• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.177-189
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• 2016

This study was conducted to verify the relationships between the expression values of stress-related markers and their production performances in 25 strains of Korean domestic chicken breeds. For stress response markers, the amount of telomeric DNA; expression levels of heat shock protein (HSP)-70, $HSP-90{\alpha}$, and $HSP-90{\beta}$; and comet scores were analyzed. Production performances were measured by the survival rate, body weights, days at first egg laying, egg weight and hen housed egg production. The results showed that the production traits and values of stress-related markers showed significant differences between strains. In general, the stress response of pure bred chickens with heavy weights was relatively high, while that of hybrid chickens with light weights was relatively low. The correlation coefficients between telomere contents and body weights showed that there were weak negative relationships. However, the correlations of telomere content with the survival rate and egg production were weakly positive after 20 weeks old. The expression levels of HSP genes and DNA damage rate (comet scores) were positively correlated to body weight, but were negatively correlated to the survival rate and egg production. The results implied that increasing body weight was associated with increasing HSPs expression and the DNA damage rate was associated with decreasing telomere content. In addition, increasing HSPs expression and the DNA damage rate decreased the survival rate and egg production, but the relationships with the telomere content was the reverse. Correlations among the stress-related markers showed that there were significant correlation coefficients between all of the marker values. HSPs expression was negatively correlated to the telomere content, while it was positively correlated to the DNA damage rate. There was a highly negative correlation between the telomere content and DNA damage rate. In conclusion, increasing the HSP values and DNA damage rate can promote telomere reduction, which led to a decrease in disease resistance and robustness of the chicken. Thus, increasing the stress response was verified to adversely affect the laying performance and viability of chickens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.399-405
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• 1991

The interaction of 4 dietary crude protein (13, 16, 19 or 22%) and 4 metabolizable energy (2600, 2800, 3000 or 3100 kcal ME/kg) levels on egg quality performances of Starcross layers were assessed between 245 and 275 days of age. The egg weight increased significantly with the increasing dietary protein and energy levels. But egg shape index, albumen index, yolk index, yolk dry matter, yolk protein, yolk fat, albumen protein and shell tickness were similar at all dietary protein and/or energy levels. The egg specific gravity and albumen weight increased but the yolk, weight, Haugh unit and albumen drymatter decreased with the increase of dietary protein levels and showed irregular trend with energy levels. The albumen dry matter and egg shell weight, however, were not affected by energy and protein levels. Simultaneous increase of protein and energy increased specific gravity, albumen index and shell thickness at a greater rate than that increased by the increase of protein or energy alone.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.980-985
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• 2000

Influences of Japanese green tea powder (GTP) supplementation to commercial diet on laying performance and egg quality were studied by using 60 laying hens. The experimental diet with or without 0.6% GTP was given ad libitum to the birds during the period from 6 to 71 weeks of age. The birds started egg production from 21 wk of age regardless GTP feeding. Body weight, feed intake, egg weight tended to decrease with GTP supplementation, while egg production rate tended to increase. Haugh unit score was significantly increased with GTP, which accompanied with the increased albumen height. These were observed almost throughout the laying period over 50 wk. Gel proportion in thick albumen was decreased as storage time is prolonged, then higher values of the gel proportion were recorded in the eggs from GTP group. Thick albumen of the eggs from GTP-fed layers had more carbohydrate than that from control layers. All these indicate physical stability of thick albumen in the eggs from GTP group. Thiobarbituric acid content of egg yolk tended to remain lower in the eggs from GTP group during 5-10 days of storage at room temperature. Levels of egg yolk cholesterol and yolk lipid were significantly reduced by GTP feeding. There were no significant differences in eggshell weight, shell thickness and shell strength between the two groups. Thyroid gland and liver from hens slaughtered at 71 wk of age did not differ in weight irrespective of GTP feeding. The present results suggest that GTP could modify components of edible part of egg, leading to the characteristics favourable to consumers such as high durability of thick albumen and less cholesterol in yolk, without altering general performance of the layers throughout this year round experiment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1043-1048
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• 2010

This study investigated the effects of Fe-soy proteinate (Fe-SP) and magnesium oxide (MgO) dietary supplements on eggshell quality in laying hens. A total of 800 26-wk-old Hy-Line Brown hens were assigned to four dietary treatments: control (C), Fe-SP 100 (100 ppm Fe-soy proteinate), MgO (3 g MgO/kg diet), and Fe-SP 100+MgO. Each treatment had five replicates of 40 hens. The FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared) and XRD (X-ray diffraction) spectra of Fe-soy proteinate were different from those of $FeSO_4$ and soy digest. There were no significant differences among treatments in hen-day egg production, hen-house egg production, broken and soft egg rate, feed intake, or feed conversion. The MgO and Fe-SP 100+MgO treatments showed significantly (p<0.05) higher egg weights than the control group. Eggshell strength and thickness were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the MgO supplemented groups. The lightness and yellowness of the eggshells decreased, and the redness increased significantly in the Fe-SP treated groups. There were no significant differences among treatments in leukocyte level, but hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations were higher with Fe-SP treatments. In conclusion, supplementation with Fe-SP significantly affects eggshell color and hemoglobin concentration, whereas MgO supplementation increases eggshell strength and thickness. Egg weight and egg shell quality can be improved by supplementation of 100 ppm Fe in the form of Fe-SP and 3 g MgO/kg diet.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.521-532
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• 2020

The production performance of broiler breeder hens in response to different levels of total lysine during the early laying period was investigated. A total of 126 Ross 308 parent stock hens were offered one of seven dietary treatments formulating elevated contents of total lysine ranging from 0.55% to 0.79% (0.04 scale; 133 g of feed) from 23 to 29 weeks of age. Each treatment had six replicates with three birds per pen. Body weight was recorded triweekly and eggs were collected and weighted at 9:00 am daily. One hen from each pen was euthanized to collect blood samples and visceral organs were harvested and weighed. Egg production, egg weight and egg mass were lower (p < 0.05) in hens offered a diet containing 0.55% total lysine compared to those fed the diet containing higher total lysine. Hens offered a diet containing 0.71%, 0.75%, and 0.79% total lysine had greater (p = 0.008) egg production rate compared to those offered a diet containing lysine less than 0.71%. The number of total eggs produced tended to be greater (p = 0.083) in hens offered a diet containing 0.71 and 0.75% total lysine compared to the other treatments. The number of settable egg production was higher (p < 0.001) in hens offered a diet contacting 0.79% total lysine compared to those fed the diet containing lower levels of total lysine. The relative weights of oviduct and ovary were lower (p < 0.05) in hens offered a diet containing 0.59% total lysine compared to the other treatments. No difference found in body weight, the number of total eggs, double-yolk eggs and abnormal shell eggs among the treatments. The urea nitrogen, estradiol-17 beta and progesterone in plasma were not affected by treatments. Based on linear- and quadratic-plateau models, total lysine requirements for egg production, settable egg production and egg mass at the early laying period were to be 0.73%, 0.77%, and 0.71%, respectively. Modern broiler breeder hens likely require higher total lysine than NRC recommendation in a diet for enhancing productivity during the early-laying period.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.1452-1462
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• 2024

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with Agaricus blazei polysaccharide (ABP) at varying concentrations on the performance, egg quality, blood biochemistry, intestinal morphology, and microflora of quail. Methods: The study involved a total of 2,700 Korean quails, which were randomly divided into three groups. The measured variables encompassed productive performance, egg parameters, carcass parameters, serum metabolites, immune response parameters, antioxidative properties, and gut microbiome. Results: The addition of ABP did not have a significant effect on average daily feed intake. However, it was found to increase the average daily egg weight and egg production rate, reduce the feed-egg ratio. There were no significant impacts on egg quality measures such as egg shape index, egg yolk index and color, egg yolk and protein content. However, ABP supplementation significantly increased the Hough unit (p<0.01) and decreased the rate of unqualified eggs (p<0.01). Regarding serum parameters, the inclusion led to an increase in total protein concentration (p<0.05) and a reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p<0.05). There were no significant effects observed on immune indicators such as immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgM. ABP supplementation increased the levels of serum antioxidant indicators, including glutathione peroxidase, total superoxide dismutase (p<0.05), and total antioxidant capacity colorimeter (p<0.05). Furthermore, ABP supplementation significantly elevated the intramuscular fatty acid content in quail meat. Additionally, ABP supplementation demonstrated a significant improvement in the diversity of gut microbiota and induced alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that dietary supplementation of ABP enhanced production performance and antioxidant capacity while increasing the levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids in quail muscle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.171-175
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• 2006

The aim of this in vitro study was to test the effect of microinjection (Mi) of foreign gene into the rabbit egg pronucleus and epidermal growth factor (EGF) addition on the blastocyst rate, the cell number and the diameter of embryos, and to determine possible relationships between embryo cell number and embryo diameter. Blastocyst rate was significantly decreased in gene- Mi (G-Mi/E0) group (63.1%) comparing to intact ones (83.5%, $p_1$<0.05). The addition of EGF at 20ng/ml (G-Mi/E20) or 200 ng/ml (GMi/ E200) to gene-Mi embryos did not affect blastocyst rate (65.6 and 55.2% resp.). As a control for Mi, the eggs were microinjected with the same volume of phosphate-buffered solution (PBS-Mi) instead of the gene construct solution. Cell numbers and embryo diameters were measured from embryo images obtained on confocal laser scanning microscope. Bonferroni-modified LSD test showed that the embryo cell number in PBS-Mi group was significantly lower ($p_1$<0.05) and in gene-Mi group was tended to decrease compared with intact embryos. Embryo diameter was not different among experimental groups. No effect of EGF given at any doses both on the cell number and embryo diameter was found. A positive correlation between cell number and embryo diameter was observed in all groups of embryos. Since embryo diameter was not changed under the influence of Mi or EGF addition in this study, this seems to be more conservative characteristics of the embryo morphology. These results suggest that the pronuclear microinjection compromises developmental potential of embryos, decreasing blastocyst rate and embryo cell number, whilst embryo diameter is not affected. No effects of EGF on studied parameters were confirmed. Declined quality of Mi-derived embryos is caused by the microinjection procedure itself, rather than by the gene construct used.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.1048-1052
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of sodium selenite and zinc-L-selenomethionine on performance and egg Se concentration in laying hens. Two hundred and twenty-four CP Browns aged 71 weeks were divided according to a $2{\times}3$ factorial in a completely randomized design. One more group without additional Se supplementation was used as a negative control. Each treatment consisted of four replicates and each replicate contained eight laying hens. The dietary treatments were T1: basal diet; T2, T3 and T4: basal diets plus 0.3, 1.0 and 3.0 mg Se from sodium selenite/kg, respectively; T5, T6 and T7: basal diets plus 0.3, 1.0 and 3.0 mg Se from zinc-L-selenomethionine/kg, respectively. The findings revealed that feed conversion rate/kg eggs, egg production, egg weight, Haugh units and eggshell thickness were not affected by source and level of Se (p>0.05). Increasing level of dietary Se significantly increased (p<0.05 the Se content of eggs. Zinc-L-selenomethionine markedly increased p<0.05 egg Se concentration as compared with sodium selenite. The results indicated that Se source did not influence performance of laying hens. However, zinc-L-selenomethionine increased p<0.05 egg Se concentration more than sodium selenite.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.192-197
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• 2021

Objective: The present study evaluated the preservation of ram semen at 0℃ using soybean lecithin with a Tris-fructose extender. Methods: Semen was collected by artificial vagina ejaculation from six rams with proven fertility. High quality ejaculates were diluted by soybean lecithin (0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, 1.0%, 1.25%) using Tris-fructose extender and control (Tris-fructose egg yolk extender), respectively. The ejaculates were diluted to a concentration of 5×108 sperm/mL, followed by cooling to 0℃ in 90 min and maintaining the temperature for 12 days. The diluted semen samples were examined and recorded for sperm progressive motility, acrosome integrity at 0, 24, 72, 144, 216, 288 h, respectively. Two hundred and twenty-three ewes were inseminated for 216 h with optimal soybean lecithin concentrated semen or control via trans-cervical insemination. Results: The results showed that there were no differences in sperm progressive motility at 0, 24, 72, and 144 h (p>0.05). After 216 h, the sperm progressive motility in the control group and 0.5% concentration groups was significantly higher when compared to 0.25% concentration (p<0.05). The 0.5% concentration group demonstrated the highest survival rate and had no difference with the control group (p>0.05). At 216 h, the sperm progressive motility of all groups was still above 50%. The acrosome integrity of all groups was decreased with prolongation of storage time, but there was no difference at each time point (p>0.05). There was no significant difference in the lambing rate and pregnancy rate between the 0.5% concentration group and the control group (p>0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that ram sperm is capable of fertilization after preservation at 0℃ with 0.5% of soybean lecithin in Tris-based extender substituted for egg yolk and produce normal offspring after insemination.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 1997

Two experiments were carried out to determine the effects of pelleting layer diets on the laying perforrnance and nutrients utilizability, using either 50-wk-old(Experiment 1) or 80-wk-old (Experiment 2) layers. There was no effect of pelleting layer diets on hen-day egg production and average egg weight but decreased (P<0.05) feed conversion ratio(intake /egg weight) in both experiments. Although both egg specific gravity and eggshell thickness were not influenced by pelleting eggshell breaking strength was improved(P<0.05) only in Experiment 1. Utilizability of dietary fat was improved(P<0.05) by pelleting layer diets with no difference in other nutrients utilizability. There was no difference in the passage rate of mash and pelleted layer diets.