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. 2023 Oct 30;16:84–95. doi: 10.1016/j.aninu.2023.10.002

Table 6.

Effects of water treatment and breed of yearling goat doelings and hair sheep ewe lambs on ruminal fluid characteristics and blood constituent concentrations.

Item P-values1
 AT2
 SEM
WT AT WT × AT3 ANG BOE SPA DOR KAT STC
Ruminal fluid
 pH 0.58 <0.01 0.63 5.84a 5.85a 5.82a 6.06b 6.11b 6.11b 0.035
 Ammonia nitrogen, mg/dL 0.61 <0.01 0.15 6.0a 10.0c 8.0b 6.6ab 5.8a 6.2a 0.54
 Total VFA, mmol/L 0.85 <0.01 0.14 58.7bc 59.3bc 62.2c 55.0ab 52.3a 56.6ab 1.65
 Acetate, molar % 0.10 <0.01 0.58 81.2b 81.3b 79.6a 79.0a 79.1a 79.0a 0.41
 Propionate, molar % 0.18 0.01 0.95 11.6ab 11.5a 12.8c 12.3bc 12.5c 12.2abc 0.35
 Acetate:propionate 0.15 <0.01 0.96 7.05bc 7.22c 6.40a 6.51a 6.40a 6.56ab 0.170
 Isobutyrate, molar % 0.72 <0.01 0.85 0.22a 0.30b 0.32b 0.46c 0.44c 0.40c 0.026
 Butyrate, molar % 0.31 <0.01 0.04 6.38ab 6.18a 6.50ab 7.23cd 6.90bc 7.56d 0.218
 ANG 0.11
 BOE 0.78
 SPA 0.33
 DOR 0.53
 KAT 0.04
 STC 0.33
 Isovalerate, molar % 0.62 <0.01 0.73 0.15a 0.27b 0.29bc 0.47d 0.47d 0.39cd 0.036
 Valerate, molar % 0.14 <0.01 0.59 0.42a 0.42a 0.47ab 0.50bc 0.53c 0.51bc 0.019
Blood measures
 PCV, % 0.08 <0.01 0.92 21.4b 18.1a 23.5b 31.1c 29.6c 29.8c 1.06
 tHb, g/dL 0.04 <0.01 0.77 8.6b 7.0a 9.5b 12.1c 11.8c 11.5c 0.43
 Hb O2 saturation, % 0.94 <0.01 0.69 74.3c 69.9bc 67.0ab 61.3a 67.0ab 69.4b 2.10
 O2 concentration, mmol/L 0.45 <0.01 0.74 8.8b 6.7a 8.7b 10.3c 10.9c 11.1c 0.47
 Glucose, mg/dL 0.23 <0.01 0.69 43.7a 51.2b 52.7b 57.1c 52.8b 56.2c 1.16
 Lactate, mg/dL 0.13 <0.01 0.41 10.7a 12.9a 16.7a 31.3b 17.6a 18.2a 2.92
 Albumin, g/dL 0.15 <0.01 1.00 2.35b 2.02a 2.35b 2.46b 2.31b 2.39b 0.068
 Urea nitrogen, mg/dL 0.53 <0.01 0.98 15.4b 18.0c 13.9ab 11.3ab 10.6a 11.7ab 1.38
 Triglycerides, mg/dL 0.24 0.24 0.32 28.6 27.3 28.1 30.7 25.5 25.5 1.62
 Cholesterol, mg/dL 0.94 <0.01 0.83 74.8b 51.3a 51.0a 58.4a 56.2a 59.4a 3.39
 Creatinine, mg/dL 0.49 <0.01 0.67 0.72a 0.86c 0.82bc 1.02d 0.84bc 0.77ab 0.032
 Alkaline phosphatase, U/L 0.95 0.02 0.98 49a 39a 298b 108a 105a 140a 52.7
 Aspartate transferase, U/L 0.34 <0.01 0.14 139c 65ab 63a 95b 72ab 72ab 11.1
 Gamma glutamyl transferase, U/L 0.29 <0.01 0.28 105c 38a 37a 63b 59b 52ab 5.0
 Creatine kinase, U/L <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 190c 153bc 110ab 82a 80a 83a 17.3
 ANG <0.01
 BOE 0.05
 SPA 0.77
 DOR 0.23
 KAT 0.61
 STC 0.55
 Osmolality, mOsm/kg 0.67 0.06 0.12 296 302 301 302 298 299 1.7
 Calcium, mg/dL 0.71 <0.01 0.23 8.70a 8.59a 8.84ab 9.46bc 9.59c 9.82c 0.236
 Chloride, mmol/L 0.81 0.13 0.57 115 114 114 113 112 113 0.8
 Potassium, mmol/L 0.83 0.01 0.46 4.99ab 4.83a 4.82a 5.27b 5.24b 5.28b 0.114
 Magnesium, mg/dL 0.44 0.02 0.66 2.00a 2.19b 2.23b 2.28b 2.35b 2.18ab 0.064
 Sodium, mmol/L 0.94 0.17 0.29 144 144 144 145 141 141 1.1
 Total antioxidant capacity, μmol/L 0.43 <0.01 0.96 241c 221bc 191a 192a 199ab 202ab 9.46
 Aldosterone, pg/mL <0.01 0.51 0.80 93 157 97 93 74 112 30.9

SEM = pooled standard error of the mean for the animal type effect; VFA = volatile fatty acids; PCV = packed cell volume; tHb = total hemoglobin; Hb O2 = oxygen saturation of hemoglobin.

a,b,c,dMeans in a row without a common superscript letter differ (P < 0.05).

1

WT = water treatment; AT = animal type.

2

ANG = Angora goats; BOE = Boer goats; SPA = Spanish goats; DOR = Dorper sheep; KAT = Katahdin sheep; STC = St. Croix sheep.

3

Mean values by breed × water treatment are presented in Tables S4 and S5.