• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1394-1398
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• 2006

The complete mtDNA D-loop regions of Japanese and Korean cattle were analyzed for their mtDNA variations and genetic relationships. Sequencing the 30 Higo substrain and 30 Tosa substrain of Japanese Brown, respectively 12 and 17 distinct Bos haplotypes were identified from 77 polymorphic nucleotide sites. In order to focus on the relationships among Japanese and Korean cattle, two types of phylogenetic tree were constructed using individual sequences; first, a neighbor-joining tree with all sequences and second, reduced median networks within each Japanese and Korean cattle group. The trees revealed that two major mtDNA haplotype groups, T3 and T4, were represented in Japanese and Korean cattle. The T4 haplogroup predominated in Japanese Black and Japanese Brown cattle (frequency of 43.3-66.7%), while the T3 haplogroup was predominant (83.3%) and T4 was represented only twice in the Korean cattle. The results suggested that the mitochondrial origins of Japanese Brown were Japanese ancient cattle as well as Japanese Black in despite of the considerable introgression of Korean and European cattle into Japanese Brown.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.748-754
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• 2018

Objective: The preference evaluation of cattle is an important factor for estimation and improvement of the grazing amounts of newly introduced or bred grasses or cultivars in barn. This study was performed to assess the grazing behavior (the amount of grazing and/or the grazing speed) of cattle as indirect method using newly bred Brachiaria ruziziensis tetraploid strain 'OKI-1'(BR) hay as treatment group and Cloris gayana 'Callide' (CG) hay as control group. It also compared the feasibility of using behavioral differences between two groups as one criteria for evaluating preference by Japanese black cattle in barn. Methods: Three experiments were carried out using 12 growing Japanese Black cattle including 6 males and 6 females. In each experiment, the four Japanese Black cattle (2 males and 2 females) were placed in separated stall and allowed to graze BR and CG in manger that was separated into two portions for about 30 min. The position and behavior of the cattle were recorded, and weighed the residual of each gay at 15 and 30 minutes after experiment start. Results: The BR was superior to CG in chemical composition such as protein, fibers and non-fibrous carbohydrate. The cattle, over all, tended to prefer BR over CG in the first half 15 minutes in terms of the time spent and amount of grazing. Additionally, growing cattle exhibited neophilia for BR bred newly. Conclusion: These findings indicated the current approach could be applied for one of criteria to evaluate the preference of hay by Japanese black cattle under indoor housing environment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.843-845
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• 1999

To evaluate direct and maternal effects on calf market weight (CMW) and carcass weight (CW) in Japanese Black cattle under an animal model, genetic parameters were estimated using 51,320 records of CMW and 11,944 records of CW, respectively. Direct and maternal heritabilities, and direct-maternal genetic correlation were estimated to be 0.22, 0.06 and 0.27 for CMW, and 0.23, 0.12 and -0.40 for CW, respectively. Correlation coefficient between maternal breeding values for CMW and CW was 0.521 for 157 sires appeared in both CMW and CW data sets. These results suggest that the maternal genetic effect on pre-weaning growth carries over to carcass weight. Maternal breeding values for both calf market weight and carcass weight could be used as the indicator traits of maternal ability in Japanese Black cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.635-638
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• 2003

Japanese Black cattle (Wagyu) are fed for a long period to produce high quality beef, however, extended feeding often causes inefficiency and greater environmental load mainly derived from their manure. The objectives of this study were to analyze changes in feeding length by listing breeding values (BVs) at calf markets and the relationships between BVs and carcass characteristics of 4,052 Japanese Black cattle, and to examine the feasibility of optimizing feeding length by referring to listed BVs. BV classes A, B, and C were defined based on BVs of cows in Shimane Prefecture as follows: an upper quarter of BVs was classified as A, a second quarter as B, and under the average as C. For cattle sold at calf markets in the first term of 1996, just before the start of BV listing, the feeding length of cattle with class B BVs for the beef marbling standard (BMS) was longer (p>0.05) than that of class A cattle. However, in the second term of 1996, just after the start of BV listing, the feeding length of class B cattle became shorter (p<0.001) than that of class A cattle. Then, the feeding lengths of both classes showed no significant differences. Feeding lengths of both class A and B BVs for carcass weight (CW) changed similarly to the corresponding BV classes for BMS. The analysis of the relationships among the listed BV classes and the actual carcass characteristics showed that class A cattle had a higher (p<0.001) BMS than class B cattle, and that the higher-class cattle had a heavier CW (p<0.05). On the basis of previous reports, the cattle, particularly those with lower genetic marbling ability, seem to only increase marbling at markedly low efficiency for a few months before slaughter. Therefore, the finding that carcass characteristics corresponded to their class of BVs suggests that an optimum feeding length based on listed BVs not only increases the efficiency of beef production, but also reduces the environmental load.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.187-194
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• 1995

Genetic variants of ${\alpha}s_1$-casein, ${\beta}$-casein, ${\kappa}$-casein and ${\beta}$-lactoglobulin were investigated by starch urea gel electrophoresis in milk samples of 280 Korean native cattle. A new ${\beta}$-casein variant, designated ${\beta}$-casein $A^4$, was found in milk samples of Korean native cattle. It has a much slower electrophoretic mobility than the ${\beta}$-casein $A^3$ variant in acid gel. This new variant appeared together with either ${\beta}$-casein $A^1$, $A^2$ or B variant. Gene frequencies and genotypic frequencies were estimated. Gene frequencies of four milk protein loci in Korean native cattle were compared with those of imported cattle breeds raised in Korea and Japanese brown cattle. Gene frequencies were ${\alpha}s_1$-casein B .846, ${\alpha}s_1$-casein C .154; ${\beta}$-casein $A^1$ .216, ${\beta}$-casein $A^2$ .666, ${\beta}$-casein $A^4$ .048, ${\beta}$-casein B .070; ${\kappa}$-casein A .648, ${\kappa}$-casein B .352; ${\beta}$-lactoglobulin A .148, ${\beta}$-lactoglobulin B .852. The population was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium at all milk protein loci. Gene frequencies of Korean native cattle were very similar to those of Japanese brown cattle. Interestingly, a new variant, ${\beta}$-casein $A^4$, was found only in Korean native cattle and Japanese brown cattle. These results support the hypothesis that Korean native cattle were used in the development of the Japanese brown cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.868-872
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• 2005

Individual management of the animal is the first step towards reaching the goal of precision livestock farming that aids animal welfare. Accurate recognition of each individual animal is important for precise management. Electronic identification of cattle, usually referred to as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), has many advantages for farm management. In practice, however, RFID implementations can cause several problems. Reading speed and distance must be optimized for specific applications. Image processing is more effective than RFID for the development of precision farming system in livestock. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to attempt the identification of cattle by using image processing. The majority of the research on the identification of cattle by using image processing has been for the black-and-white patterns of the Holstein. But, native Japanese and Korean cattle do not have a consistent pattern on the body, so that identification by pattern is impossible. This research aims to identify to Japanese black cattle, which does not have a black-white pattern on the body, by using image processing and a neural network algorithm. 12 Japanese black cattle were tested. Values of input parameter were calculated by using the face image values of 12 cows. The face was identified by the associate neural memory algorithm, and the algorithm was verified by the transformed face image, for example, of brightness, distortion, noise and angle. As a result, there was difference due to a transformation ratio of the brightness, distortion, noise, and angle. The algorithm could identify 100% in the range from -30 to +30 degrees of brightness, -20 to +40 degrees of distortion, 0 to 60% of noise and -20 to +30 degree of angle transformed images.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.183-188
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• 1992

Behaviour of 7 horned Japanese Black Cattle (3-9 years old) kept in a $450m^2$ dry-lot under loose housing condition was observed in the daytime (0930-1730 h) during 3 consecutive days. Eating and lying behaviour of cattle and the positions of all animals when lying together were recorded at 10-min intervals. Agonistic encounters and social licking interactions in the herd were also recorded. The cattle established a social hierarchy which was near linear. An irregularity in the diurnal rhythm of lying behaviour was found on the 3rd day, which appeared to be caused by oestrus behaviour of a herdmate. Eating frequency showed greater variation among individuals than lying frequency, and the most dominant animal ate most frequently in the herd. The spatial pattern of the herd when lying indicated a relatively loose dispersion in the lot. Higher ranking cattle tended to lie down more frequently near the hay rack in the lot, so that lower ranking animals had more difficult access to feed. Cattle with more social licking interactions had a tendency to lie down near each other irrespective of proximity of social order, therefore it was suggested that social preference among particular individuals occurred in the herd.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.795-802
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• 2010

This study defined the genetic diversity of five breeds of cattle in Asia by analyzing 6 microsatellite markers in 270 animals. Based on expected mean heterozygosity, the lowest genetic diversity was exhibited in Japanese black cattle (HE=0.5849), and the highest in Chinese yellow cattle (HE=0.8073). Average proportion of genetic variation due to interpopulation subdivision among these five cattle breeds varied between 11.7 and 12.5%. The genetic distances were roughly divided into three groups: Japanese black cattle, Holstein, and the three remaining breeds. This clustering agrees with the origin and geographical distributions of these five cattle breeds.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.1769-1774
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• 2023

Objective: Resting comfort may influence sleep-related lying postures in cattle. This study aimed to investigate the effects of bed cleanliness on tucked (TSP) and extended (ESP) head positions in sleep-related lying postures. Methods: The study was conducted over two experimental periods. In each period, four Japanese Black fattening cattle were assigned to the cleaning treatment (CL), in which bedding material was replaced once during each experimental period. Four cattle were assigned to the control treatment (CON) with no bed cleaning. Daily duration, bout frequency, and bout length of sleep-related lying postures were measured, and bed moisture, ammonia concentration in the air, plasma cortisol, and serotonin concentration were also measured within one week before and after cleaning treatment in each period. Results: The bed moisture and ammonia concentrations decreased in CL after bed cleaning. Following bed cleaning, the duration and bout frequency of TSP in CL decreased compared to that observed in CON, whereas ESP in CL increased after bed cleaning. Total duration of sleep-related lying postures and cortisol and serotonin levels did not differ between CL and CON. Conclusion: These results suggest that cattle in sleep-related lying postures shifted from tucked head positions to extended head positions in response to improved bed cleanliness.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.341-346
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• 2004

Recent livestock people concern not only increase of production, but also superior quality of animal-breeding environment. So far, the optimization of the breeding and air environment has been focused on the production increase. In the very near future, the optimization will be emphasized on the environment for the animal welfare and health. Especially, cattle farming demands the precision livestock farming and special attention has to be given to the management of feeding, animal health and fertility. The management of individual animal is the first step for precision livestock farming and animal welfare, and recognizing each individual is important for that. Though electronic identification of a cattle such as RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) has many advantages, RFID implementations practically involve several problems such as the reading speed and distance. In that sense, computer vision might be more effective than RFID for the identification of an individual animal. The researches on the identification of cattle via image processing were mostly performed with the cows having black-white patterns of the Holstein. But, the native Korean and Japanese cattle do not have any definite pattern on the body. The purpose of this research is to identify the Japanese black cattle that does not have a body pattern using computer vision technology and neural network algorithm. Twelve heads of Japanese black cattle have been tested to verify the proposed scheme. The values of input parameters were specified and then computed using the face images of cattle. The images of cattle faces were trained using associate neural network algorithm, and the algorithm was verified by the face images that were transformed using brightness, distortion, and noise factors. As a result, there was difference due to transform ratio of the brightness, distortion, and noise. And, the proposed algorithm could identify 100% in the range from -3 to +3 degrees of the brightness, from -2 to +4 degrees of the distortion, and from 0% to 60% of the noise transformed images. It is concluded that our system can not be applied in real time recognition of the moving cows, but can be used for the cattle being at a standstill.