• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제25권10호
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• pp.1445-1450
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• 2012

A study was conducted to evaluate effects of alfalfa meal on growth performance and gastrointestinal tract development of growing layer ducks to provide evidence for application of alfalfa meal in the duck industry. Two hundred and fifty-six healthy Shaoxing 7-wk old growing layer ducks were selected and randomly allocated to 1 of 4 dietary treatments based on corn and soybean meal and containing 0, 3, 6, and 9% of alfalfa meal for 8 wks. Each treatment consisted of 4 replicates of 16 ducks each. Briefly, birds were raised in separate compartments, and each compartment consisted of three parts: indoor floor house, adjacent open area and a connecting water area. The results showed: i) Growing ducks fed alfalfa meal diet were not significantly different in average daily gain, feed intake and gain-to-feed ratio from those fed no alfalfa diet (p>0.05). ii) Alfalfa meal increased the ratio crop, gizzard to live weight, caecum to live weight, the caecum index of growing ducks (p<0.05). iii) Villus height in duodenum and jejunum of growing ducks increased significantly with the increase of alfalfa meal levels (p<0.05). Crypt depth in duodenum and jejunum of growing ducks decreased significantly with the increase of alfalfa meal levels (p<0.05). This experiment showed that feeding of alfalfa meal to growing layer ducks could improve gastrointestinal tract growth and small intestinal morphology without effect on performance. This experiment provides evidence that alfalfa meal is a very valuable feedstuff for growing layer ducks.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제57권3호
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• pp.7.1-7.7
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• 2015

To meet the increasing demands of specific pathogen free (SPF) minipigs in biomedical researches, 8 pregnant Chinese Wuzhishan minipigs (WZSP) sows with clear background were chosen to obtain SPF WZSP by hysterectomy. At $111{\pm}days2$ of the pregnancy, piglets were aseptically taken out from the sows and artificially suckled for 40 to 45 days in the positive isolators. Then, the piglets defined as F0 were transferred to barrier environment and fed with standard feeds. The original SPF colony was formed for breeding by selected piglets from F0 group of 6-8 months old. Biological characteristics of SPF WZSP were collected and further compared to those of conventional (CV) WZSP, including growth performance, reproductive performance, hematology and blood biochemistry, and major pathogens detection. As a result, 61 F0 piglets were obtained from 8 candidate sows, and 55 out of them survived. After strictly selection, 35 F0 piglets were used to form the original SPF colony, which produced 14 litters of SPF piglets defined as F1. Piglet survival rates, growth performance, and reproductive performance of SPF WZSP were similar to CV WZSP. Some hematology and blood biochemistry parameters showed significant differences between SPF and CV WZSP. Eighteen kinds of pathogens were identified to be free in F0 and F1 SPF colony by repeated pathogen detections. In conclusion, we established a satisfied SPF WZSP colony maintaining original characteristics, free of controlled diseases, and being proved to be a suitable laboratory animal.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.143-150
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• 1991

The data on reproductive performance of 1065 purebred Landrace, 1254 purebred Yorkshire. 553 purebred Duroc and 327 purebred Pietrain sows bred to farrow purebred litters and data from 3413 Landrace $\times$ Yorkshire, 487 Duroc $\times$ Pietrain and 3191 commericial litters were udsed in this study. The data were collected form litters farrowed form January 1986 to December 1988 in Holiday Hills Stock and Breeding Farms, San Prero, Laguna. The crossbred sows and litters were better in most traits associated with sow productivity than their contemporary purebred sows and litters. The Duroc $\times$ Pietrain crossbred litters showed 16.67% improvement in litter size at weaning, 10.11% improvement in survival rate form birth to weaning and 16.21% more pigs per sow pre year than the averages of their parental breeds. The litters from the Landrace $\times$ Yorkshire crossbred sows sired by either Duroc or Duroc $\times$ Pietrain boars had 11.01% bigger litter size at birth, 20.74% increase in litter size at weaning and 22.86% more pigs weaned per sow per year than the averages of the four parental breeds. Very little improvement in most traits evaluated were observed form the Landrace $\times$ Yorkshire crossbred litters compared with their parental breeds. Year of birth of litter had litter influence on sow productivity. However, the reproductivity performance declined when sows farrowed in June up to September. The best Months of farrowing were found to be from January to April. The breed $\times$ year, breed $\times$ month and year $\times$ month had no significant effects on all traits evaluated.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.19-25
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• 2006

The effect of vitamin E supplementation on plasma ${\alpha}$-tocopherol level, total antioxidant level and reproductive performance in Murrah buffaloes was studied during periparturient period. Twenty-four advance pregnant buffaloes were randomly divided into four equal groups as $T_1$, $T_2$, $T_3$ and $T_4$ and were supplemented with 0, 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 IU of ${\alpha}$-tocopheryl acetate (Merck) from 60 days prepartum to 30 days postpartum and 0, 500, 750 and 1,000 IU from 30 to 60 days postpartum, respectively. Blood samples were collected at -60, -45, -30, -15, -7, 0, 7, 15, 30 and 60 days of parturition and were analyzed for plasma ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and total antioxidant activity (TAA). The intake of DM, CP and TDN did not vary among different groups. Plasma ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and TAA around parturition (-7 to 15 day) in $T_3$ and $T_4$ were significantly higher than the control group. There was 17% reduction in retention of fetal membranes (RFM) and metritis in $T_4$ than control. The post partum estrus interval averaged 58.00, 55.33, 51.83 and 43.00 days in $T_1$, $T_2$, $T_3$ and $T_4$ respectively. There was significant reduction in days open in both $T_3$ and $T_4$ in comparison to $T_1$ group (127,130 Vs.146). All the vitamin E supplemented groups showed reduction in days open than their previous lactation performance. Supplementation of vitamin E at $1,500IU\;d^{-1}$ from 60 day prepartum to 30 day post partum to buffaloes exhibited beneficial effect on plasma ${\alpha}$-tocopherol level and TAA around parturition and continuation of its supplementation at $1,000IU\;d^{-1}$ from 30 to 60 days of lactation improved post partum reproductive performance of buffaloes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제22권7호
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• pp.1060-1068
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• 2009

The buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is an important contributor to milk, meat, power, fuel and leather production in many developing countries. Buffaloes can be categorized into Asian and Mediterranean buffaloes. Asian buffalo includes two subspecies known as Riverine and Swamp types. Riverine (water buffalo) and Swamp buffaloes possess different genetics (50 vs. 48 chromosomes, respectively), morphology (body frame, body weight, horn shape and skin color) and behavior (wallowing in mud or water) and thus, are reared and used for different purposes. Low per head milk yield, poor reproductive performance (seasonal breeding behavior, anestrous, and longer calving interval) and low growth rate in buffaloes have been attributed to insufficient supply of nutrients. In many parts of Asia, where the buffalo is an integral part of the food chain and rural economy, irregular and inadequate availability of quality feedstuffs and their utilization are hampering the performance of this unique animal. Balanced nutrition and better management can enhance buffalo productivity. Many efforts have been made in the last few decades to improve nutrient supply and utilization in buffaloes. Recent research on locally available feed resources such as crop residues, and industrial by-products, dietary addition of micronutrients, use of performance modifiers and use of ruminally protected fat and protein sources have shown significant potential to improve growth, milk yield and reproductive performance of buffaloes. However, a number of issues, including establishment of nutrient requirements for dairy and beef, development of buffalo calf feeding systems, nutritional management of metabolic and reproductive anomalies, and understanding and exploitation of the buffalo gut ecosystem, need to be addressed. Extensive coordinated research and extension efforts are required for improved buffalo nutrition in developing countries.

• 한국양봉학회지
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.251-260
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• 2018

Instrumental insemination of honey bee is an attractive alternative to natural mating in breeding program as it allows mating crosses between desirable queen and specific drone. However, nursery condition that the queen is kept before and after insemination is major factor affected to the performance of instrumentally inseminated queen. In this study, we evaluated the influences of three different nursery-conditions of push-in cages, mini nuclei and normal colonies on number of spermatozoa stored in the spermatheca, body weight, onset of ovipositon and performance of instrumentally inseminated Apis cerana queen. Our results demonstrated that instrumentally inseminated queens kept in mini nuclei and in normal hives showed no significant difference in queen's weight (159.8 and 166.2mg, respectively), number of spermatozoa in spermatheca ($2.02{\times}10^6$ and $2.76{\times}10^6$, respectively), proportion of queen supersedure (33.3 and 66.7% queen survival at 11 months after oviposition, respectively) and brood production, compared to naturally mated queens. In contrast, instrumentally inseminated queens kept in push-in cages showed significant difference of those above data in comparison to queens mated naturally. Our results suggested that instrumentally inseminated queens could be kept in mini nuclei containing about 1.000 attendant bees to have desirable performance of queen whereas the push-in method should be practiced for the purpose of using queen in the length of time less than 7 months.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.98-107
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• 2023

Objective: Current quail production is configured as an economic activity in scale. Advancements in quail nutrition have been limited to areas such as breeding and, automation of facilities and ambience. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance responses, liver and oviduct morphometry, and liver histology of Japanese laying quails subjected to different levels of nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (MEn). Methods: A completely random design was used that consisted of nine levels of MEn, six replicates, and five hens per cage with a total of 270 quails. The experimental period lasted for 10 weeks. The variables of performance were subjected to analysis of variance and then regression analysis using the broken-line model. The morphometric and histological variables were subjected to multivariate exploratory techniques. Results: The MEn levels influenced the responses to zootechnical performance. The broken-line model estimated the maximum responses for feed intake, egg production, egg weight, and egg mass as 3,040, 2,820, 1,802, and 2,960 kcal of MEn per kg of diet, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that the occurrence of hepatic steatosis and increased levels of Kupffer cells were not related to MEn levels. Conclusion: The level of 2,960 kcal/kg of MEn meets performance variable requirements without compromising hepatic physiology.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• 제44권4호
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• pp.365-372
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• 2022

The present study measured the growth performance of juvenile hybrid of red-spotted grouper ♀ × giant grouper ♂ (RGGG) across four water temperatures (19, 23, 27, and 31℃) and compared it to those of maternal purebreds (red-spotted grouper ♀ × ♂, RG) for eight weeks. The specific growth rate (SGR) and weight gain (WG) of RGGG increased as temperature increased, with greater SGR and WG at higher temperatures (27 and 31℃) than RG. The condition factor of RGGG was higher than that of RG and there were no differences between temperature groups within breeding lines. Food consumption increased at higher temperatures for both RGGG and RG, and was the highest in the 31℃ group. Similar to the SGR and WG, the food conversion rate (FCR) in RGGG decreased with increasing water temperature, with the significantly lowest value at 31℃; in RG, however, FCR progressively decreased in the 27℃ group, then increased in the 31℃ group. Furthermore, the FCR of the 31℃ group of RGGG, which had the lowest value among the RGGG groups, was lower than that of the 27℃ group of RG, which had the lowest RG value. In the analysis of nonlinear regression curves within the range of experimental temperature, the optimum temperature for SGR and FCR in RGGG was 31℃, unlike in RG. In conclusion, the growth performance of juvenile RGGG seems to have largely improved from the influence of paternal traits, hybrid with giant grouper, and it is presumed to be more profitable for commercial production in tropics/subtropics.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.161-172
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• 2024

For sustainable development, better performance, and less gas pollution during rumen fermentation, there is a need to find a green and safe feed additive for ruminants. Cysteamine (CS) is a biological compound naturally produced in mammalian cells. It is widely used as a growth promoter in ruminants because of its ability to control hormone secretions. It mainly controls the circulating concentration of somatostatin and enhances growth hormone production, leading to improved growth performance. CS modulates the rumen fermentation process in a way beneficial for the animals and environment, leading to less methane production and nutrients loss. Another beneficial effect of using CS is that it improves the availability of nutrients to the animals and enhances their absorption. CS also works as an antioxidant and protects the cells from oxidative damage. In addition, CS has no adverse effects on bacterial and fungal alpha diversity in ruminants. Dietary supplementation of CS enhances the population of beneficial microorganisms. Still, no data is available on the use of CS on reproductive performance in ruminants, so there is a need to evaluate the effects of using CS in breeding animals for an extended period. In this review, the action mode of CS was updated according to recently published data to highlight the beneficial effects of using CS in ruminants.

• 한국환경농학회지
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.66-70
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• 2005

The experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of gamma radiation on the early growth performance and physiological traits of BT2 clone tea, the most promising cultivar released by Bangladesh Tea Research Institute. The fresh shoot cuttings were irradiated with seven different levels of gamma radiation such as 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 Gy from Cobalt 60Co source (Dept. of PlantBreeding, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture). Thereafter, the irradiated shoot cuttings were planted in polythene bags and kept under natural conditions. It was observed that callusing was initiated from 8th weeks after placement of tea shoot cuttings in the polythene bags and completed by 12th weeks. The morphological growth of tea shoot cuttings were recorded under varying levels of gamma radiation and growth stages. It was observed that the number of leaves, number of primary branches, base diameter, root length and total leaf area per plant significantly increased with the progress of time and increasing levels of gamma radiation, however, the plant height showed decreasing trend with the increasing levels of gamma radiation, which could be due to the change in chromosomal structure and genetic makeup. After 56 weeks of planting, the plant height, the number of leaves and primary branches per plant, base diameter, root length and total leaf area per plant recorded were 65.70 cm, 30.67, 7.33, 1.48 cm, 23.50 cm, and 1250.67 cm2 per plant respectively under the radiation level 60 Gy, whereas the corresponding figures of the above parameters at the control treatment were 76.21 cm, 18.33, 3.67, 0.92 cm, 17.75 cm and 778.33 cm2 per plant, respectively. A significant relationship was observed among the physiological growth parameters with the increasing levels of gamma radiation. The total dry matter gain, leaf area index, absolute growth rate and relative growth rate were significantly influenced with the rising levels of gamma radiation (up to 60 Gy), whereas the net assimilation rate of individual tea plant non-significantly responded as compared to those of control treatment. Finally after 56 weeks of planting, the maximum total dry weight gain, leaf area index, absolute growth rate, relative growth rate and net assimilation rate recorded under 60 Gay radiation level were 40.25 g/plant/week, 4.25, 1.18 g/week, 0.0621g/g/week and 17.07 g/m2/week respectively.