• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 1989

Forty bull calves of Sahiwal crosses were fed either urea treated or untreated rice straw with 4 levels of Gliricidia (0, 1, 2, and 4 kg fresh material). Dry matter intake (DMI) of straw and Gliricidia was measured during 2 periods. Straw intakes in period 1 and 2 were significantly different (P<0.001). Supplementation of Gliricidia depressed the DMI of straw during the second period (P<0.01), but not in the first period. Urea-ammonia treatment increased straw intake and total intake in both periods, but the increase in dry matter digestibility (DMD) of the ration was not significant (P>0.05). Liveweight gain (LWG) was increased significantly, both by urea ammonia treatment (P<0.01) and by supplementation with Gliricidia (P<0.001). Animals on treated straw gained on an average $137\;g{\cdot}d^{-1}$ more than those on untreated straw.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.540-554
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• 2023

Heat stress is a major challenge to animal production in tropical and subtropical climates. Rabbits suffer from heat stress more than farm animals because they have few sweat glands, and their bodies are covered with thick fur. Intensive farming relies on antibiotics as antimicrobials or growth promoters to increase animals' productivity and health. However, the European Union and many countries have banned or restricted the use of antibiotics in animal feed for human health concerns. Several studies have found that replacing antibiotics in rabbit feed with natural plants or feed additives increases productivity and improves immune capacity, especially under heat stress conditions. Growth performance, immune response, gut microflora, and carcass yield may be increased in rabbits fed a diet supplemented with some natural plants and/or propolis. In this review article, we discuss and summarize the effects of some herbs and plant extracts as alternative feed additives on rabbit productivity, especially for those raised under hot ambient temperatures.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.466-469
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• 2002

The data on 512 Hariana cows, progeny of 20 sires calved during period from 1974 to 1993 maintained at Government Livestock Farm, Hisar were considered for the estimation of genetic parameters. The means for first lactation milk yield (FLY), wet average (WA), first lactation peak yield (FPY), first lactation milk yield per day of first calving interval (MCI) and first lactation milk yield per day of age at second calving (MSC) were 1,141.58 kg, 4.19 kg/day, 6.24 kg/day, 2.38 kg/day and 0.601 kg/day, respectively. The effect of period of calving was significant (p<0.05) on WA, FPY and MCI while the effect of season of calving was significant only on WA. Monsoon calvers excelled in performance for all the production efficiency traits. The effect of age at first calving (linear) was significant on all the traits except on MCI. Estimates of heritabilty for all the traits were moderate and ranged from 0.255 to 0.333 except for WA (0.161). All the genetic and phenotypic correlations among different production efficiency traits were high and positive. It may be inferred that selection on the basis of peak yield will be more effective as the trait is expressed early in life and had reasonably moderate estimate of heritability.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.503-508
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• 1996

The data analysed consisted of records on lactation length (LL), total lactation yield (TLY), estimated 305-day yield (305 DY), days dry (DDRY), age at frist calving (AFC) and calving interval (CI) of 448 Friesian $\times$ Bunaji halfbreds that calved over a twenty-three year period (1967-1989) at the National Animal Production Research Institute, Shika, Nigeria. Least squares means of LL, TLY, 305DY, DDRY, AFC and CI were 250 days, 1,988 kg, 2,420 kg, 102 days, 35 months and 390 days, respectively. Parity, season and year of calving significantly affected LL, TLY (p < 0.01) and 350DY (p < 0.05), but not CI. DDRY was affected by season of calving only (p < 0.05). It was therefore concluded that the Shika Friesian $\times$ Bunaji crossbreeding programme was successful and beneficial in that the $F_1$ crosses calved at a younger age, produced twice as much milk, had longer lactations and slightly shorter calving intervals than the indigenous Bunaji.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.305-308
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• 2006

A genetic study was conducted to elucidate the effect of alpha-Lactalbumin (${\alpha}$-LA) gene polymorphism on milk production traits involving total milk yield and daily milk yield during first lactation in two breeds of water buffaloes namely, Murrah and Bhadawari. Single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) was carried out to explore genetic polymorphism present at this locus. For this study, exon 1 region of ${\alpha}$-LA was analyzed. Finally, polymorphism data was associated with milk production traits by employing least square analysis. In Murrah buffalo, five genotypes such as AB, BB, BC, CC and CD and four alleles A, B, C and D were detected whereas in Bhadawari buffalo two genotypes namely, AB and BC and three alleles namely, A, B and C were found. Genotypes showed significant effects ($p{\leq}0.05$) on total milk yield and daily milk yield in Bhadawari buffalo but had non-significant effects on these traits in Murrah buffalo.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.309-319
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• 2017

Objective: Holsteins are known as the world's highest-milk producing dairy cattle. The purpose of this study was to identify genetic regions strongly associated with milk traits (milk production, fat, and protein) using Korean Holstein data. Methods: This study was performed using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip data (Illumina BovineSNP50 Beadchip) of 911 Korean Holstein individuals. We inferred each genomic estimated breeding values based on best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) and ridge regression using BLUPF90 and R. We then performed a genome-wide association study and identified genetic regions related to milk traits. Results: We identified 9, 6, and 17 significant genetic regions related to milk production, fat and protein, respectively. These genes are newly reported in the genetic association with milk traits of Holstein. Conclusion: This study complements a recent Holstein genome-wide association studies that identified other SNPs and genes as the most significant variants. These results will help to expand the knowledge of the polygenic nature of milk production in Holsteins.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.237-250
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• 2024

The emission of noxious gases is a significant problem in pig production, as it can lead to poor production, welfare concerns, and environmental pollution. The noxious gases are the gasses emitted from the pig manure that contribute to air pollution. The increased concentration of various harmful gasses can pose health risks to both animals and humans. The major gases produced in the pig farm include methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and volatile fatty acids, which are mainly derived from the fermentation of undigested or poorly digested nutrients. Nowadays research has focused on more holistic approaches to obtain a healthy farm environment that helps animal production. The use of probiotics, prebiotics, dietary enzymes, and medicinal plants in animal diets has been explored as a means of reducing harmful gas emissions. This review paper focuses on the harmful gas emissions from pig farm, the mechanisms of gas production, and strategies for reducing these emissions. Additionally, various methods for reducing gas in pigs, including probiotic interventions; prebiotic interventions, dietary enzymes supplementation, and use of medicinal plants and organic acids are discussed. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge on reducing noxious gas in pigs and offers valuable insights for pig producers, nutritionists, and researchers working in this area.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.407-408
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• 1989

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1261-1267
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• 2010

Milk production traits are important economic traits for dairy cattle. The aim of the present study was to refine the position of previously detected quantitative trait loci (QTL) on bovine chromosome 6 affecting milk production traits in Chinese Holstein dairy cattle. A daughter design with 918 daughters from 8 elite sire families and 14 markers spanning the previously identified QTL region were used in the analysis. We employed a combined linkage and linkage disequilibrium analysis (LDLA) approach with two options for calculating the IBD probabilities, one was based on haplotypes of all 14 markers (named Method 1) and the other based on haplotypes with sliding windows of 5 markers (named Method 2). For milk fat yield, the two methods revealed a highly significant QTL located within a 6.5 cM interval (Method 1) and a 4.0 cM interval (Method 2), respectively. For milk protein yield, a highly significant QTL was detected within a 3.0 cM interval (Method 1) or a 2.5 cM interval (Method 2). These results confirmed the findings of our previous study and other studies, and greatly narrowed down the QTL positions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1208-1214
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• 2007

Three male Gayal, two years of age and with a mean live weight of $203{\pm}26$ kg, and three adult Yunnan Yellow Cattle, with a mean live weight of $338{\pm}18$ kg were fed a ration of pelleted lucerne hay and used to collect rumen fluid for in vitro measurements of digestibilities and gas production from fermentation of a range of forages. The forages were: bamboo stems, bamboo twigs, bamboo leaves, rice straw, barley straw, annual ryegrass hay, smooth vetch hay and pelleted lucerne hay. There were significant (p<0.05) effects of the source of rumen fluid on in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and gas production during fermentation of forage. For the roughage of lowest quality (bamboo stems and rice straw), gas production during fermentation was higher (p<0.05) in the presence of rumen fluid from Gayal than Yunnan Yellow Cattle. Differences for these parameters were found for the better quality roughages with gas production being enhanced in the presence of rumen fluid from Yunnan Yellow Cattle. Moreover, the IVDMD of investigated roughages was significantly higher (p<0.05) in Gayal than Yunnan Yellow Cattle. The results offer an explanation for the positive live weight gains recorded for Gayal foraging in their natural environment where the normal diet consists of poor quality roughages.