• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1425-1434
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• 2017

Objective: The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of different diets for early-weaned (EW) calves on rumen development, and how this affects fat deposition in the longissimus dorsi of adult Korean Hanwoo beef cattle. Methods: Three EW groups were established (each n = 12) in which two- week-old Hanwoo calves were fed for ten weeks with milk replacer+concentrate (T1), milk replacer+concentrate+roughage (T2), or milk replacer+concentrate+30% starch (T3); a control group (n = 12) was weaned as normal. At six months, 5 calves of each group were slaughtered and their organs were assessed and rumen papillae growth rates were measured. The remaining calves (n = 7 in each group) were raised to 20 months for further analysis. Results: Twenty-month-old EW calves had a higher body weight (BW), backfat thickness (BF), longissimus dorsi muscle area (LMA) and intramuscular fat (IMF) than the control (p<0.05). Organ growth, rumen histology, and gene expression patterns in the 6-month-old calves were positively related to the development of marbling in the loin, as assessed by ultrasound analysis (p<0.05). In the group fed the starch-enriched diet (T3), higher BW, BF, LMA, and IMF were present. The IMF beef quality score of 20-month-old cattle was 1+ for the T2 and T3 diets and 1 for the T1 diet (p<0.05). Conclusion: Papillae development was significantly greater in calves fed on high-concentrate diets and this may have resulted in the improved beef quality in the EW dietary groups compared to the control.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1265-1272
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• 2020

Objective: To evaluate the effect of feeding acidified milk on the growth and fecal microbial diversity of dairy calves. Methods: Twenty healthy 3-day-old female Holstein calves with similar body weights were selected and randomly divided into two groups. One group was fed pasteurized milk (PM, Control), while the other was fed acidified milk (AM) ad libitum until weaned (day 60). The experiment lasted until day 180. Results: There was no difference in the nutritional components between PM and AM. The numbers of Escherichia coli and total bacteria in AM were lower than in PM. At 31 to 40 and 41 to 50 days of age, the milk intake of calves fed AM was higher than that of calves fed PM (p<0.05), and the solid feed intake of calves fed AM was higher than that of calves fed PM at 61 to 90 days (p<0.05). The average daily gain of calves fed AM was also higher than that of calves fed PM at 31 to 60, 61 to 180, and 7 to 180 days (p<0.05). The calves fed AM tended to have a lower diarrhea rate than those fed PM (p = 0.059). Bacteroides had the highest abundance in the feces of calves fed AM on day 50, while Ruminococcaceae_UCG_005 had the highest abundance in the feces of calves fed AM on day 90 and calves fed PM on days 50 and 90. At the taxonomic level, the linear discriminant analysis scores of 27 microorganisms in the feces of calves fed AM and PM on days 50 and 90 were higher than 4.0. Conclusion: Feeding AM increased calf average daily gain and affected fecal bacterial diversity.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.261-273
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• 2024

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth performance, rumen fermentation parameters and bacterial community of post-weaning dairy calves in response to five diets varying in corn silage (CS) inclusion. Methods: A total of forty Holstein weaned bull calves (80±3 days of age;128.2±5.03 kg at study initiation) were randomized into five groups (8 calves/group) with each receiving one of five dietary treatments offered as total mixed ration in a 123-d feeding study. Dietary treatments were control diet (CON; 0% CS dry matter [DM]); Treatment 1 (T1; 27.2% CS DM); Treatment 2 (T2; 46.5% CS DM); Treatment 3 (T3; 54.8% CS DM); and Treatment 4 (T4; 67.2% CS DM) with all diets balanced for similar protein and energy concentration. Results: Results showed that calves offered CS had greater average daily gain, body length and chest depth growth, meanwhile altered rumen fermentation indicated by decreased rumen acetate concentrations. Principal coordinate analysis showed the rumen bacterial community structure was affected by varying CS inclusion diets. Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the predominant bacterial phyla in the calf rumens across all treatments. At the genus level, the abundance of Bacteroidales_RF16_group was increased, whereas Unclassified_Lachnospiraceae was decreased for calves fed CS. Furthermore, Spearman's correlation test between the rumen bacteria and rumen fermentation parameters indicated that Bacteroidales_RF16_group and Unclassified Lachnospiraceae were positively correlated with propionate and acetate, respectively. Conclusion: The results of the current study suggested that diet CS inclusion was beneficial for post-weaning dairy calf growth, with 27.2% to 46.5% CS of diet DM recommended to achieve improved growth performance. Bacteroidales_RF16_group and Unclassified Lachnospiraceae play an important role in the rumen fermentation pattern for post-weaning calves fed CS.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1599-1605
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• 2015

Twenty Holstein calves were used to investigate the effects of mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) supplementation in the whole milk on growth performance, faecal score, faecal pH, selected faecal bacterial populations and health during the preweaning period. Healthy calves selected by clinical examination were allocated to one of the two groups (control [CG] and experimental [EG]) at 5 days old. Each group consisted of 5 male and 5 female calves. Each calf in EG was supplemented with 7 g/d of a MOS product (Celmanax) from 5 days to 56 days of age. MOS supplement was mixed with the whole milk once in the morning and administered to the calves in EG via nipple bottle, whereas the calves in CG were fed the whole milk without MOS. Calves were weaned at 56 days of age. The final body weight, average daily weight gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) were statistically similar (p>0.05) but were higher by 3.70%, 6.66%, and 10.97%, respectively, in MOS than in control calves. Feed efficiency (ADG/ADFI) was also similar in two calves group. While faecal scores did not differ on day 5, 7, 14, 21, 28, 42, 49, and 56 between groups, EG had a higher faecal score (p = 0.05) than CG on day 35. Faecal concentration of Lactobacillus was lower (p<0.05) in EG compared with CG. No differences (p>0.05) in faecal concentrations of Bifidobacterium, Clostridium perfringens, and Escherichia coli were found between groups. Although there were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the incidence of diarrhoea, treatment days for diarrhoea and the costs associated with diarrhoea treatments between groups, collectively, the observed reductions in treatment days and the cost of diarrhoea treatments accompanying increases in final body weight, ADG and ADFI for EG may indicate potential benefit of MOS in treatment of diarrhoea.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.165-170
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• 1996

Two experiments were conducted to search factor(s) affecting the plasma allantoin concentration in infant calves. In experiment 1, five male Holstein calves aged 1 week were given only milk replacer free from nucleic acids for 28 days Plasma allantoin concentration varied in a reverse proportion to daily amounts of milk replacer, and the concentration when calves received 750 g/d of milk replacer was significantly lower than that when they received 250 g/d. Contrary to plasma allantoin concentration, glomerular filtration rate(GFR) was directly proportional to daily amounts of milk replacer, leading to a constant filtration of allantoin across the glomeruli. Renal handling of allantion was also unaffected by the amount of milk replacer, resulting in the constant urinary excretion of allantoin. These results suggested that GFR, which was affected by the nutritional status, could affect plasma allantoin concentration. In experiment 2, the effect of age-related changes in nutritional status after weaning on GFR was examined in eight calves weaned at 5 weeks of age. The GFR expressed as body weight basis was lower immediately after weaning, but linearly increased up to the 19th week post-weaning. The present results suggested that the changes in GFR in response to nutritional status would be one of the possible causes of atypical plasma allantoin concentration immediately after weaning. We conclude that plasma allantoin concentration would not be a proper estimator of intestinal flow of microbial protein in cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.672-678
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to investigate whether milk performance is impacted by the housing of heifers from the second to the seventh day of life, the method of feeding milk from the second week of life to weaning, the sire lineage and by the season of birth and season of calving. From 32 Holstein heifer-calves, which spent their first day of life in a loose housing maternity pen with their mother, 19 heifers were randomly placed in hutches (IH), and 13 stayed in a loose housing maternity pen (MP). At the seventh day IH heifers were assigned to one of two treatments, 10 heifers were randomly taken from IH and relocated to a loose housing pen with an automatic feeding station (AD), 9 calves stayed in hutches with bucket drinking (BD). MP heifers were moved to a group pen with nursing cows (UD). All animals were weaned at the age of 8 weeks (56 days) and kept in group pens. After calving, they were in free-stall housing. Trial cows were divided according to the sire, season of birth and calving. The five-factorial ANOVA revealed that among all the factors taken into account in this study, only sire lineage and season of birth had significant effects. The production of milk, FCM and protein were higher in the MP group than in the IH group. The UD group tended to have the highest production of milk, FCM, protein, lactose, SNF and total solids (TS) and the AD group the lowest. The content of fat and TS were highest in the AD group. Effects of the sire were significant for average daily gains (ADG) from birth to weaning ($0.55{\pm}0.03kg$, p<0.05), contents of fat ($3.81{\pm}0.08%$, p<0.05), protein ($3.13{\pm}0.02%$, p<0.05), and TS ($12.67{\pm}0.12%$, p<0.05). In the season of birth evaluation, statistical difference was found only in the content of protein ($3.13{\pm}0.13%$, p<0.05). Cows born in March-May had the highest % protein and cows born in June-August the lowest ($3.21{\pm}0.04$ vs. $3.06{\pm}0.05%$). Dairy cows born and subsequently calving in December-February had the highest production of milk, protein and TS, and dairy cows born in June-August the lowest. FCM and fat yields were highest in the group born in September-November and lowest in the group born in June-August.