• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.595-602
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• 2023

Feed processing methods can substantially enhance the nutrient value of feed. The aim of our study was to compare the effects of mash or crumble feed on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, back-fat thickness, and carcass quality of growing-finishing pigs. In total, 50 ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) growing pigs with initial body weight of 46.24 ± 3.57 kg were randomly assigned to two dietary treatment groups. The two dietary treatments were: 1) mash and 2) crumble feed forms for 14 weeks of trials. Five replication pens per treatment, comprised five pigs (2 males and 3 females) each. Growth performance, nutrient digestibility, back-fat thickness, and carcass quality were observed at different weeks. There were no significant differences in growth performance, nutrient digestibility, back-fat thickness, and carcass quality throughout the experimental trial. Further study is required to understand the effects of mash and crumble feed on growing-finishing pigs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.395-402
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• 2020

A total of 60 growing pigs (25.50 ± 1.63 kg) were used in a 6-week trial to investigate the effects of diet supplementation with brewer's yeast (Saccharmyces cerevisiae) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and fecal score of growing pigs. Pigs were randomly allocated to one of two dietary treatments [six replications (five pigs·pen^-1)] according to initial body weight. The dietary treatments included: 1) control, basal diet (CON); 2) basal diet supplemented with 1% brewer's yeast. Dietary supplementation with brewer's yeast showed significant improvement in body weight (BW) at weeks 4 and 6; the average daily gain (ADG) and gain : feed ratio (G/F) was higher during week 4 and overall compared with CON (p < 0.05). Brewer's yeast supplementation in the diet had no significant on the nutrient digestibility. There was no significant difference in the fecal score of CON and brewer's yeast supplementation in the diet. In conclusion, the results indicate that dietary supplementation with brewer's yeast can improve growth performance in growing pigs. The results showed that supplementation of brewer's yeast in the diet of growing pigs had a positive effect on the ADG in growing pigs, but no significant effect on nutrient digestibility and fecal score when supplemented with brewer's yeast in the diet of growing pigs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.653-661
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• 2023

Phytase enhances phosphorus availability in pig diets by breaking down phytic acid, which is challenging for animals to digest. This study aimed to assess the impact of dietary phytase supplementation on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and fecal score of growing pigs. Sixty-four growing pigs ([Yorkshire × Landrace] × Duroc, average body weight 21.20 ± 0.18 kg) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. The dietary treatments were CON, basal diet, and PHY, basal diet + 0.0025% phytase. Results indicated a tendency for increased average daily gain in the phytase-supplemented diet group (p < 0.10) compared to the control diet group. The average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio were not affected by the addition of 0.0025% phytase. Furthermore, dry matter digestibility, nitrogen content, and digestible energy were not influenced (p > 0.05) by phytase supplementation. Fecal score remained similar (p > 0.05) in growing pigs fed phytase-supplemented and control diets. These findings suggest that supplementing the diet of growing pigs with 0.0025% phytase may lead to improved average daily gain without adverse effects on nutrient digestibility and fecal score. This implies the potential to enhance growth performance without compromising overall health or digestion in pigs. Further investigations into the optimal levels of phytase supplementation for growing pigs are recommended.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1445-1450
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• 2012

A study was conducted to evaluate effects of alfalfa meal on growth performance and gastrointestinal tract development of growing layer ducks to provide evidence for application of alfalfa meal in the duck industry. Two hundred and fifty-six healthy Shaoxing 7-wk old growing layer ducks were selected and randomly allocated to 1 of 4 dietary treatments based on corn and soybean meal and containing 0, 3, 6, and 9% of alfalfa meal for 8 wks. Each treatment consisted of 4 replicates of 16 ducks each. Briefly, birds were raised in separate compartments, and each compartment consisted of three parts: indoor floor house, adjacent open area and a connecting water area. The results showed: i) Growing ducks fed alfalfa meal diet were not significantly different in average daily gain, feed intake and gain-to-feed ratio from those fed no alfalfa diet (p>0.05). ii) Alfalfa meal increased the ratio crop, gizzard to live weight, caecum to live weight, the caecum index of growing ducks (p<0.05). iii) Villus height in duodenum and jejunum of growing ducks increased significantly with the increase of alfalfa meal levels (p<0.05). Crypt depth in duodenum and jejunum of growing ducks decreased significantly with the increase of alfalfa meal levels (p<0.05). This experiment showed that feeding of alfalfa meal to growing layer ducks could improve gastrointestinal tract growth and small intestinal morphology without effect on performance. This experiment provides evidence that alfalfa meal is a very valuable feedstuff for growing layer ducks.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1407-1416
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of genotype (slower-growing vs. fast-growing) and production system (access to outdoors vs. indoor) on the growth performance, carcass yield and meat quality (chemical composition, physicochemical and sensory properties) of chickens. The experiment was performed on 1,040 day-old hybrid male chickens of two genotypes. Slower-growing chickens (Hubbard JA957, certified) and fast-growing chickens (Hubbard F15) were fed identical diets until 65 days of age. Both genotypes (each represented by 520 birds) were divided into two subgroups and were raised in pens on litter with outdoor access or in indoor confinement without outdoor access (four replications per subgroup, each of 65 birds). Until day 21, the birds stayed in the indoor facility, in deep-litter pens. The birds could forage on pasture 12 h daily, commencing at three weeks of age. Stocking density was 0.13 $m^2$ floor space per bird in pens on litter, and 0.8 $m^2$ per bird in grassy yards. Compared with fast-growing, slower-growing chickens were significantly lighter (by 17%), had a lower breast and thigh muscle yield and a higher abdominal fat content, but they were characterized by higher survival rates at 65 days, a higher protein content and a lower fat content of breast meat. Outdoor access had no negative effects on the growth performance, muscle yield, the fatty acid profile and oxidative status of meat lipids. The meat of free-range chickens was darker in color, it had a higher protein content and a better water-holding capacity, but it was less juicy than the meat of birds raised indoors.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.313-320
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• 2020

This research was performed to investigate the hypothesis that dietary mono-component protease (PRO) might improve growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs. A total of eighty-four pigs [Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire), 25.3 ± 2.16 kg initial body weight] were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments (7 replicates/treatment; 2 barrows and 2 gilts/replicate) in a randomized complete block design (block = sex). The dietary treatments were prepared as follows; (1) a positive control (PC) as a typical growing-finishing diet based on corn and soybean meal, (2) PC added with 0.015% of PRO (PCPRO), and (3) a negative control (NC) added with 0.015% of PRO (NCPRO). The NC had a lower concentration of crude protein (CP) compared with PC. The PRO was a commercial product that contained 75,000 protease units/g and derived from Nocardiopsis prasina produced in Bacillus licheniformis. Dietary treatments were offered to pigs during growing and finishing periods. Measurements were growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrients, and carcass characteristics. The PCPRO and/or NCPRO increased average daily gain (ADG) and gain to feed ratio (G:F) during growing (p < 0.10), finishing (p < 0.05), and growing-finishing periods (p < 0.10) compared with PC. Furthermore, pigs fed PCPRO and NCPRO had higher (p < 0.05) ATTD of CP and energy during growing and/or finishing periods than those fed PC. In conclusion, the supplementation of PRO in diets improved growth performance and protein digestibility of growing-finishing pigs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.95-101
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• 2021

This study investigated the influence of sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (SSL) emulsifier on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of growing pigs. For this 56-day long-duration experiment, 80 heads of cross-bred ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) pigs with an initial body weight of 23.80 ± 4.87 kg were divided into two (2) treatment groups each fed a different diet: with and without an emulsifier. Each treatment group had 8 replication pens with 5 pigs per pen. Feed treatments were as follows: 1) CON: Basal diet, and 2) SSL: CON + 0.05% SSL. Body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured for three periods: 0 - 4, 5 - 8, and 0 - 8 weeks. The nutrient digestibility parameters consisting of dry matter (DM) digestibility and nitrogen (N) digestibility were calculated on the 4^th and 8^th week. Based on the results, the SSL supplementation did not show any significant influence on the growth performance parameters during the 0 to 4 and 5 to 8 week phases. For the overall performance, only the FCR (p = 0.048) was significantly different in the emulsifier fed group (SSL) compared to the CON group (T1). DM and N digestibility was also not influenced by the SSL addition in the growing pig diet. Overall, the SSL supplementation showed a limited effect on the growth performance of growing pigs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.531-537
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• 2022

This study evaluated the effects of dehulled lupin kernel (DLK) supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine, fecal microbiota and fecal noxious gas emission in growing pigs. A total of 108 growing pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc) with an average initial body weight (IBW) of 24.49 ± 3.2 kg were allocated to one of three dietary treatments (5, 10, and 20 % DLK) according to sex and BW in a randomized complete block design for 6 wk. Each dietary treatment consisted of 9 replication pens with 4 pigs per pen (2 gilts and 2 borrows). The results show that there were no significant differences in growth performance and nutrient digestibility among the treatments (p > 0.05). However, pigs fed the DLK20 diet had a higher BUN compared with those fed the DLK10 diet (p < 0.05). No effects were observed on the fecal microbiota and fecal noxious gas emission among the treatments. In conclusion, the inclusion of 20% DLK had no adverse effects on the performance in growing pigs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.185-192
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of condensed molasses fermentation solubles (CMS) on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and backfat thickness of growing pigs. In an eight-week trial, a total of 120 cross-bred ([Landrace × Yorkshire]× Duroc) growing pigs with an average initial body weight (BW) of 25.84 ± 1.60 kg were used. The pigs were randomly assigned to one of two dietary treatments based on body weight and sex. The dietary treatments were as follows: CON - corn-soybean meal-based basal diet (CON) + 2% molasses; and TRT1 - CON + 2% CMS. Each treatment had 12 replicates with five pigs (three gilts and two castrated barrows) per pen. Though there were no significant differences observed in terms of the growth performance and nutrient digestibility (p < 0.05), the backfat thickness in pigs fed 2% CMS tended to increase in week 4 (p < 0.1). Thus, 2% CMS could be optimal to replace molasses given that it does not exert any adverse effects on the performance of growing pigs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.489-496
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• 2019

A study was conducted to determine the effects of feeding ${\gamma}$-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and fecal score in growing pigs. Ninety Duroc ${\times}$ (Landrace ${\times}$ Large Yorkshire) growing pigs with an average initial body weight (BW) of $25.51{\pm}1.63kg$ were randomly allotted to three treatment groups with 6 replications of 5 pigs per replicate pen for each treatment in a 6-week trial period. The treatments were as follows: 1) basal diet (CON); 2) basal diet with 0.05% GABA and 3) basal diet with 1% of a 10% HCl solution. The results showed that GABA supplementation significantly increased the average daily gain (ADG) (p < 0.05) compared with the control during week 4 and the overall experiment period (0 to 6 weeks). However, HCl supplementation had a numerical increase in the ADG compared with the control. The total tract digestibility of dry matter (DM) was greater in GABA group than the CON (p < 0.05). The supplementation of GABA and HCl in the diet of growing pigs had no significant effect on the fecal scores compared with the CON. Experimental results show that supplementation of 0.05% GABA in the diet of growing pigs had a positive effect on the ADG and DM digestibility in growing pigs.