• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.377-385
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• 2021

A total of 18 sows with an average body weight (BW) of 211.6 kg (within 24 h after farrowing) were used for a 5-week experiment to determine the effects of the dietary valine : lysine (V : L) ratios on the performance and fecal score in lactating sows and litters. Sows were raised in individual pens and assigned to one of three experimental diets consisting of different V : L ratios (0.83, 0.85, and 0.88%). Sows BW was improved with the 0.85% V : L ratio compared to the 0.83 and 0.88%. However, no significant difference was observed for BW loss, average daily feed intake, back fat thickness and days to return to estrus among the three treatment groups during the experiment period. Furthermore, the growth performance of the piglets, the weaning weight, was improved in the group receiving the diet with the 0.85% V : L ratio compared to the 0.83 and 0.88%. Moreover, the average daily gain of the piglets was increased when the V : L ratio was 0.88% compared to 0.83 and 0.85%. The fecal score of the sows was better (p > 0.05) when the V : L ratio was 0.85% compared to the V : L ratio of 0.83%. In the piglets, the V : L ratios 0.88 and 0.85% had a better fecal score compared to the V : L ratio of 0.83% at day 14. In conclusion, the V : L ratio had no effect on the gut microflora shown by the fecal scores of the sows during lactation.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.562-578
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• 2023

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of Ca-Mg complex on the longevity and reproductive performance of sows. In total, seventy-two gilts ([Yorkshire × Landrace] × Duroc, average body weight 181 kg) were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 treatments during 4 successive parity in a 4 × 3 factorial arrangement. Treatments consisted of CON (basal diet), CM1 (basal diet -MgO - 0.3% limestone + 0.4% Ca-Mg complex), and CM2 (basal diet - MgO - 0.7% limestone + 0.4% Ca-Mg complex). A higher (p < 0.05) number of totals born and live piglets, and sows increased feed intake during gestation and lactation, increased backfat thickness, and increased estrus interval were observed (p < 0.05) during their third and fourth parity than during their first and second parity. Ca-Mg complex supplementation improved (p < 0.05) the number of total piglets during the first and second parity as well as live-born piglets during the first to third parity, reduction (p < 0.05) in backfat thickness during the third and fourth parity, a higher (p < 0.05) initial and final number of suckling piglets as well as higher weaning weight compared with sows fed CON diet during the first, second, and third parity. The average daily gain (ADG) was higher (p < 0.05) in piglets born to CM1 and CM2 sows regardless of parity. The treatment diets fed to sows lowered (p < 0.05) the duration of first to last piglet birth and placenta expulsion time compared with CON sows. A significant interactive effect (p = 0.042) between parities and treatment diets was observed for the first to last piglet birth. Thus, Ca-Mg complex supplementation by partially replacing limestone in the basal diet enhanced sow performance, specifically during their third and fourth parity, thereby improving sow longevity.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1785-1795
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• 2023

Objective: This study was to estimate heritabilities, additive genetic correlations, and phenotypic correlations between number of piglets born alive (NBA), litter birth weight (LTBW), number of piglets weaned (NPW) and litter weaning weight (LTWW) in different parities of Landrace (L), Yorkshire (Y), Landrace×Yorkshire (LY), and Yorkshire×Landrace (YL) sows in a commercial swine operation in Northern Thailand. Methods: Two models were utilized, a single trait repeatability model (RM) and a multiple trait animal model (MTM). The RM assumed reproductive records from different parities to be repeated values of the same trait, whereas the MTM assumed these records to be different traits. The two models accounted for the fixed effects of farrowing year-season, genetic group of the sow, heterosis, and age at first farrowing, and the random effects of sow, boar, and residual. Results: Heritability estimates from RM were 0.02±0.01 for NBA, 0.10±0.01 for LTBW, 0.04±0.01 for NPW, and 0.11±0.01 for LTWW. Heritability estimates from MTM fluctuated across parities, ranging from 0.04±0.01 in parity 2 to 0.09±0.02 in parity 4 for NBA, 0.07±0.02 in parity 2 to 0.16±0.02 in parity 3 for LTBW, 0.04±0.02 in parity 4 to 0.08±0.01 in parity 1 for NPW, and 0.16±0.02 in parity 1 to 0.20±0.02 in parity 2 for LTWW. Additive genetic correlation estimates from MTM were also variable, ranging from 0.29±0.24 between NBA in parity 1 and NBA in parity 2 to 0.99±0.05 between LTWW in parity 3 and LTWW in parity 4. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the advantage of using MTM for the genetic improvement of reproductive traits in swine and contribute to the development of sustainable swine breeding programs in Thailand.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.250-256
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of graded levels of isomaltooligosaccharides (IMO) on the performance, immune function and intestinal microflora and intestinal mucosal morphology of weaned pigs. In a 28-day experiment, one hundred eighty, twenty eight-day-old, crossbred (Duroc${\times}$Large White${\times}$Landrace), weaned pigs, with an initial body weight of $8.19{\pm}1.45kg$, were fed either an unsupplemented corn-soybean meal based diet or similar diets supplemented with 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, or 0.8% IMO added at the expense of corn. Each treatment was replicated six times with six pigs (three barrows and three gilts) per pen. From day 0 to 14, weight gain was linearly increased (p<0.05), while gain:feed (p<0.05) was linearly improved and diarrhea rate (p = 0.05) linearly declined as the IMO level increased. On d 14, the level of the immunoglobulins IgA, IgM, and IgG in the serum of pigs were linearly increased (p<0.05) with increasing IMO supplementation. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) was linearly (p<0.05) and quadratically (p<0.05) decreased as IMO intake increased. From day 15 to 28, there was a trend for weight gain to be linearly increased, and IL-2 was linearly (p<0.05) increased as IMO supplementation increased on d 28. Over the entire experiment, weight gain was linearly increased (p<0.05), while gain:feed (p<0.05) was linearly improved and diarrhea rate (p<0.05) was linearly decreased as the IMO level increased. Supplementation with IMO had no effect on the intestinal microflora of pigs in the ileum and cecum of pigs, as well as the villus height and crypt depth in the ileum and jejunum (p>0.05). These results indicate that dietary inclusion of IMO increases weight gain, gain:feed and enhanced the immune status of pigs, and could be a valuable feed additive for use in weaned pigs, particularly during the period immediately after weaning.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.93-103
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• 2010

This study investigated the potential effects of amitraz on the pre- and postnatal development, behavior, and reproductive performance of offspring of parent rats given amitraz during pre-mating, gestation, and lactation. The test chemical was administered via the drinking water containing 0, 40, 120, and 360 ppm to male rats from 2 weeks before mating to the end of 14-day mating period and to females from 2 weeks before mating, throughout mating, gestation and lactation up to weaning. Based on fluid consumption, the male rats received an average of $0,\;5.7{\pm}1.33,\;13.2{\pm}2.08,$ and $35.8{\pm}3.42$ mg/kg/day amitraz, and the female rats received an average of $0,8.7{\pm}4.42,\;20.1{\pm}9.60,\;and\;47.6{\pm}22.38$ mg/kg/day amitraz, respectively. At 360 ppm, an increase in the incidence of abnormal clinical signs, a suppression in the body weight gain, a decrease in the food consumption and litter size, an increase in the post-implantation loss, and a decrease in the seminal vesicle weight were observed in the parent animals. In addition, a suppression in the body weight gain, a decrease in the grip strength, a delay in the negative geotaxis, an increase in the pre- and post-implantation loss, and a decrease in the number of live embryos were observed in the offspring. At 120 ppm, suppressed body weight gain and reduced food consumption were observed in the parent rats. Suppressed body weight gain and decreased grip strength were also observed in the offspring. There were no signs of either reproductive or developmental toxicity at 40 ppm. Under these experimental conditions, the no-observed-adverse-effect level of amitraz for parent rats and their offspring was estimated to be 40 ppm in rats.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.33-40
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• 2024

The live weight of livestock is important information for managing their health and housing conditions, and it can be used to determine the optimal amount of feed and the timing of shipment. In general, it takes a lot of human resources and time to weigh livestock using a scale, and it is not easy to measure each stage of growth, which prevents effective breeding methods such as feeding amount control from being applied. In this paper, we aims to improve the accuracy of weight measurement of piglets, weaned pigs, nursery pigs, and fattening pigs by collecting, analyzing, learning, and predicting video and image data in animal husbandry and pig farming. For this purpose, we trained using Pytorch, YOLO(you only look once) 5 model, and Scikit Learn library and found that the actual and prediction graphs showed a similar flow with a of RMSE(root mean square error) 0.4%. and MAPE(mean absolute percentage error) 0.2%. It can be utilized in the mammalian pig, weaning pig, nursery pig, and fattening pig sections. The accuracy is expected to be continuously improved based on variously trained image and video data and actual measured weight data. It is expected that efficient breeding management will be possible by predicting the production of pigs by part through video reading in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.152-165
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• 2017

The greater long-tail hamster, Tscherskia triton, is widely distributed in Northern China, Korea and adjacent areas of Russia. Except for its distribution, biological characteristics related to life history, behavior, and ecological influences for this species are rarely studied in Korea. This study was conducted to obtain biological information on breeding, growth and development that are basic to species-specific studies. The study adopted laboratory management of a breeding programme for T. triton collected in Jeju Island from March, 2015 to December, 2016. According to the study results, the conception rate was 31.67% and the mice in the large cages had a higher rate of conception than those in the small cages (56.7 vs. 6.7%). The gestation period was $22{\pm}1.6days$ (ranges from 21 to27 days), and litter size ranged from 2 to 7, with a mean of $4.26{\pm}1.37$ in the species. The minimum age for weaning was between $19.2{\pm}1.4days$ (range of 18-21 days). There were no significant differences by sex between mean body weight and external body measurements at birth. However, a significant sexual difference was found from the period of weaning (21 days old) in head and body length, as well as tail length (HBL-weaning, $106.50{\pm}6.02$ vs. $113.34{\pm}4.72mm$, p<0.05; HBL-4 months, $163.93{\pm}5.42$ vs. $182.83{\pm}4.32mm$, p<0.05; TL-4 months, $107.23{\pm}3.25$ vs. $93.95{\pm}2.15mm$, p<0.05). Gompertz and Logistic growth curves were fitted to data for body weight and lengths of head and body, tail, ear, and hind foot. In two types of growth curves, males exhibited greater asymptotic values ($164.840{\pm}7.453$ vs. $182.830{\pm}4.319mm$, p<0.0001; $163.936{\pm}5.415$ vs. $182.840{\pm}4.333mm$, p<0.0001), faster maximum growth rates ($1.351{\pm}0.065$ vs. $1.435{\pm}0.085$, p<0.05; $2.870{\pm}0.253$ vs. $3.211{\pm}0.635$, p<0.05), and a later age of maximum growth than females in head and body length ($5.121{\pm}0.318$ vs. $5.520{\pm}0.333$, p<0.05; $6.884{\pm}0.336$ vs. $7.503{\pm}0.453$, p<0.05). However, females exhibited greater asymptotic values ($105.695{\pm}5.938$ vs. $94.150{\pm}2.507mm$, p<0.001; $111.609{\pm}14.881$ vs. $93.960{\pm}2.150mm$, p<0.05) and longer length of inflection ($60.306{\pm}1.992$ vs. $67.859{\pm}1.330mm$, p<0.0001; $55.714{\pm}7.458$ vs. $46.975{\pm}1.074mm$, p<0.05) than males in tail length. These growth rate constants, viz. the morphological characters and weights of the males and females, were similar to each other in two types of growth curves. These results will be used as necessary data to study species specificity of T. triton with biological foundations.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1640-1647
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• 2009

Two field studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of difructose anhydride III (DFA III) as a supplement in colostrum replacer (CR) for improving the general health status (judged on the basis of incidence of enteritis, bronchitis, and pneumonia) of group-housed suckling Japanese Black calves. In a preliminary study, CR supplemented with DFA III (6 g) was orally administered within 24 h of calving to eight individually reared calves fed colostrum (DFA III group) (Exp. 1). Subsequently, CR supplemented with DFA III (6 g) was orally administered twice within 2 and 12 h of calving to four calves (DFA III group) that were not fed colostrum (Exp. 2). In both experiments, the health status of the calves was assessed during the preweaning period. In Exp. 2, hematological and blood-chemistry parameters were analyzed 24 h after the second administration of CR and at 1 wk and 1 month after calving. The results were compared between the DFA III and control groups (without DFA III supplementation; Exp. 1: n = 10, Exp. 2: n = 4). In Exp. 1, the number of calves requiring medications for the treatment of enteritis, bronchitis, and pneumonia during the preweaning period was significantly (p<0.05) lower in the DFA III group than in the control group. In Exp. 2, supplementation of DFA III did not influence the gain in body weight of calves during the pre-weaning period. Calves in the DFA III group tended to require medications for a shorter duration than those in the control group (DFA III: 10.3 d/calf, control: 21.3 d/calf; p = 0.07). Significant differences (p<0.05) in the level of mean corpuscular hemoglobin, total protein, total cholesterol, and immunoglobulin (Ig)G were observed between the DFA III and control groups. These differences probably reflect the health and nutritional status of the calves. Additionally, the serum iron and lactoferrin concentrations at 24 h and 1 wk after calving, respectively, differed significantly between the 2 groups. These concentrations might reflect the incidence of infections after calving. The present study revealed that the administration of DFA III as a CR supplement may prevent diseases in group-housed calves during the pre-weaning period.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.849-860
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• 1996

The supply of different fatty acids during the development period has significant effects. This study examined the effects of dietary $\omega$3 and $\omega$6 fatty acid compositions on phospholipids (PLs) of RBC and rat brain subcellular fractions (synaptosome, microsome, mitochondria), and on learning ability of the 2nd generation rat. Rats were fed experimental diets 3-4 wks prior to the conception. Early in the lactation period, the feeding mothers were exchanged. Diets consisted of 10% fat(by weight), which was either safflower oil('S') poor in $\omega$3 fatty acids or computer-searched mixed oil('M') with P/M/S ratio, 1/1.4/1 and $\omega$6/$\omega$3 ratio, 6.1/1. The 'S' and 'M' rats were subdivided further into SS, SM, MS & MM rats according to their lactation stauts. At 3 (weaning) & 9 wks of age, the percentage of total $\omega$3 fatty acids to their lactation status. At 3 (weaning) & 9 wks of age, the percentage of total $\omega$3 fatty acids and the ratios of $\omega$3/$\omega$6 fatty acids in PLs of RBC and brain subcellular fractions in SM and MM groups fed milk from the mixed oil-fed mothers for 2 wks tended to be higher than those in SS and MS groups respectively. In contrast, the concentrations of $\omega$6 fatty acids, especially 22:5$\omega$6 in all fractions, were significantly lower in the SM & MM groups compared to those of the SS & MS groups respectively. In contrast, the concentration of $\omega$6 fatty acids, especially 22:5$\omega$6 in all fractions, were significantly lower in the SM & MM groups compared to those of the SS & MS groups, The values for the DHA$\omega$3/22:5$\omega$6 ratios after the lactation period were markedly higher in the groups (SM & MM) which were reared by mixed oil(MO) fed mothers. In carring out Y-water maze at 9th wk of age, the SM(4.2$\pm$0.5) & MM (5.3$\pm$0.5) groups made significantly less errors compared to the SS(6.2$\pm$0.6, p<0.05 compared with SM) & MM (7.2$\pm$0.5, p<0.05 compared with MM) groups which were lactated by the safflower oilfed mothers. Therefore, by feeding a balanced fatty acid diet from the lactation period up to 9 wks of age as compared with the groups fed $\omega$3 fatty acid-deficient diet regardless of mother's diet given before parturition. The levels of DHA(synaptosome) and 22:5$\omega$3 (mitochondria) were positively correlated not only with these values in RBC but also with visual discriminating ability. The levels of DHA and 22:5$\omega$3 in RBC can, therfore, reflect visual discriminatng ability in the rat.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.375-382
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• 2015

In the present study, offsprings of 14 sows were used to evaluate the effect of fermented milk substituted for creep feed to analyze its effect on growth performance, diarrhea score and blood profiles. The piglets of sows were randomly allocated into 1 of 2 treatments (1 treatment separated piglets of 7 sows). The dietary treatments includes: CF (creep feed) and FM (fermented milk). The CP and FM diets were given from 3 d after piglets were born to the day of weaning (21 d after piglets were born). No significant difference (P>0.05) were observed in number of born piglets, weaning pigs, survival rate, body weight of piglets at d 0, 7, 14, and 21, ADG and ADFI. At d 21, piglets fed with CP had a higher (P<0.05) IgG compared with piglets fed with FM. No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in WBC among the treatments at d 21. At d 6, piglets fed with CP had a lower (P<0.05) number of diarrhea piglets compared to piglets fed with FM. In conclusion, FM substituted for CP had no adverse effect on growth performance in lactating piglets.