digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), crude ash (CA), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) was not improved by acidifier supplementation. Although the amount of fecal-N excretion was not different among treatments, that of urinary-N excretion was reduced in acidsupplemented treatments compared to CON group (p = 0.12). Subsequently, N retention was improved in acid-supplemented groups (p = 0.17). In anatomical trial (Exp III), the pH and $Cl^-$ concentrations of digesta in gastrointestinal (GI) tracts were not affected by acidifier supplementation. No detrimental effect of intestinal and lingual (taste bud) morphology was observed by acidifier supplementation particularly in inorganic acid treatment. In white blood cell assay (Exp IV), 45 pigs were used for measuring white blood cell (WBC) counts. In all pigs after LPS injection, WBC counts had slightly declined at 2 h and kept elevating at 8 h, then returned to baseline by 24 h after injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). However, overall WBC counts were not affected by acidifier supplementation. In conclusion, there was no difference between organic and inorganic acidifier supplementation in weanling pigs' diet, however inorganic acidifier might have a beneficial effect on growth performance and N utilization with lower supplementation levels. Furthermore, inorganic acidifier had no negative effect on intestinal measurements and white blood cell counts in weanling pigs. These results suggested that inorganic acidifier might be a good alternative to organic acidifiers in weanling pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1303-1310
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• 2009

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of dietary zinc level on growth performance and immune function in normal (Experiment 1) and immunologically challenged (Experiment 2) weanling pigs. Treatments consisted of the following: i) a corn-soybean meal basal diet containing 36.75 mg/kg total Zn, ii) basal diet+60 mg/kg added Zn as $ZnSO_{4}$, iii) basal diet+120 mg/kg added Zn as $ZnSO_{4}$. Each diet was fed to six pens of four pigs per pen (Exp. 1) or six pens of three pigs per pen (Exp. 2). In Exp. 1, the dietary zinc level had no effect on average daily growth (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), or feed conversion ratio (FCR). Concentrations of tissue and serum zinc were not affected. Peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation (PBLP) was not affected by dietary treatments. Supplementation of 120 mg/kg Zn decreased (p<0.05) the antibody response to bovine serum albumin (BSA) on d 7 compared with pigs fed the basal diet, but not on d 14. In Exp. 2, LPS challenge had no effect on ADG, ADFI and FCR in the entire trial (from d 0 to 21). LPS challenge significantly decreased ADG and ADFI (p<0.01) from d 7 to 14, but FCR was not affected. LPS challenge increased PBLP (p<0.05) and serum concentration of interleukin-1 (IL-1) (p<0.01), whereas the antibody response to BSA and serum concentration of interleukin-2 (IL-2) were not affected. Supplementation of Zn did not affect ADFI and FCR from d 7 to 14, but there was a trend for ADG to be enhanced with Zn supplementation (p<0.10). Supplementation of Zn tended to increase PBLP (p<0.10). Dietary treatment had no effect on the antibody response to BSA or concentrations of serum IL-1 and IL-2. Results indicate that the level of Zn recommended by NRC (1998) for weanling pigs was sufficient for optimal growth performance and immune responses. Zn requirements may be higher for pigs experiencing an acute phase response than for healthy pigs.