• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1600-1607
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• 2014

A total of 120 finishing pigs ([Yorkshire${\times}$Landrace]${\times}$Duroc) with an average body weight (BW) of $49.72{\pm}1.72kg$ were used in 12-wk trial to evaluate the effects of protected organic acids on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal micro flora, meat quality and fecal gas emission. Pigs were randomly allotted to one of three dietary treatments (10 replication pens with 4 pigs per pen) in a randomly complete block design based on their initial BW. Each dietary treatment consisted of: Control (CON/basal diet), OA1 (basal diet+0.1% organic acids) and OA2 (basal diet+0.2% organic acids). Dietary treatment with protected organic acid blends linearly improved (p<0.001) average daily gain during 0 to 6 week, 6 to 12 week as well as overall with the increase in their inclusion level in the diet. The dry matter, N, and energy digestibility was higher (linear effect, p<0.001) with the increase in the dose of protected organic acid blends during 12 week. During week 6, a decrease (linear effect, p = 0.01) in fecal ammonia contents was observed with the increase in the level of protected organic acid blends on d 3 and d 5 of fermentation. Moreover, acetic acid emission decreased linearly (p = 0.02) on d7 of fermentation with the increase in the level of protected organic acid blends. During 12 weeks, linear decrease (p<0.001) in fecal ammonia on d 3 and d 5 and acetic acid content on d 5 of fermentation was observed with the increase in the level of protected organic acid blends. Supplementation of protected organic acid blends linearly increased the longissimus muscle area with the increasing concentration of organic acids. Moreover, color of meat increased (linear effect, quadratic effect, p<0.001, p<0.002 respectively) and firmness of meat showed quadratic effect (p = 0.003) with the inclusion of increasing level of protected organic acid in the diet. During the 6 week, increment in the level of protected organic acid blends decreased (linear effect, p = 0.01) Escherichia coli (E. coli) counts and increased (linear effect, p = 0.004) Lactobacillus counts. During 12-wk of experimental trial, feces from pigs fed diet supplemented with organic acid blends showed linear reduction (p<0.001) of E. coli counts and the tendency of linear increase (p = 0.06) in Lactobacillus count with the increase in the level of organic acid blends. In conclusion, 0.2% protected organic acids blends positively affected growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal gas emission and meat quality in finishing pigs without any adverse effects on blood parameters.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1486-1494
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• 2008

The objective of this experiment was to compare the effects of green tea by-product and green tea probiotics on the growth performance, meat quality and immune response of finishing pigs. A total of 72 crossbred "Landrace$\times$Yorkshire" finishing pigs with an average of 76 kg body weight were assigned to 4 dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Each treatment had 3 replications with 6 pigs per replication. The four dietary treatments were control, antibiotics (control diet with 0.003% chlortetracycline added), and diets containing 0.5% green tea by-product or 0.5% green tea probiotic supplementation. Weight gain was increased in 0.5% green tea probiotics treatment compared to others, but there was no significant difference (p>0.05). The incorporation of 0.5% green tea probiotics to diets reduced the feed conversion ratio in finishing pigs (p>0.05). The incorporation of 0.5% green tea by-product into the pig diet reduced the crude protein and fat contents of the meat (p>0.05). Pigs fed diets containing 0.5% green tea probiotic supplementation had lowered meat TBA values compared to those fed 0.5% green tea by-product (p<0.05). The proliferation of spleen cells stimulated with Con A (concanavalin: 0.1, 0.3, and $1.0{\mu}g/ml$) significantly increased with 0.5% green tea by-product treatment compared to antibiotic treatment (p<0.05), but was significantly decreased in 0.5% green tea probiotics treatment compared to the antibiotic treatment (p<0.05). When stimulated with $1.0{\mu}g/ml$ Con A, splenocyte production of IL-6 from pigs treated with 0.5% green tea by-product or green tea probiotics was significantly increased compared to the antibiotic treatment group (p<0.05). Splenocyte production of TNF-${\alpha}$ after treatment with $1.0{\mu}g/ml$ Con A was significantly higher following 0.5% green tea probiotics treatment (p<0.05), while TNF-${\alpha}$ production after $10.0{\mu}g/ml$ LPS (lipopolysaccharide) was significantly higher in the 0.5% antibiotic treatment group (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.554-561
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• 2017

Objective: This experiment was conducted as a $3{\times}2{\times}2$ factorial design to examine the effects of particle size (mean particle size of 331, 640, or $862{\mu}m$), evaluation method (direct vs indirect method) and adaptation duration (7 or 26 days) on the energy content and the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of various chemical components in wheat when fed to finishing pigs. Methods: Forty-two barrows ($Duroc{\times}Landrace{\times}Yorkshire$) with an initial body weight of $63.0{\pm}0.8kg$ were individually placed in metabolic cages and randomly allotted to 1 of 7 diets with 6 pigs fed each diet. For the indirect method, the pigs were fed either a corn-soybean meal based basal diet or diets in which 38.94% of the basal diet was substituted by wheat of the different particle sizes. In the direct method, the diets contained 97.34% wheat with the different particle sizes. For both the direct and indirect methods, the pigs were adapted to their diets for either 7 or 26 days. Results: A reduction in particle size linearly increased the digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) contents as well as the ATTD of gross energy, crude protein, organic matter, ether extract (EE) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) (p<0.05), and had a trend to increase the ATTD of dry matter of wheat (p = 0.084). The DE, ME contents, and ATTD of gross energy, crude protein, dry matter and organic matter were higher (p<0.05) when determined by the direct method, but the ATTD of ADF, EE, and neutral detergent fiber were higher when determined by the indirect method (p<0.05). Prolongation of the adaption duration decreased the ATTD of neutral detergent fiber (p<0.05) and had a trend to increase the ATTD of EE (p = 0.061). There were no interactions between particle size and the duration of the adaptation duration. The ATTD of EE in wheat was influenced by a trend of interaction between method and adaptation duration (p = 0.074). The ATTD of ADF and EE in wheat was influenced by an interaction between evaluation method and wheat particle size such that there were linear equations (p<0.01) about ATTD of ADF and EE when determined by the direct method but quadratic equations (p = 0.073 and p = 0.088, respectively) about ATTD of ADF and EE when determined by the indirect method. Conclusion: Decreasing particle size can improve the DE and ME contents of wheat; both of the direct and indirect methods of evaluation are suitable for evaluating the DE and ME contents of wheat with different particle sizes; and an adaptation duration of 7 d is sufficient to evaluate DE and ME contents of wheat in finishing pigs.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.241-250
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• 2009

This study was conducted to develop an prototype automatic feeder (AF) for growing-finishing pigs. The main components of AF were a feed storage hopper, a feeding motor, a feed agitator, a control box and a programmable IC, which were controlled by a personal computer. The powder type feed transfer rate of AF was average $9.83{\pm}0.4\;g\;s^{-1}$. In feeding test, growing pigs (Landrace) of about 43 kg live weight were used in the study, and was fed over a 6 weeks in pens with solid concrete floors. For feeding trials with AF, the operation time of the feeding motor was set to 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 seconds per feeding. Pigs frequently used AF from 05:00 to 11:00 and from 11:00 to 17:00 without relationship to the operation time of the feeding motor. The AF operation time of the feeding motor to minimize feed loss was between 2 and 4 seconds. Pigs fed with AF had same or slightly higher average daily gam (0.8~0.9 kg) than that with a commercial feeder, and average daily feed intake (2.76~2.93 kg) and feed conversion ratio (3.10~3.66) of pigs fed with AF were same or lower than those with the commercial feeder except the operation time of the feeding motor set to 6 seconds. As a result, AF would help to use and improve the productivity of growing-finishing pigs.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.929-942
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of β-glucan with vitamin E supplementation on the growth performance, blood profiles, immune response, pork quality, pork flavor, and economic benefit in growing and finishing pigs. Methods: A total of 140 growing pigs ([Yorkshire×Landrace]×Duroc) were assigned to five treatments considering sex and initial body weight (BW) in 4 replications with 7 pigs per pen in a randomized complete block design. The experimental diets included a corn-soybean meal-based basal diet with or without 0.05% or 0.1% β-glucan and 0.02% vitamin E. The pigs were fed the diets for 12 weeks (phase I, 0 to 3; phase II, 3 to 6; phase III, 6 to 9; phase IV, 9 to 12). The BW and feed intake were measured at the end of each phase. Blood samples were collected at the end of each phase. Four pigs from each treatment were selected and slaughtered for meat quality. Economic benefit was calculated considering the total feed intake and feed price. Pork flavor was analyzed through inosine monophosphate analysis. Results: The average daily gain and feed efficiency were improved compared to the control when β-glucan or vitamin E was added. Supplementing 0.05% β-glucan significantly increased the lymphocyte concentration compared to the addition of 0.1% β-glucan and the content of vitamin E in the blood increased when 0.02% vitamin E was added. The treatment with 0.1% β-glucan and 0.02% vitamin E showed the most economic effect because it had the shortest days to market weight and the lowest total feed cost. The addition of β-glucan or vitamin E had a positive role in improving the flavor of pork when considering that the content of inosine monophosphate was increased. However, carcass traits and meat quality were not affected by β-glucan or vitamin E. Conclusion: The addition of 0.1% β-glucan with 0.02% vitamin E in growing and finishing pig diets showed great growth performance and economic effects by supplying vitamin E efficiently and by improving the health condition of pigs due to β-glucan.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2000

Two experiments were conducted to determine ileal digestibilities for the amino acids contained in rapeseed meal using the regression technique and then applying the values obtained, in a growth trial, using growing-finishing pigs. For the digestibility trial, four 20 kg crossbred $(Yorkshire{\times}Landrace{\times}Beijing\;Black)$ barrows were fitted with simple T-cannula in the terminal ileum. After recovery, the barrows were fed one of four experimental diets according to a $4{\times}4$ Latin Square design. The pigs were fed corn-soybean meal based diets supplemented with 0, 25, 50 or 75% rapeseed meal. For the growth trial, 80 crossbred $(Yorkshire{\times}Landrace{\times}Beijing\;Black)$ growing pigs $(20{\pm}2.4kg)$ were fed corn-soybean meal diets supplemented with 0, 3, 6, 9 or 12% rapeseed meal. Four pens (2 gilts and 2 castrates) were assigned to each treatment. With the exception of isoleucine and methionine, the digestibility coefficients for the indispensible amino acids declined as the level of rapeseed meal in the diet increased. There was little agreement between the amino acid digestibilities determined with the regression technique and values previously published for rapeseed meal. During the growing (22-42 kg) period, the addition of rapeseed meal had no significant effects on gain, feed intake or feed conversion. During the finishing period (58-91 kg), daily gain was not affected by rapeseed meal inclusion but feed conversion declined (p<0.04) as the level of rapeseed meal in the diet increased.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.573-578
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• 1999

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of diet for growing-finishing pigs with high level of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) from by-products on nitrogen excretion and nitrogen losses from slurry during storage. Sixteen commercial crossbred barrows of about 68 kg BW were randomly allotted to one of four diets. The control diet was formulated using tapioca and rice as basal energy sources. In the other diets, tapioca was replaced by either coconut expellar, rice bran or beer by-product. The diets differed mainly in the amount and compostition of NSP. After a 12-day adaptation period, urine and faeces were collected separately in metabolism cages for 9 days. Urine and faeces from the first four days were used to analyse the nitrogen partitioning. Urine and faeces from the last 5 days were mixed as slurry. The slurry was sampled at the end of the collection period and again after 30 days storage, to analyse for nitrogen to calculate the losses. Increasing dietary NSP reduced urinary nitrogen and nitrogen losses from the slurry during storage. The pigs fed the diet based on beer by-product excreted the most nitrogen via faeces and the least nitrogen via urine. Nitrogen losses from slurry of pigs fed the beer by-product were from 34 to 65% lower than from the other three diets. It is concluded that including NSP-rich by-products in the diet of growing-finishing pigs reduces urinary nitrogen excretion and nitrogen losses from slurry during storage.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1292-1302
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• 2017

Objective: This experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of rapeseed meal (RSM) supplementation in weaning pig diet on growth performance, blood profile, carcass characteristics and economic analysis on weaning to finishing pigs. Methods: A total of 120 cross bred ([Yorkshire${\times}$Landrace]${\times}$Duroc) weaning pigs were allotted to 5 treatments in a randomized complete block design. Each treatment had 4 replications with 6 pigs per pen. Five different levels of RSM (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%) were used as dietary treatments. Results: Overall, no treatment showed significant differences in growth performance with increased dietary RSM levels. The concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) decreased as dietary RSM levels increased in 6 weeks (linear response, p<0.01). Total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, triiodothyronine, and thyroxine showed no significant differences, neither were there any significant differences in the immune response (IgG and IgA). As the dietary RSM levels of weaning pig diet were increased, no differences were found among dietary treatments upon performing proximate analyses of the pork after finishing. The influence of RSM supplementation on nutrient digestibility and nitrogen retention were not affected by dietary RSM levels either. With increased dietary RSM levels in the weaning pig diet, no differences among dietary treatments were found after performing proximate analyses of the pork's physiochemical properties. In addition, there were no significant differences observed in pork colors, pH levels, and economic benefits. Conclusion: Consequently, this experiment demonstrated that weaning pig's diet containing RSM influenced BUN concentration, but there were no detrimental effects on the growth performance of weaning pigs with up to 8% RSM in the diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.374-381
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• 2015

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of vitamin E (VE), ferulic acid (FA) and their combination supplementation on meat quality and antioxidant capacities of finishing pigs. Sixty barrows were randomly allocated to four experimental diets using a $2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement with 2 VE supplemental levels (0 or 400 mg/kg) and 2 FA supplemental levels (0 or 100 mg/kg) in basal diets. After 28 days, six pigs per treatment were slaughtered. The results showed that VE supplementation increased loin eye area of pigs (p<0.05) and FA supplementation increased $pH_{45min}$ value (p<0.05). The interaction of $FA{\times}VE$ was observed in shear force of longissimus dorsi muscle (p<0.05). Moreover, supplementation with VE decreased hepatic and sarcous malondialdehyde (MDA) content, increased hepatic glutathione (GSH) content and sarcous glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity (p<0.05). Additionally, supplementation with FA increased hepatic GSH-Px activity and decreased sarcous MDA content (p<0.05). However, dietary treatment did not affect the expression of genes related to nuclear factor, erythroid 2-like 2 (NFE2L2) pathway. These results suggest that dietary FA and VE could partially improve meat quality and antioxidant capacity of finishing pigs, but not by activating NFE2L2 pathway under the normal conditions of farming.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.22.1-22.7
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• 2014

The present study was performed to investigate the effects of two groups of sires with 'medium' and 'high' weight gain potentials (M-sires and H-sires, respectively) on growth of their progenies on varying planes of nutrition during the growing-finishing period. The ADG of the M-sires' progeny was greater (P < 0.05) than that of the H-sires' progeny (0.51 vs. 0.47 kg) during a 26- to 29-d early grower phase beginning from 55 d of age, but the opposite was true (0.66 vs. 0.72 kg) during the latter grower phase. Overall grower-phase ADG was greatest on the high plane of nutrition (H plane) followed by the medium (M) and low (L) planes (0.65, 0.61, and 0.51 kg, respectively; P < 0.05) in the M-sires' progeny, whereas in the H-sires' progeny, ADG was greater on the H and M planes vs. L plane (0.63, 0.62, and 0.54 kg, respectively). The ADG of pigs on the M or H plane during the grower phase and switched to the H plane thereafter (M-to-H or H-to-H planes) was greater than that of pigs on the L-to-L planes (0.99 vs. 0.78 kg) during the early finisher phase in the M-sires' progeny (P < 0.01). However, in the H-sires' progeny, ADG of pigs on the L-to-L planes did not differ from that of pigs on the M-to-M or H-to-M planes (0.94 vs. 0.96 kg). Results suggest that the H-to-H or H-to-M planes and M-to-M or M-to-L planes are optimal for maximal growth of the M- and H-sires' progenies, respectively.