• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.883-893
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• 2021

Clostridium difficile present in feces of food animals may contaminate their meats and act as a potential source of C. difficile infection (CDI) to humans. C. difficile resistance to antibiotics, its production of toxins and spores play major roles in the pathogenesis of CDI. This is the first study to evaluate C. difficile prevalence in retail raw animal meats, its antibiotics susceptibilities and toxigenic activities in Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia. Totally, 240 meat samples were tested. C. difficile was identified by standard microbiological and biochemical methods. Vitek-2 compact system confirmed C. difficile isolates were 15/240 (6.3%). Toxins A/B were not detected by Xpect C. difficile toxin A/B tests. Although all isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and metronidazole, variable degrees of reduced susceptibilities to moxifloxacin, clindamycin or tetracycline antibiotics were detected by Epsilon tests. C. difficile strains with reduced susceptibility to antibiotics should be investigated. Variability between the worldwide reported C. difficile contamination levels could be due to absence of a gold standard procedure for its isolation. Establishment of a unified testing algorithm for C. difficile detection in food products is definitely essential to evaluate the inter-regional variation in its prevalence on national and international levels. Proper use of antimicrobials during animal husbandry is crucial to control the selective drug pressure on C. difficile strains associated with food animals. Investigating the protective or pathogenic potential of non-toxigenic C. difficile strains and the possibility of gene transfer from certain toxigenic/ antibiotics-resistant to non-toxigenic/antibiotics-sensitive strains, respectively, should be worthy of attention.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.293-305
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• 2017

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of leachate replacement frequency on solid state anaerobic digestion (SSAD) of dairy manure using 22 L volume lab-scale digesters at mesophilic temperature ($37^{\circ}C$) in batch mode. Three different leachate replacement strategies (no replacement, once every three days, and once every nine days) were applied and three digesters per each treatment were operated for 45 days. Results showed that leachate replacement test unit every nine days resulted in 1.6 times more methane production ($53.8N{\cdot}mL\;g^{-1}{\cdot}VS$) from SSAD compared to test unit every three days ($34.0N{\cdot}mL\;g^{-1}{\cdot}VS$). No leachate replacement strategy applied group showed slightly higher methane production ($56.3N{\cdot}mL\;g^{-1}{\cdot}VS$) than every nine days replaced one. When added the methane production potential of replaced leachate itself to the methane produced from digester, leachate replacement every nine days resulted in quite similar methane production ($56.5N{\cdot}mL\;g^{-1}{\cdot}VS$) to no leachate replacement group. Even though methane production potential of replaced leachate itself added to the methane produced from digester, every three days replacement showed only $34N{\cdot}mL$ methane production per gram of volatile solids. These results suggest that farmers do not need to replace leachate during SSAD of dairy manure and sawdust mixture in order to maximize methane production. If there are any concerns with accumulation of inhibiting substances in the digester, the 9-day cycle leachate replacement is appropriate.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.571-582
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• 1994

Three livestock/crop demonstration-cum-training farms have been established on plots of half, one and two acres, typical of the "Kandyan Forest Garden System" Vegetables, bananas, pepper, coffee, coconut and fruit trees are widely spaced, for intercropping with grass, and have been surrounded with live fences that also provide fodder for livestock to increase the family income. Each unit is operated by a selected employee and his family under a monthly incentive scheme based upon the gross margin. On these farms the technical parameters in dairying are better than elsewhere in the Mid-Country. Economic performance over 1985-1992 showed that dairying contributed most to the total gross margin of the half, one and two acre units, i.e. 31, 63 and 69%, respectively. Next came crops (29%, 37% and 19%), poultry (22%, 0% and 9%), and goats (18%, 0% and 3%). In the three farms the cash income per Sri Lankan Rupee spent was 1.5, 4.6 and 2.1, respectively. The overall ratio was 3.2 for dairying, 1.1 for poultry, 4.5 for goats and 9.9 for crops. Actual family labour in the three farms was 548, 548 and 639 days, compared to the 270, 330 and 440 days anticipated in the initial feasibility study. The average incentive payments, which were 20% (half acre), 61% (one acre) and 133% (two acres) of the parastatal salary of the employee, were only insufficient for the extra labour applied in the half acre unit. Dairying and goats proved to be attractive cash earners with a domestic fuel were important benefits. Poultry did little to improve farm income.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1535-1540
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• 2004

Six dry Holstein cows were used to evaluate the effect of dietary neutral detergent fiber (NDF) concentration and particle size (PS) on chewing activity. Treatments were arranged in a 3$\times$3 factorial design; total mixed rations contained three NDF concentrations (26, 32, 38%) and three PS (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 cm). NDF levels and particle sizes of diets were adjusted by formulating rate and cutting length of alfalfa hay and rice straw. Cows were fed twice daily at 90% of ad libitum feed intake throughout the experiment. Chewing activity was positively associated with NDF concentration, but not significantly affected by PS of diet. Eating time per unit of NDF intake was affected by PS rather than NDF concentration of diet. Time spent ruminating per unit DM or NDF intake increased with increasing NDF concentration of diet, but was not affected by PS. As the PS of diet increased, the eating time per day increased, but the rumination time decreased. In addition, as the number of rumination bolues decreased the rumination duration increased as well as the chews per bolus. The regression equation induced from relationships of NDF concentrations (NDF, %) and particle sizes (PS, cm) of diet on roughage value index (RVI, min of chewing time/kg DMI) was as follows. RVI=-19.672+1.44$\times$NDF+5.196$\times$PS, ($R^{2}$=0.81).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1611-1616
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• 2012

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of sodium nitrate consumption on egg quality and quantity, and some blood parameters of native breeder hens of West Azerbaijan province. One hundred native hens were used from wk 25 to 32 of age. These birds were divided into two groups. One group was fed the control diet (CD) but the other fed the same diet supplemented with 4.2 g/kg sodium nitrate (ND). After 2 wks of adaptation, eggs were collected daily and egg mass and egg production were measured weekly for five weeks. To assess the egg quality parameters, two eggs from each replicate pen were collected for three consecutive days each week. At the end of experimental period (wk 32 of age), blood samples of 5 birds per replicate were collected from the wing vein into anticoagulant tubes. Dietary sodium nitrate didn't affect the egg production, shell stiffness, shell thickness and Haugh unit (p>0.05) but it decreased the both egg production and egg mass during the last three weeks (wks 30, 31 and 32) (p<0.05). Furthermore, a treatment effect was observed for yolk colour (p<0.05). Both the egg production and egg mass were increased over time (p<0.05). No significant treatment${\times}$time interaction was observed for egg weight, egg production and egg mass (p>0.05). No effect of time or treatment${\times}$time were observed for shell stiffness (p>0.05). Over time, shell thickness was decreased while Haugh unit increased (p<0.05). None of the blood TP and TG or the activity of ALT, AST and LDH enzymes were affected by dietary consumption of sodium nitrate at wk 32 of age (p>0.05). Sodium nitrite decreased both the TAC and TC at wk 32 of age (p<0.001). It was concluded that the lower body antioxidant capacity of nitrate fed birds resulted in the lower performance (egg weight, egg production and egg mass).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.1013-1020
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• 2017

Objective: Stripe marks, which occasionally occur on the shell, do not cause breakage to the shell and shell membranes of eggs. This study investigated the quality of intact eggs (IEs), minor stripe-marked eggs (MEs), severe stripe-marked eggs (SEs), and cracked eggs (CEs) during 3-week storage at $25^{\circ}C$. Methods: Shell eggs were collected the day after being laid and were washed. Among them, eggs without any visual cracks or stripe marks on the shells were evaluated as IEs by the plant employees using candling in a darkened egg storage room; the remaining eggs exhibited some eggshell defects. At day 3, the eggs were further categorized into IEs, MEs, SEs, CEs, and broken eggs (BEs) on the basis of the description given. Except BEs, which were discarded, the remaining eggs were stored at $25^{\circ}C$ (approximate relative humidity 50%) and then analyzed. Results: Stripe marks were observed primarily within the first 3 days after washing. At day 3, CEs had significantly (p<0.05) lower Haugh unit values, but all eggs had grades AA or A, according to the United States Department of Agriculture standard. As storage time increased, differences in egg quality between groups were more obvious. IEs had the highest eggshell breaking strength. During storage, the total plate counts and pathogens, namely Escherichia coli, Campylobacter spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella spp., were not detectable in the internal content of IEs and SEs. Conclusion: In conclusion, cracks degraded egg quality severely and minor stripe marks only slightly influenced the egg quality.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2006

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of forced molting and egg storage time on the various egg qualities. A total of 240 ISA Brown layers (60 wk of age) were employed as the unmolted treatment (Control). Two hundred and forty ISA Brown layers, molted at the age of 55 wk, were used as a forced molting treatment (T1), and the same number and strain of layers, molted at the age of 70 wk, were also used as the another forced molting treatment (T2). A total of 120 eggs were sampled from each treatment, and divided into six sets, 20 eggs per set. These six sets were stored for 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 days at $18^{\circ}C$ temperature, respectively. Eggs from T1 were collected from laying hens at the age of 68 wk, which started molting at 60 wk of age and achieved 50% egg production at 63 wk of age. Eggs from T2 were collected from hens at 82 wk of age, which started molting at 70 wk of age and achieved 50% egg production at 78 wk of age. The eggshell strength of T1 was significantly (p<0.05) higher than the Control and T2, and the storing periods did not affect the eggshell strength at all. Neither the forced molting nor the storing periods did not exert any consistent effect on the egg weight, eggshell thickness, eggshell color and egg yolk color. The albumin heights of T1 and T2 were significantly (p<0.05) lower than the Control, and it was remarkably reduced gradually as the storage periods increased in all three treatments. The Haugh unit showed very similar trends as the albumin height, indicating that both albumin height and Haugh unit were very much related to each other. In conclusion, the forced molting improves the eggshell strength, but decreases the albumin height and Haugh unit. The storage of eggs also decreases the albumin height and Haugh unit regardless of molting.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.354-363
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• 2012

The study was conducted to determine bio-markers and establish shelf-life for eggs and egg products. The selected biomarkers were measured storage period according to samples (two months for table eggs and two weeks for whole liquid eggs) and five storage temperatures ($10^{\circ}C$, $15^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$, $35^{\circ}C$ and $45^{\circ}C$). The bio-markers for table eggs determined pH, acid value, VBN (volatile basic nitrogen), HU (Haugh unit), aerobic plate counts, coliform group, and Salmonella sp. The bio-markers for whole liquid eggs excluded HU in the bio-markers of eggs. The shelf-life of table eggs observed as 42 d at $10^{\circ}C$, 27 d at $15^{\circ}C$, 9 d at $25^{\circ}C$, 2 d at $35^{\circ}C$, and 1 d at $45^{\circ}C$ in sensory overall acceptability. The shelf-life of pasteurized whole liquid eggs observed as 7 d at $10^{\circ}C$, 3 d at $15^{\circ}C$, 2 d at $25^{\circ}C$, 1 d at $35^{\circ}C$, and less than one d at $45^{\circ}C$ in total plate count. The shelf-life of non- pasteurized whole liquid eggs observed as 4 d at $10^{\circ}C$, 2 d at $15^{\circ}C$, 1 d at $25^{\circ}C$, and less than 1 d at $35^{\circ}C$ and $45^{\circ}C$ in total plate count.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.361-368
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• 2013

This experiment was conducted to determine optimum levels of dietary crude protein for productivity and egg quality in laying hens during early stage. A total of seven hundred and twenty 24-wk-old Hy-Line Variety Brown layers were randomly assigned to 4 experimental diets varying with 16%, 17%, 18%, and 19% CP and fed the diets for 12 wks. There were no significant differences in egg production, daily egg mass and feed intake among experimental diets. Although no difference was found on egg weight among experimental diets, decreasing levels of dietary crude protein tended to reduce the egg weight. Haugh unit and egg shell quality were not affected by different levels of dietary crude protein. Although there was no difference on yolk color among experimental diets, increasing levels of dietary crude protein slightly reduced the yolk color. It is concluded that laying hens did not need more than 16% CP to maximize egg production.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2007

The effects of microbial phytase on laying performance, egg quality, and ileal digestibility of nutrients and amino acids were examined at three levels of phytase (0, 300, 600 unit/kg) in 55-wk-old White Leghorn for 4 weeks. Egg productivity tended to increase with supplemental phytase compared to that of control. Daily feed intake of hens fed phytase also increased. Egg shell thickness was not significantly different among the treatments. Haugh unit and yolk color were not statistically different. However, egg shell breaking strength was high at phytase treatment. Excretion and absorption of nitrogen were no difference among all treatments, but those of phosphorus was higher in the phytase treatment than control. The digestibility was high at crude fiber, crude ash, calcium and phosphorus in nutrients, at lysine, methionine and phenylalanine in essential amino acids, and alanine, cystine, glutamic acid, glycine and tyrosine in non-essential amino acids. In conclusion, supplemental microbial phytase in laying hens diet may help to improve egg production and to decrease P of feces. But, further studies were needed to investigate on the digestibility.