• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.308-313
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• 2005

Logistic Regression Analysis was used to compute the odds ratio (OR) and probability of conception of Holstein dairy cows of AL-MARAIE company. Data consisted of 103,778 reproductive records collected from three farms in the central region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Records were classified according to lactation number, season of calving and milk level. At first lactation, OR of first service was 0.63 of other services and probability of pregnancy from first services was 0.39. Odds ratio increased to 1.72 at fourth lactation or probability of conception reached 0.63. The probability of conception increased from 0.39 for cows inseminated at first services to 0.75 at fifth service insemination. Odds ratio of cows calving in winter were higher than those calving in summer. Odds ratio of conception of low producing cows is about twice as likely to occur from first service as from other services. However, OR of conception of high producing cows was higher than one (probability=0.56) from first service and increased to 1.63 (probability=0.65) from third service. Odds ratio was in favor of the right uterus horn where probability of conception from first service was slightly greater than 50% in first and second lactations and less than 50% in favor of left horn in later lactations.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1124-1132
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• 2009

A trial was conducted to study the effect of supplemental chromium (Cr) levels from a Cr-yeast source on performance, digestibility and carcass characteristics of transport-stressed lambs. Forty-eight Naemi lambs (avg. BW 31.7 kg) were transported by truck for a distance of 1,450 km. On arrival day, the lambs were randomly allocated to four groups receiving diets supplemented with 0.0, 0.3, 0.6 or 0.9 ppm Cr. Each group consisted of four separately housed replicates of three lambs each. The lambs were fed their respective diets ad libitum for 84 d (21 d stress period, followed by 63 d growing period). Road transit of lambs resulted in a decreased (p<0.001) live body weight of 8.5%. Supplementation of Cr-yeast did not alter the performance of lambs during the stress period. Linear and quadratic increases (p<0.05) were observed in DMI and ADG, respectively, with increasing supplemental Cr levels in the diets during the growing period. Values were greater (p<0.05) by 14.7% and 20.8%, respectively, for lambs fed 0.3 ppm Cr compared to control, while those fed on the other two levels were intermediate. Over the 84-d feeding period, a trend was noted towards a slight increase in loin eye area and a decrease in body wall fat thickness for lambs fed Cr supplementation compared to the control group. This study suggests that the supplementation of Cr-yeast, especially at 0.3 ppm level, is beneficial for improving the performance of growing lambs whether the animals are stressed or not.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.401-412
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• 2000

Like other livestock, monogastric animals are essential components of the farming systems in the tropical countries. Pigs, chicken and ducks are by far the most important animals in the culture of the peoples of developing countries in the tropics. Traditionally these animals are raised in small farms and they are also the bulk producers of meat, eggs etc. in the tropics. In many countries the farmers of these small farms are unable to meet the requirement set by financial institution and other loan giving agencies for agricultural loan. Thus, the small farmers can get neither the opportunity to generate sufficient income to support the family nor to extend the livestock activities. The production systems are characterized by small number of animals with no or minimal inputs, low outputs and periodic destruction of animals by disease. Typically the litter size or flocks are small in number with each household containing 5-6 pigs and 7-10 poultry. Animals are owned by individual households and mostly maintained under a scavenging systems with little or no inputs for housing, feeding or health care. Because of the nature of this production system, productivity of these animals is rather low. The low level of inputs is due to a lack of capital and a low risk oriented outlook. The feed resource base for monogastric is scavenging and consists of household waste, roots and tuber, grain by-products and anything edible found in the immediate environment. Usually farmers select breeding gilts from their own female piglets or to a lesser extent, buy them from neighbors for natural mating. As regards poultry attempts have been made to increase egg and meat production by improving local poultry birds by upgrading and crossbreeding with exotic germ plasma in the tropics. Animal disease present a major constraint to animal production in the tropical region and the extent of the losses due to disease is very high.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.831-837
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of ruminally-protected methionine supplementation (0, 7, or 14 g/head/d) on nutrient intake, digestibility, growth performance, carcass, and meat characteristics of Awassi ram lambs fed finishing diets. Twenty four Awassi ram lambs ($16.8{\pm}1.17kg$ body weight) were randomly assigned to 3 treatment diets (8 lambs/treatment) and housed in individual pens. Lambs were given an adaptation period of 7 days before the intensive feeding period that lasted for 86 days. On day 74 of the trial, a digestibility experiment was performed. At the end of the trial (d 86), all lambs were slaughtered to evaluate carcass characteristics and meat quality. Increasing the level of methionine supplementation did not improve (p>0.05) performance nor feed conversion ratio. Nutrient intake and digestibilities were not influenced (p>0.05) by methionine supplementation. There were no differences in final weight, hot and cold carcass weights, dressing percentages or any of the measured non-carcass components. Tissues and fat depth measurements together with all meat quality attributes measured on longissimus muscle of the loin cut were not affected by methionine supplementation. The only meat quality parameters affected were redness (a*) and the hue angle being higher for the control group (p<0.05). These results suggest that methionine supplementation is not likely to produce any production benefits in nutrient digestibilities, performance or carcass characteristics of ram lambs fed a high performance diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.82-91
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• 2019

Objective: This experiment was conducted to compare the structure and composition of ruminal microorganisms in goats with high and low neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility. Methods: Nineteen crossbred goats were used as experimental animals and fed the same total mixed rations during the 30-day pre-treatment and 6-day digestion trialperiods. All faeces were collected during the digestion period for measuring the NDF digestibility. Then, high and the low NDF digestibility individuals were chosen for the high NDF digestibility group (HFD) and low NDF digestibility group (LFD), respectively. Rumen contents were collected for total microbial DNA extraction. The V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was amplified using universal primers of bacteria and sequenced using high-throughput sequencer. The sequences were mainly analysed by QIIME 1.8.0. Results: A total of 18,694 operational taxonomic units were obtained, within 81.98% belonged to bacteria, 6.64% belonged to archaea and 11.38% was unassigned microorganisms. Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were the predominant microbial phyla in both groups. At the genus level, the relative abundance of fifteen microorganisms were significantly higher (p<0.05) and six microorganisms were extremely significantly higher (p<0.01) in LFD than HFD. Overall, 176 core shared genera were identified in the two groups. The relative abundance of 2 phyla, 5 classes, 10 orders, 13 families and 15 genera had a negative correlation with NDF digestibility, but only the relative abundance of Pyramidobacter had a positive correlation with NDF digestibility. Conclusion: There were substantial differences in NDF digestibility among the individual goats, and the NDF digestibility had significant correlation with the relative abundance of some ruminal microorganisms.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.856-863
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• 2013

An in vitro gas production technique was used in this study to elucidate the effect of two strains of active live yeast on methane ($CH_4$) production in the large intestinal content of pigs to provide an insight to whether active live yeast could suppress $CH_4$ production in the hindgut of pigs. Treatments used in this study include blank (no substrate and no live yeast cells), control (no live yeast cells) and yeast (YST) supplementation groups (supplemented with live yeast cells, YST1 or YST2). The yeast cultures contained $1.8{\times}10^{10}$ cells per g, which were added at the rates of 0.2 mg and 0.4 mg per ml of the fermented inoculum. Large intestinal contents were collected from 2 Duroc${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire pigs, mixed with a phosphate buffer (1:2), and incubated anaerobically at $39^{\circ}C$ for 24 h using 500 mg substrate (dry matter (DM) basis). Total gas and $CH_4$ production decreased (p<0.05) with supplementation of yeast. The methane production reduction potential (MRP) was calculated by assuming net methane concentration for the control as 100%. The MRP of yeast 2 was more than 25%. Compared with the control group, in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD) and total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration increased (p<0.05) in 0.4 mg/ml YST1 and 0.2 mg/ml YST2 supplementation groups. Proportion of propionate, butyrate and valerate increased (p<0.05), but that of acetate decreased (p<0.05), which led to a decreased (p<0.05) acetate: propionate (A: P) ratio in the both YST2 treatments and the 0.4 mg/ml YST 1 supplementation groups. Hydrogen recovery decreased (p<0.05) with yeast supplementation. Quantity of methanogenic archaea per milliliter of inoculum decreased (p<0.05) with yeast supplementation after 24 h of incubation. Our results suggest that live yeast cells suppressed in vitro $CH_4$ production when inoculated into the large intestinal contents of pigs and shifted the fermentation pattern to favor propionate production together with an increased population of acetogenic bacteria, both of which serve as a competitive pathway for the available H2 resulting in the reduction of methanogenic archaea.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 1994

The indonesian government wishes to increase farmers' by encouraging dairy farming. Since 1980, imported dairy cattle have been distributed on credit. Survey data from 1990 were used to study the average milk sales per cow and the economic parameters of dairy production of a sample of farm households on seven milk cooperatives East Java Province, in three agro-ecological areas, oriented to sugar cane, cassava and horticulture, respectively. in general, dairy production proved not to be economically attractive as returns to labour were similar to the rates for agricultural labour. The returns showed marked differences among the three areas studied. They were highest in the horticultural area. Analysis of the dairy units according to size showed a tendency for inputs as well as revenue per cow to decline as herd size increased. It is argued that a further increase in milk production in East Java can be stimulated by raising the farm gate price of milk, or by expanding dairy production into suitable, new areas.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.559-561
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• 1992

Three strains each of L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus isolated from indigenous dahi were examined for their rate of acid production and corresponding pH values in skim milk medium incubated at $40^{\circ}C$. No significant increase in titrable acidity or decrease in pH were recorded from initial period up to 2nd hour in both the strains. Following this period, however, there was a continuous increase in titrable acidity and a decrease in pH value in the milk for all the tested strains. Further it was observed that there was a variation among these strains for their acid production rate. High rate of acid production was recorded for the L. bulgaricus as compared to S. thermophilus. The results further, suggested that efforts should be made to select a proper pair of L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus according to their rate of acid production, at a particular temperature in order to produce a good quality product.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.74-84
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• 2021

Objective: Feed additives that modify rumen fermentation can be used to prevent metabolic disturbances such as acidosis and optimize beef cattle production. The study evaluated the effects of liquid and powdered forms of polyclonal antibody preparation (PAP) against Streptococcus bovis and Fusobacterium necrophorum on rumen fermentation parameters in ruminally cannulated non-lactating dairy cows that were adapted or unadapted to a high concentrate diet. Methods: A double 3×3 Latin square design was used with three PAP treatments (control, powdered, and liquid PAP) and two adaptation protocols (adapted, unadapted; applied to the square). Adapted animals were transitioned for 2 weeks from an all-forage to an 80% concentrate diet, while unadapted animals were switched abruptly. Results: Interactions between sampling time and adaptation were observed; 12 h after feeding, the adapted group had lower ruminal pH and greater total short chain fatty acid concentrations than the unadapted group, while the opposite was observed after 24 h. Acetate:propionate ratio, molar proportion of butyrate and ammonia nitrogen concentration were generally greater in adapted than unadapted cattle up to 36 h after feeding. Adaptation promoted 3.5 times the number of Entodinium protozoa but copy numbers of Streptococcus bovis and Fibrobacter succinogens genes in rumen fluid were not affected. However, neither liquid nor powdered forms of PAP altered rumen acidosis variables in adapted or unadapted animals. Conclusion: Adaptation of cattle to highly fermentable carbohydrate diets promoted a more stable ruminal environment, but PAP was not effective in this study in which no animal experienced acute or sub-acute rumen acidosis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1207-1214
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• 2017

Since the industrialization of swine production in the late 1900s, swine farms in the United States, as well as in Europe, have largely become consolidated. Pig farms became larger in size but fewer in number, with 91% of market pigs being produced by large operations with 5,000 or more pigs on-site in the US, and only 3% of the total utilized agricultural land representing organic farming. Such change in the market made it difficult for small farmers to stay competitive, forcing them to find alternative ways to reduce the cost of production and increase profit using the outdoor production system. In contrast to the indoor confinement system, outdoor production system uses pasture-based units and/or deep-bedded hoop structures that promote animal welfare and environmental sustainability with a lower capital investment. In accord with the growing concern for animal and environmental welfare and food safety by the consumers, small farmers practicing an outdoor production system are seeing increased opportunities for marketing their products in the pork niche market. Unlike the general belief that the reproductive and growth performance measures of the outdoor sows and piglets are poorer in comparison with the animals reared indoors, studies showed that there was no significant difference in the performance measures, and some traits were even better in outdoor animals. Improved reproductive and production traits can increase the sustainability of outdoor farming. Present study reviewed the recent studies comparing the performance measures, meat quality and health of indoor and outdoor animals, as well as the efforts to improve the outdoor production system through changes in management such as hut types and breed of animals.