To investigate the effects of coarsely or finely ground corn on milk yield and ruminal fermentation in a hot and humid season, we conducted a feeding trial with mixed diets composed two different ground corns, coarsely ground corn (CGC) or finely ground corn (FGC) . Four mid- or late-lactating Holstein cows were assigned to two groups; CGC group or FGC group. This experimental design, a switch back trial with three 7-day periods followed by a 7-day adaptation period, started in June 2002. DMI, milk yield, or fat-corrected milk yield were not affected by the size of ground corn. Milk fat percentage in CGC was higher than that in FGC (P=0.172), whereas Milk protein percentage in CGC was lower than that in FGC (P=0.095) . Then, acetate-to-propionate ratio in the rumen fluid in FGC was significantly lower than that in CGC (P=0.023) .
These results indicate that the choice of coarse or fine ground corn in mixed diets is important on the control of milk protein and fat in a hot and humid season of Kumamoto.

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The technical establishment of boar sperm cryopreservation is indispensable for constantly supplying fine spermatozoa to effectively breed rare Okinawa native pig, Agu. Hence, the present study was carried out to determine whether the standing periods of spermatozoa before the onset of cooling procedure had effects on its freezability in association with the resistance to chilling injury, assessed by the integrity of plasmalemma, the acrosomal proteolytic activity, the motile patterns, and the in vitro fertilizing capacity. Ejaculated spermatozoa from four Agu and two Landrace boars were washed by centrifugation within 10 min after collection, suspended in Beltsville thawing solution, and then allowed to stand for 0, 1 or 2 hour at room temperature until dilution with BF5 freezing solution. In Agu, the elongation of standing periods before cooling caused significant (p<0.05) decreases in the integrity of plasmalemma, the proteolytic activity of acrosomal contents, and the rate of motile cells and progressive motility in frozen-thawed spermatozoa. Moreover, the post-thawed spermatozoa without the standing period possessed the highest level of the penetrability to in vitro matured oocytes. However, the influences of the standing periods upon the freezability were not found in Landrace spermatozoa as Agu spermatozoa. Therefore, it is concluded that the freezing method without the standing periods before the onset of cooling procedure is appropriate for cryopreservation of ejaculated spermatozoa in Agu.

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It has been eighty years since the Japanese Saanen were brought into Okinawa prefecture to improve the Okinawa meat goats. Morphogenetic characters of the Okinawa meat goats were analyzed using 1, 338 goats of approximately five months of age and older belonging to eleven populations raised on the ten different islands. The frequencies of genes for colored coat (i), Wattleless (w) and horned (p) were qi=0.377, qw=0.860 and qp=0.781 respectively. The phenotype frequencies of goats with beards and with supernumerary teats were 65% and 16% respectively. At present, the migration rate of the Japanese Saanen into the Okinawa meat goats is calculated by four morphogenetic characters. The average gene flow from the Japanese Saanen into the Okinawa meat goats was 69% as a whole. The migration rate into the goats in Iheya (50%) and Yonaguni Island (52%) was lower than those in other islands respectively, while the rate in Miyako (91%), North Okinawa (89% ), South-Central Okinawa Island (77%) was high respectively. There is a noticeable polarized gap developing between the islands. The possibility of selection in coat color, wattles, horns and supernumerary teats was analyzed and the results showed that horned (p) and lacking supernumerary teat genes were positively selected.

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To develop a feeding system to utilize tropical grass for dairy cattle in Okinawa, which is situated in a sub-tropical climate, we fed cattle a total mixed ration (TMR) which included Digitaria eriantha Steud. cv. Transvala hay (Tra group) or imported oat hay (oat group), and compared the effects of both hays on lactation. Both TMRs were based on dry matter, and consisted of 60% self formulation feed and 40% roughage, which consisted of 65% Transvala or oat hay and 35% alfalfa. The nutrient contents were in the following ratios for the Tra and oat groups, 73.0% and 72.0% for total digestible nutrients, 18.2% and 15.8% for crude protein (CP), 39.0% and 35.6% for neutral detergent fiber (NDF), respectively. This study was carried out by the crossover method (2-week period), using eight dairy cattle.
Although the milk yield, fat and protein content and body weight, showed no significant differences between the Tra and oat groups, dry matter intake in the Tra group was significantly lower than the oat group and the concentrations of blood and milk urea nitrogen were significantly higher in the Tra group.
From these results, it was thought that TMR with Transvala hay could replace imported oat hay, if the NDF and CP contents are considered.

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Proper nutritional management during the dry period is required to prevent cow from metabolic disorders during the transition period and to increase milk yield during early lactation, especially in summer. We investigated the effects of nutrient balance on plasma metabolites of dry pregnant cows 9 days prepartum under high ambient temperature. Eleven cows were used in this experiment. Plasma NEFA concentration was negatively correlated with energy balance of dry, pregnant cows (P<0.01) . Energy balance did not have the apparent effect on plasma glucose and insulin concentrations. Nitrogen balance was not correlated with plasma total protein, albumin, and urea nitrogen concentration. Nitrogen balance was not correlated with plasma 3-methylhistidine concentration as a marker of myofibrillar protein degradation. Nitrogen balance was positively correlated with plasma essential amino acid (P<0.01), non-essential amino acid (P<0.05) and total amino acid (P<0.01) concentration. Plasma Ca concentration was positively correlated with Ca balance and P balance. Plasma osteocalcin as bone formation marker was correlated positively with Ca balance. Calcium and phosphorus balance did not affect the urinary deoxypyridinoline excretion as bone resorption marker. These results suggested that decreased nutrient intake negatively affects plasma metabolites in dry, pregnant cows under high ambient temperature.

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We examined the effects of tea manufacturing residual on carcass characteristics and meat quality of fattening pigs. Twelve barrows (Landrace) were divided into two groups: tea manufacturing residual (TR) and control. The TR group was fed commercial diet containing 2% tea manufacturing residual. The average initial body weights of the two groups exceeded 65kg, and the pigs were slaughtered when they reached a weight of approximately 110kg. There were no significant differences in daily gain and carcass weight between the two groups, but backfat became significantly thin in the TR group. Compared with the control group, vitamin E content in backfat of TR group was significantly high (0.45mg/100g for the TR group, 0.32mg/100g for the control group, respectively), and the increase in lipid peroxide content in backfat during chilled storage was significantly low in the TR group. No difference was also found in the sensory evaluation of loin between the two groups. Together, these results suggest that feeding a diet containing 2% tea manufacturing residual during the fattening finishing period improves carcass characteristics, meat quality, and meat preservation of pigs without exerting any adverse effects on pig growth and meat taste.

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Japanese Black bulls that had an examination in performance test were ultrasonically scanned in order to obtain M. longissimus thoracis area (MLTA), rib thickness (RT), subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT), intramuscular fat thickness (IMFT) and marbling score (MS) on 7th thoracic vertebra and M. longissimus thoracis area on 13th thoracic vertebra (MLTA13) as the indicators for selecting bulls. Estimates of heritability for MLTA, MLTA13, RT, SFT, IMFT and MS at the end of testing were 0.07, 0.03, 0.1 1, 0.36, 0.14 and 0.35 respectively. Ultrasound measurements that are MLTA, MLTA13, RT and SFT of sire correlated the same carcass traits of progeny and the coefficient of correlation was a positive value. The percentage of variation explained by the multiple regression analysis as independent variable for MLTA and RT of progeny were 49.7% and 63.9%.

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Rearing pigs 796 (barrow: 203 and gilt: 593) produced by boar: 25 and swine: 205 of Berkshire were ultrasonically scanned in order to study the validity of performance in relation to progeny testing used by rib eye area (REA), subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT), intermuscular fat thickness (IMFT)
The effect of the boar affected to all carcass traits significantly (P<0.01) . Heritabilities of carcass traits were 0.33, 0.37, 0.40, 0.17, and 0.27, on the traits of REA, SFT, SFT-1, SFT-2, and IMFT. The season affected to all carcass traits significantly (P<0.01) except for IMFT, and the effect of the sex affected to all carcass traits significantly (P<0.01) . SFT-land IMFT was significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the interaction of season and sex. Moreover, half sib correlation between barrow and gilt for REA was 0.44 and between gilt for REA and barrow of SFT, SFT-2 was negative correlation coefficient.

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This study was conducted to investigate the milk yield and quality on lactating Holstein dairy cows fed rations including the silage made from forage rice mixed with or without phasey bean (Macroptilium laghyroides (L.) Urb. cv. Murray) . The milk-ripe stage rice plants (cv. Tetep) wilted for two days after harvesting were mixed with the blooming stage phasey bean (Pb) wilted for 2 - 3 hours after harvesting at the ratio of 4 : 0 or 3 : 1 in fresh matter, before being ensiled by a mini roll baler. Rations were designated as control ration, Tetep ration and Tetep+Pb ration. The control ration fed daily to a cow is composed of 26 kg of Italian ryegrass silage (Ir silage) as a roughage feed. The Tetep ration is composed of 5 kg of Tetep silage and the ration of Tetep+Pb is composed of 5 kg of Tetep+Pb silage, with 22 kg of Ir silage for each of the two rations. In addition each of daily rations includes 5-8 kg of dairy formula feed, 3 kg of alfalfa hay cubes and 1-2 kg of flaked maize. After 5 days preliminary period, the experimental period was followed. The cows were divided into two groups (2 heads/group) fed with Tetep and Tetep+Pb silage for 11 days (first term) and 7 days (second term), and all the cows were fed with control ration for 7 days during experimental periods. The results obtained were as follows. The Tetep+Pb silage showed lower fermentation quality than the Tetep silage due to a higher ratio of volatile basic nitrogen to total nitrogen (VBN/TN) . Total digestible nutrients (TDN) and crude protein (CP) contents of the Tetep+Pb silage were higher than those of the Tetep silage. This was caused by comparative high values of them in Pb (TDN; 65.0%, CP; 15.0%) . There were no significant differences in milk yield and quality between control, Tetep and Tetep+Pb rations fed to cows. The concentration of urea-N in blood plasma was higher in cows fed Tetep or Tetep+Pb rations than in cows fed the control ration. The ratio of valeric acid to total volatile fatty acids and ammonia-N concentration in rumen fluid were higher in cows fed rations Tetep or Tetep+Pb than in cows fed control ration. The above higher values detected in blood plasma and rumen fluid were within clinically normal ranges.

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This study was conducted in order to determine the relationships between reproductive performance, milk production, and nutritional status in dairy cows. Data of the Dairy Herd Performance Test for Fukuoka prefecture from 1999 to 2005 were investigated to clarify these relationships. The milk yield, milk fat%, milk protein% and solids-not-fat% tended to increase year by year and the body weight tended to be heavier as well. The mean of days to first service, days open and calving intervals showed a trend to be delayed. However, from 1999 to 2005, the amount of concentrate feed did not increase. Meeting the nutritional requirements of concentrate feeding tended to decrease year by year. Calving intervals correlated (P<0.05) with body weight, milk protein% and solids-not-fat%. The average days open correlated with body weight (r=0.899, P<0.01), milk fat% (r=0.928, P<0.01) and solids-not-fat% (r=0.889, P<0.01) . Correlation between, the average days open and the dry matter requirement (P<0.01), TDN requirement (P<0.05), CP requirement (P<0.05), and the level of TDN and CP intake% by concentrate (P<0.05) were also shown. The average days to first service correlated with body weight (P<0.05), milk fat% (P<0.01), milk protein% (P<0.01) and solids-not-fat% (P<0.01) . These results suggest that adequate feeding management is imperative in order to improve reproductive performance in high-producing dairy cows.

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The experiment was conducted to find out the effects of cryoprotectants and freezing time on the quality of Black Bengal goat meat. For this purpose 5 samples were taken as a meat block (sample A), mince meat (sample B, considered as control), mince meat with 4% sucrose plus 0.3% polyphosphate (sample C), mince meat with 4% sorbitol plus 0.3% polyphosphate (sample D) and mince meat with 4% sucrose plus 4% sorbitol plus 0.3% polyphosphate (sample E) . Samples were kept at -20°C for 80 days and analyzed on every 20 days of interval. Moisture (P<0.01), protein (P<0.05) and lipid of all the samples decreased gradually with the elapse of storage time. No significant change occurred in organoleptic characteristics and sensory properties. The pH value initially decreased and then increased during the storage period. The TVN (Total Volatile Nitrogen) and expressible moisture values were significantly increased (P<0.01) and the protein solubility percentage was significantly decreased (P<0.01) during the storage period. Sample E was found to be the best, followed by sample D, C, A and B, respectively. Sorbitol and sucrose in combination was found as the best cryoprotectant for preserving meat quality of goat under refrigerated conditions.

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Six hundred and fifty nine gilts of Berkshire were used to confirm their second ancestor. Those animals were ultrasonically scanned in order to investigate the genetic and the environmental effects of the combination of Boars and Maternal Grand Sires (MGS) on the carcass traits. The ultrasonic measurements of carcass traits were also used to select the rearing pigs.
The random effects of the boars affected to all carcass traits significantly (P<0.01) . The heritability of the carcass traits were approximately more than 0.5 and were estimated relatively high. There was a great difference between the maximum and the minimum on ultrasonic measurements of the carcass traits and the differences on the fixed effects model which combine boars and MGS were larger than the fixed effects model with boar.
The circumstances mentioned above show the possibility to achieve a genetic improvement in the carcass traits of Berkshire gilts and suggest that the possibility to get more genetic gain including MGS in the model.

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Japanese black bulls after 20 months of age through the performance test were conducted in order to clarify the effects of feeding control weighted roughage on the growth of their carcass traits. DG was not significantly changed, but feed efficiency was affected by the increase of roughage intake on the feeding control. 7 and 13-MLTA were not significantly changed between years. RT was decreasing after the change of feeding control. No significantly differences were observed for MS. SFT and IMFT of bulls on performance test were decreasing after the change of feed control system, and these rates of decrease were getting larger after performance test.

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