• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.223-229
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• 2007

This study was conducted to evaluate effects of dietary pine cone meal on egg production, egg quality, serum cholesterol and cholesterol content and fatty acid composition of egg yolk in laying hens. The total of 252 (51-wks) Hy-line brown commercial hens were used for 5 weeks. Dietary treatments included 1) T1 (basal diet + 1% cottonwood sawdust), 2) T2 (basal diet + 0.5% cottonwood sawdust + 0.5% pine cone meal) and 3) T3 (basal diet + 1% pine cone meal). During the overall period, there was no significant difference in egg production, egg weight and egg quality among the treatments. Lipids profile(total, HDL, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride) in serum was not affected by treatments. Egg yolk cholesterol was not significantly different among the treatments. In fatty acid contents of yolk, C18:3 was higher in T1 treatment than T3 treatment(P<0.05). Total SFA, PUFA, MUFA and UFA/SFA were not significantly different in experimental period. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of pine cone meal affected C18:3 fatty acid content of yolk in laying hens, without any adverse effect on egg production.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1009-1014
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• 2012

Environmental stress boosts the levels of stress hormones and accelerates energy expenditure which subsequently imbalance the body's homeostasis. L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) has been recognized to mitigate the negative impact of environmental stress on production performances in birds. The present investigation was carried out to elucidate the effect of different dietary levels of L-AA on production performance, egg quality traits and fertility in Japanese quail at low ambient temperature. Sixty matured females (15 wks) were equally divided into three groups (20/group) based on the different dietary levels of L-AA (0, 250 and 500 ppm) and coupled with an equal number of males (1:1) obtained from the same hatch. They were managed in uniform husbandry conditions without restriction of feed and water at 14 h photo-schedule. Except for feed efficiency, body weight change, feed consumption and hen-day egg production were recorded highest in 500 ppm L-AA supplemented groups. Among the all egg quality traits studied, only specific gravity, shell weight and thickness differed significantly (p<0.05) in the present study. Fertility was improved significantly ($p{\leq}0.01$) to a dose dependent manner of L-AA. The findings of the present study concluded that dietary L-AA can be a caring management practice at least in part to alleviate the adverse effect of cold induced stress on production performance in Japanese quail.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.127-137
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• 1997

This study was conducted to estimate the laying performance and heterosis of Korean Native Chicken(KNC), Rhode Island Red(RIR), and KNC x RIR crossbreds A total of 1,274 female pullets were produced from KNC, RIR and RIR crossbreds in National Livestock Research Institute, Korea. The experiment was conducted for 2O~64 weeks from Jan 20. to Nov.25, 1996. The age at first egg of crossbreds were 144.1~148.7 days. The first egg weight of crossbreds was 39. 4~40.3 g, and body weights at first egg of KNC dark brown strain x RlR(DR), KNC light brown strain x RlR(LR) and KNC dark black strain x RlR(BR) were 1,943 g, 1,925 g and 2,044 g, respectively. During the laying period the average viability of crossbreds was 96.6~98.3%. The hen-day egg production of crossbreds were 111.1~113.O eggs at 40 weeks of age, and 223.5~227.5 eggs at 64 weeks of age, respectively. The hen-day egg production peaks were 78.2~80.1% in KNC, and 85.8~87.5% in crossbreds. The heterosis were estimated to be 3.61%, 9.21%, 4.78%, 2.97% and -1.63% for the first egg days, body weights at first egg, layer viability, hen-day egg production, and feed conversion ratio, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.261-267
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• 2012

Different housing systems have considerable influence on performance in poultry production. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to investigate the impact of different housing systems on the performance, bone mineral density and egg yolk fatty acid composition in laying hen. Hy-line brown pullets (n=450) of 12 weeks age were randomly divided into 3 housing systems with 6 replicates of 25 birds in each room. A diet with 2,750 kcal/kg ME and 16.5% CP was assigned to all birds. The pullets provided free access to feed and water. Significantly (P<0.05) higher values for egg production, egg mass and feed conversion efficiency were found in battery cages, however egg weight, egg shell color and breaking strength was remarkably (P<0.05) higher in floor system. The albumin height and Haugh unit were significantly higher (P<0.05) in battery cages which was statistically similar to aviary housing system. The egg yolk fatty acids concentration of linoleic acid and linolenic acids were significantly higher in aviary and in floor system, respectively, however both values were lower in battery cages. Saturated and unsaturated fatty acid content (%) in egg yolk did not influence by any housing systems. Bone mineral density was significantly higher (P<0.05) in floor and aviary housing system than that of battery cage system. It was concluded that in battery cages the egg production and composition maximized, however higher bone mineral density and yolk fatty acids content can be improved in the laying hen reared on floor and aviary housing systems.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1355-1360
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• 2008

Effects of dietary ${\delta}$-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) supplementation on serum iron status, blood characteristics, egg production and quality were examined in laying hens in an 8-week feeding trail. Two hundred and forty (Hy-line brown, 40-week-old) layers were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments with ten replications (six layers in adjacent three cages). Dietary treatments included: 1) CON (basal diet), 2) ALA1 (CON+ALA 5 ppm), 3) ALA2 (CON+ALA 10 ppm) and 4) ALA3 (CON+ALA 15 ppm). All nutrient levels of diets were formulated to meet or exceed NRC (1994) recommendations for laying hens. During the entire experimental period, differences of serum iron concentration and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were significantly increased in ALA1 supplemented treatment (quadratic effect, p<0.05). The difference of total protein between 8 and 0 weeks was significantly higher in ALA2 treatment than CON treatment (quadratic effect, p<0.05). No significant effects were observed on hemoglobin, WBC, RBC, lymphocyte and albumin concentrations. Egg production and egg weight were not influenced by the ALA supplementation. Egg yolk index was also significantly higher in ALA3 treatment than CON treatment at the end of 4 and 8 weeks (linear effect, p<0.05). Haugh unit was increased in ALA3 treatment compared to CON and ALA1 treatments at the end of 8 weeks (linear effect, p<0.05). However, egg shell thickness, breaking strength and yolk color unit were not affected by the ALA supplementation. In conclusion, dietary ALA supplementation at a level of 5 ppm can affect iron concentration in serum while higher levels (10 or 15 ppm) have some beneficial influences on blood profiles and egg quality.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.123-134
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• 2017

This study was conducted to establish new synthetic lines of Korean Native Chicken. We performed $5{\times}5$ diallel crossings with GPS lines of Korean Native Chicken for the selection of parent stock. The production traits including viability, body weight, age at first egg laying, egg weight, hen-day egg production, and hen-housed egg production were measured and analyzed for 25 crosses with 1,157 hens. The heterosis effects of these traits were also estimated. The results showed that the average survival rate during laying periods was 67.7% in the pure lines and 77.1% in the crosses. The 25 cross combinations were shown to be distinctly divided into three groups according to body weight; nine crosses in the high-weight group, 12 crosses in the medium-weight group and four crosses in the light-weight group. The average body weight at 12 weeks of age was $1,873.8{\pm}43.0g$ in the high group, $1,595.4{\pm}56.6g$ in the medium group and $1,152.7{\pm}24.7g$ in the light group, and $1,560.2{\pm}339.3g$ in the pure lines and $1,640.9{\pm}213.7g$ in the crosses. In terms of egg production performance, the age at first egg laying was $139.7{\pm}4.9$ days in the pure lines and $135.8{\pm}5.1$ days in the crosses. The average egg weight was $52.3{\pm}1.6g$ in the pure line and $53.0{\pm}1.6g$ in the crosses. The average hen-housed egg production from 20 to 40 weeks was $58.3{\pm}12.9$ eggs in the pure line and $69.2{\pm}10.4$ eggs in the crosses. The average heterosis effect was 16.9% for survival rate, 5.4% for body weight at 12 weeks, -2.7% for age at first egg laying, 1.3% for egg weight, and 14.3% for hen-day egg production. Generally, the heterosis effect for viability and egg production traits was higher than that for growth trait. On the basis of these results, it is expected that the selection of the HF combination, which had excellent growth performance, is the most desirable as the paternal strain, and the selection of GW and FW combinations, which had excellent laying performance, are preferable as the maternal strain.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1674-1678
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• 2017

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate genetic correlations between the behavioural profile and performance in laying hens as an indirect answer to the question whether the observed behavioural responses are associated with increased levels of stress in these birds. Methods: The assessment of birds' temperament was carried out using the novel objects test. The behavioural test was conducted in two successive generations comprising 9,483 Rhode Island White (RIW) birds (approx. 4,700 individuals per generation) and 4,326 Rhode Island Red (RIR) birds (approx. 2,100 individuals per generation). Based on the recorded responses, the birds were divided into two groups: a fearful profile (1,418 RIW hens and 580 RIR hens) and a brave/curious profile (8,065 RIW hens and 3,746 RIR hens). The birds were subjected to standard assessment of their performance traits, including SM, age at sexual maturity; ST, shell thickness; SG, egg specific gravity; EW, mean egg weight; IP, initial egg production; and HC, number of hatched chicks. The pedigree was three generations deep (including two behaviourrecorded generations). Estimation of the (co)variance components was performed with the Gibbs sampling method, which accounts for the discrete character of the behavioural profile denotation. Results: The analyses revealed negative correlations between the performance traits of the laying hens and the behavioural profile defined as fearful. In the group of fearful RIW birds, delayed sexual maturation (0.22) as well as a decrease in the initial egg production (-0.30), egg weight (-0.54), egg specific gravity (-0.331), shell thickness (-0.11), and the number of hatched chicks (-0.24) could be expected. These correlations were less pronounced in the RIR breed, in which the fearful birds exhibited a decline in hatchability (-0.37), egg specific gravity (-0.11), and the number of hatched chicks (-0.18). There were no correlations in the case of the other traits or they were positive but exhibited a substantial standard error, as for the egg weight. Conclusion: To sum up the results obtained, it can be noted that behavioural responses indicating fearfulness, i.e. escape, avoidance, and approach-avoidance may reflect negative emotions experienced by birds. The negative correlations with performance in the group of fearful hens may indirectly indicate a high level of stress in these birds, especially in the white-feathered birds, where stronger performance-fearfulness correlations were found. Fearful birds should be eliminated from breeding by inclusion of the behavioural profile in the selection criterion in the case of laying hens.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.13-17
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• 2012

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the dietary effect of chlorella vulgaris on egg production and lutein incorporation into chicken eggs. In Exp. 1, a total of three hundred, 70 wk-old Hy-Line brown layers were divided into six groups with five replicates and fed each experimental diet (corn-SBM based control diet and diets with 0.1, 0.3 or 0.5% chlorella powder and with 0.8 or 2.4% chlorella cultured media) for 6 wk, respectively. The egg production in the groups fed diets containing the chlorella powder and chlorella cultured media were higher than that of the control group (p<0.001). As dietary chlorella levels increased, the yolk color linearly increased. However, there were no significant differences in egg-shell qualities. The layers fed diet with 2.4% chlorella cultured media showed the highest Haugh unit value. In Exp. 2, a total of one hundred-eight 80 wk-old Hy-Line brown layers were assigned into four groups with three replicates per group (9 birds per replicate). The birds were fed one of four experimental diets (0, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0% chlorella powder) for 4 wk, followed by a 14 d feeding of a withdrawal diet devoid of chlorella powder. At 2 wk, the lutein greatly increased with increasing levels of chlorella powder in birds fed diets containing more than 1%. The maximum incorporation of lutein into eggs was reached after 2 or 3 wk of feeding diets with chlorella powder. After a 7 d withdrawal, the lutein contents of egg yolks in the groups fed diets with more than 1% chlorella powder were still higher than that of control group (p<0.05). No significant differences in the lutein levels were found among groups after a 14 d withdrawal period. These results indicated that the use of chlorella in layer diets was effective in improving egg production and egg quality and for the production of lutein fortified eggs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.538-543
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• 2015

This experiment was conducted to measure the effects of olive leaf powder on performance, egg yield, egg quality and yolk cholesterol level of laying hens. A total of 120 Lohmann Brown laying hens of 22 weeks old were used in this experiment. The birds were fed on standard layer diets containing 0, 1%, 2%, or 3% olive leaf powder for 8 weeks. Egg weight and yield were recorded daily; feed intake weekly; egg quality and cholesterol content at the end of the trial. Olive leaf powder had no effect on feed intake, egg weight, egg yield and feed conversion ratio (p>0.05) while olive leaf powder increased final body weight of hens (p<0.05). Dietary olive leaf powder increased yellowness in yolk color (p<0.01) without affecting other quality parameters. Yolk cholesterol content was tended to decrease about 10% (p>0.05). To conclude, olive leaf powder can be used for reducing egg yolk cholesterol content and egg yolk coloring agent in layer diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2002

Eggs obtained from 46 and 42 weeks old meat (Hybro) and layer (Leghorn) breeders flocks, respectively were used to examine the effects of genetic type of birds and egg size (small, medium and large) on variables of eggshell characteristics and hatchability traits. The variables measured were egg weight (EW), egg surface area (ESA) and eggshell characteristics (shell conductance (EC), per cent shell (PS), shell thickness (ST), shell volume (SV), shell density (SD) and hatchability traits (per cent hatchability (HP), early dead embryos (ED), late dead embryos (LD), pips with live embryos (PL) and pips with dead embryos (PD)). Genetic type of bird influenced all egg characteristics and HP of eggs. Eggs produced by the small Leghorn bird had lower EW, ESA, EC, ST, SV and HP than those produced by the heavy Hybro bird. The reduction of HP was associated with an increase in the percentage of ED and PL. Egg size influenced all variables measured except ST. Small size eggs had lower EW, ESA and EC and higher PS and SD than those of large eggs. Medium size eggs produced a higher HP when compared with that of large size eggs. The reduction of HP in large eggs was associated with higher percentage of ED, LD and PL. There were significant interactions between the genetic group of birds and egg size on LD and HP. Large egg size of Hybro birds had higher LD and lower HP than those of small size eggs produced by the same flock. However, There was no difference in HP and LD among the different egg sizes produced by Leghorn birds. It was concluded that genetic make up of birds and egg size influence eggshell characteristics and HP. The type of bird (heavy or small) influences the optimum egg size for successful hatching. Attention should be given to the size and eggshell characteristics of eggs of breeders' flocks for achieving maximum HP.