. 2023 Aug 28;14:1247251. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1247251

TABLE 2.

Concentrate supplementation affects performance and rumen fermentation parameters of cool-season grazing yaks.

Items¹	Supplementary groups²				SEM	P-value
	CON	LCS	MCS	HCS
Production performance
IBW/kg	204.53	204.69	205.42	205.17	4.53	0.873
FBW/kg	187.37^c	205.82^b	246.21^a ^b	278.42^a	3.78	0.032
TWG/kg	−17.16^d	1.13^c	40.79^b	73.25^a	1.78	0.027
ADG/(g/d)	−235.17^d	12.55^c	453.32^b	813.89^a	33.31	0.003
Rumen fermentation parameters
pH	6.87^a	6.76^a	6.46^b	6.37^b	0.049	<0.0001
NH₃-N, mg/100 mL	7.65^c	7.96^c	11.04^b	14.69^a	0.699	<0.0001
Total VFA, mmol/L	49.25^b	58.28^b	64.90^a	76.20^a	3.078	0.0074
VFA, %
Acetate	75.65^a	74.05^a	68.91^b	66.33^b	0.991	0.0001
Propionate	14.12^b	13.69^b	14.82^b	18.26^a	0.493	0.0005
Isobutyrate	0.83^b	0.91^b	1.45^a	1.12^a ^b	0.088	0.0406
Butyrate	8.06^b	9.85^a ^b	12.36^a	11.84^a	0.528	0.0062
Isovalerate	1.03^c	1.15^bc	1.81^a	1.63^a ^b	0.107	0.0146
Valerate	0.31^c	0.33^c	0.64^b	0.83^a	0.052	<0.0001
Acetate:Propionate	5.38^a	5.43^a	4.73^a	3.71^b	0.188	0.0003

¹IBW, initial body weight; FBW, final body weight; TWG, total weight gain; ADG, average daily gain; VFA, volatile fatty acid. ²CON, control group; LCS, low concentrate supplement group; MCS, middle concentrate supplement group; HCS, high concentrate supplement group. ^a,b,c,dThe presence of the same letter after each treatment is non-significant, and the presence of completely different letters indicates a significant difference.