• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.9-20
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• 1989

Annual production and decomposition of litter were studied in piuns rigida platation in Mt. Kwan-ak. The peak time of litter production was October-November. The litterfalll at that time was 54% of annual litter production. But the peak time of litterfall of reproductive parts was Junejuly. The peak times of litter production in Alnus hirsuta plantation were June-July, and November. It is thought that difference of seasonal distribution of letterfall between two forest types were assigned to litter falling factors such as temperature and insects. Total amount of letter loss increased according to time. Particulary, the peak time of loss rate was July-August. It was shown that the protein and phosphorus were accumulated in the letter for an experimental period. The amount of crude protein increased to 150% of initial amount. The amount of potassium was increased by August and then decreased rapidly. The contents of crude fat, holocellulose, lignin, and Na were decreased slowly. The loss of holocellulose was the largiest among them. Calcium was in steady state. It was thought that this variation pattern was assigned to leaching of soluble parts by high temperature, rainfall and growth rate of microorganisms.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1642-1650
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of clinoptilolite (a natural zeolite) on growth and performance of broilers as well as on the quality of their litter. A total of 5,200 one-day old broiler chickens (Cobb 500) were used in two consecutive rounds lasting 42 days each. The broilers were given free and continuous access to a nutritionally non-limiting diet (in meal form) that was either a basal diet (B) or a 'zeolite diet' (Z; the basal diet supplemented with clinoptilolite at a level of 2%). A $2{\times}2$ factorial design consisted of two feeding treatments (B and Z) and two bedding types, sawdust (S) and sawdust with zeolite (Sz, which was the result of adding $2kg\;zeolite/m^2$), was used. In each round the broilers were randomly assigned to one of four (n = 650), treatment groups: two fed on the basal diet (B) and had bedding of either sawdust (group BS) or sawdust and zeolite (group BSz) and two fed on the Z diet and had as bedding either sawdust (ZS) or sawdust and zeolite (ZSz). Average growth rates were significantly (p<0.05) different between broilers of different groups; broilers that were fed on the 'zeolite diet' (Z) and were placed either in a compartment with sawdust bedding or sawdust bedding and zeolite (ZS and ZSz) as well those that were fed on the basal diet in a compartment with sawdust bedding and zeolite (BSz) grew at a faster rate (p<0.05) compared with those of the control group (BS). The incorporation of NZ in broilers diets and in their bedding material decreased the organic content in litter samples throughout the experimental period. The lowest organic content was recorded in group ZSz where NZ was added in both feed and litter. Mean ammonia concentration (ppm) was significantly higher in group ZS in comparison to groups BSz and ZSz (27.00 vs. 20.55 and 21.71 respectively). The results of this study showed that the incorporation of the clinoptilolite both in feed and into the litter had a positive effect on broiler growth and also on the quality of their litter.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

A total of twenty-four multiparous sows (Landrace × Yorkshire) and their litters were used in this 21-day experimental trial. Based on their body weight, sows were randomly allocated into one of three treatments with eight replicates. The dietary betaine supplementation contained three levels: (i) CON (Basal diet + 0% Bet), (ii) Bet 0.05% (CON + 0.05% Betaine), and (iii) Bet 0.15% (CON + 0.15% Betaine). The supplementation of betaine had no effect (p > 0.05) on body weight and feed intake of lactating sow. Moreover, no significant response was observed on backfat thickness, body condition score, and weaning of the estrus interval with the dietary supplementation of betaine. In addition, the litter weaning weight, litter weight gain, average litter daily gain, and survivability rate at birth showed no significant difference with the dietary betaine supplementation of the sow diet. Fecal scores of the lactating sows and suckling piglets were not affected (p > 0.05) with the dietary betaine supplementation compared with the control diet during the experimental periods. The findings of this study showed that betaine supplementation does not boost growth performance, feed intake, body conditions, and fecal score in lactating sows and suckling piglets fed a corn-soybean meal-based diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.979-984
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• 2017

Objective: An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary Ca concentrations in low non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) diets containing phytase on growth performance, bone mineralization, litter quality, and footpad dermatitis (FPD) incidence in growing broiler chickens. Methods: A total of 1,800 21-day-old Ross 308 growing broiler chickens were allotted to 1 of 6 dietary treatments with 6 replicated cages. Six diets were formulated to provide increasing Ca concentrations of 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, or 9.0 g/kg in diets. The concentrations of NPP in all diets were maintained at 3.0 g/kg, and phytase was supplemented to all diets at the level of 1,000 fytase units (FTU)/kg. At the end of the 14-d feeding trial, birds were euthanized for tibia sampling, and litter samples were collected from 3 areas in the cage. The FPD incidence was measured based on a 6-point scoring system. Results: Dietary Ca concentrations had no effect on growth performance of growing broiler chickens. However, a tendency (linear, p = 0.05) for decreased feed efficiency was observed as dietary Ca concentrations were increased. The concentrations of Ca and P in the tibia of broiler chickens increased (linear and quadratic, p<0.01) with increasing Ca concentrations in low NPP diets containing phytase. Litter pH, moisture, and N contents were not affected by increasing Ca concentrations in low NPP diets containing phytase. However, a tendency (quadratic, p = 0.10) for increased FPD incidence with increasing dietary Ca concentrations was observed. Conclusion: Dietary Ca concentrations from 4.0 to 9.0 g/kg in low NPP diets containing phytase have little effects on growth performance of growing broiler chickens. However, Ca and P concentrations in the tibia are decreased if dietary Ca concentrations are less than 5.0 g/kg. The FPD incidence for growing broiler chickens may be decreased if less than 9.0 g/kg of Ca is included in diets.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.265-272
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• 2021

A total of fourteen primiparous sows' (Landrace × Yorkshire) were used to determine the effects of two patterns of feed intake during early gestation on the growth performance and litter characteristics in sows. Daily feed intake from day 5 to 112 of gestation for parity 1 sows was 2.2 kg·d^-1 of feed offered with the exception of seven sows who were offered 3.2 kg·d^-1 from day 90 to 108 of gestation (TRT A) or 2.5 kg·d^-1 (d 5 - 60) and 2 kg·d^-1 (d 60 - 90) of feed with the exception of seven sows who were offered 3.5 kg·d^-1 from day 90 to 108 of gestation (TRT B). The different feed intake patterns in early gestation did not have a significant effect on body weight, backfat thickness, or body condition score during, before, and after farrowing (p > 0.05) respectively. However, initial to d 60, backfat thickness difference was significantly improved by TRT B patterns of feed intake during early gestation. In addition, during the overall experiment, average daily feed intake was significantly enhanced for sows in the dietary TRT B group feed intake pattern (p = 0.0001). The fecal score during day 90 was significantly reduced (p = 0.0132) in sows fed with TRT B feed intake pattern. Litter size, litter survival rate, and initial weight showed no significant differences with different feed efficiency of gestating sows. In summary, the results indicate that the 2.5 kg·d^-1 gestation intake pattern allowed gestating sows to obtain optimal performance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.143-150
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different litter mixture compositions on bedding system temperature, pH and volatile fatty acid and ammonia-N ($NH_3$-N) content, and the serum physico-chemical parameters and growth indices of calves. Thirty-two Limousin calves ($280{\pm}20kg$) were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 8 for each group) according to the bedding system used: i) control with soil only (CTR); ii) mixture with 50% paddy hulls (PH), 30% saw dusts (SD), 10% peat moss (PM) and 10% corn cobs (CC) (TRT1); iii) mixture with 15% PH, 15% SD, 10% PM, 40% CC, and 20% corn stover (CS) (TRT2); iv) mixture with 30% PH, 10% PM, 40% CC, and 20% CS (TRT3). The litter material combinations of different treatments were based on the cost of bedding system materials in China. The cost of four treatments from low to high: Control$NH_3$-N level (271.83 to 894.72 mg/kg) was lowest for TRT1 (p<0.0001) and highest for TRT2 (p<0.0001). The acetate, propionate and butyrate levels were highest for the control group (p<0.0001). In all the groups, the pH value (6.90 to 9.09) increased at the beginning and later remained stable at below 9.09. The temperature of deep litter increased at the first week and reached the maximum ($42.1^{\circ}C$) on day 38. 3,5,3'-Triiodothyronine ($T_3$) levels in the TRT1 group animals (p<0.0001) were lower than those in the control and TRT2 animals. 3,5,3',5'-Tetraiodothyronine ($T_4$) in the TRT1 group (p = 0.006) was lower than that in the other treatment groups. Cortisol (COR) in the control and TRT1 group was lower (p<0.0001) than that in the TRT2 and TRT3 groups. Corticosterone (CORt) in the control group was higher (p<0.0001) than that in the treatment groups. The findings indicate that the deep litter bedding systems provided better conditions for animal health and growth performance compared with the control system. Furthermore, the litter composition of TRT1 was found to be optimal among the three treatment groups.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1500-1506
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• 2017

Objective: High $NH_3$ emissions from poultry houses are reported to have negative impacts on health, welfare and safety of birds and humans, and on the environment. Objective of the present study was to determine the effects of two litter amendments on the $NH_3$ levels in broiler closed houses under hot-humid conditions. Methods: Giving a completely randomize design, nine closed houses, each housed 32,500 birds on paddy husk litter, were randomly allocated into two treatment (Mizuho; a bacterial culture mix and Rydall OE; an enzymatic biocatalyst) and control groups. $NH_3$ levels were determined thrice a day (0600, 1200, and 1800 h), at three heights from the litter surface (30, 90, and 150 cm), at 20 predetermined locations of a house, from day 1 to 41. Results: Rydall significantly reduced the $NH_3$ level compared to control and Mizuho. $NH_3$ levels at 30 cm were significantly higher than that of 90 and 150 cm. The $NH_3$ levels at 30 cm height were higher than 25 ppm level from day 9, 11, and 13 in Mizuho, control, and Rydall groups, respectively to day 41. $NH_3$ levels at 150 cm height were higher than maximum threshold limit of 50 ppm for human exposure from day 12, 14, and 15 in Mizuho, control, and Rydall groups, respectively to day 33. Being significantly different among each other, the $NH_3$ level was highest and lowest at 0600 and 1800 h. Litter amendments had no significant effects on growth performance. Rydall significantly increased the litter N content on day 24. Conclusion: It was concluded that the $NH_3$ levels of closed house broiler production facilities under tropical condition are so high that both birds and workers are exposed to above recommended levels during many days of the growing period. Compared to microbial culture, the enzymatic biocatalyst was found to be more effective in reducing $NH_3$ level.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2019

The Korean Hanhyup broiler has commercialized native meat-type chicken. This study aimed to determine the effects of two types of litter material-sawdust and rice husk, and gender on the Korean Hanhyup broiler. Chicks (n=416) were randomly assigned in a $2{\times}2$ factorial design by type of litter material and gender. The behavior of chicken's was monitored continuously for 12 hours during the $1^{st}$ through $8^{th}$ week of age. The time spent on standing, sitting, and walking and the frequency of drinking, feeding, preening, dust bathing, flapping, and aggressive pecking, and pecking of chicken's behavior were recorded. The behavior of chickens during the starter (1 to 4 weeks) and finisher period (5 to 8 weeks) was compared to observe the changes upon maturity. Our results indicate that litter material type and gender have no effect on the behavior of chickens. However, aggressive pecking and pecking caused increment in the rice husk as compared to sawdust (P<0.05). Sawdust as litter material for bedding was found to be better than rice husk with respect to Korean Hanhyup broiler behavior.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.645-653
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• 2018

Twenty-five sows and 265 piglets (Landrace ${\times}$ Yorkshire) were used to evaluate the effects of dietary energy level on the pre-weaning and post-weaning performance of piglets and first parity sows. Sows with an average initial B.W. of $217.54{\pm}25.47kg$ were randomly assigned to 2 treatments. The treatments consisted of a T1 diet containing 3,100 kcal, and the T2 diet contained 3400 kcal of metabolizable energy (ME)/kg, respectively. Data were analyzed using Duncan statements to test the effect of the dietary energy levels on growth performance in lactating sows and piglets. In this study, Dietary T2 sows had a greater number of weaned piglets per litter (p < 0.05). Dietary T2 had a higher (p < 0.05) body weight than that of T1 in the weanlings, meanwhile it had a higher total average daily gain (p < 0.05) than that of T1. Dietary T1 had a higher average feed intake than that of T2 in gestation and lactation. There were no significant differences on the litter size or litter birth weight. No differences (p > 0.05) were noted in the survival of the piglets as well as in the backfat thickness and body weight loss in sows. In conclusion, these results show that high-energy diets had no effect on the body weight and backfat thickness of sows during gestation and lactation but influenced the body weight and average daily gain of weanling pigs during the lactation period.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.261-275
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• 1994

The annual ring widths of tree and the vertical distribution of fine roots were investigated at 33 sites of pitch pine forests in Seoul, its vicinity and rural areas. The annual ring widths among 16 - 20 year-old pitch pines in urban areas were significantly lower than those in rural areas. The annual ring widths for the latest 5 years (1985-1989) for the age class of 11-20, 21-30 and 31-40 year old pines increased in the following order for all the age classes: urban areas< suburbs