. 2026 May 22;13:1808950. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2026.1808950

Table 4.

Spearman’s correlation analysis of ruminal fermentation products, blood biomarkers, and behavioral stress responses.

Variables	Volatile fatty acids					Ammonia		Plasma hormones
Open-field behaviors	Acetic acid	Propionic acid	Butyric acid	Total VFA	Acetic acid/	Rumen ammonia
Open-field behaviors	Acetic acid	Propionic acid	Butyric acid	Total VFA	Propionic acid	Rumen ammonia	Plasma ammonia	Cortisol	Aldosterone
Latency to enter	−0.112	−0.200	−0.446^†	−0.208	0.275	−0.536^*	−0.695^**	−0.574^*	−0.320
Squares entered	0.213	0.125	0.161	0.116	−0.146	0.534^*	0.777^***	0.266	0.313
Sniffing	0.344	0.413	0.404	0.342	−0.265	0.455^†	0.569^*	0.254	0.424^†
Latency to bleat	−0.113	−0.246	−0.417^†	−0.247	0.437^†	−0.276	−0.517^*	−0.642^**	0.092
Bleats	−0.036	0.164	0.185	0.063	−0.412	0.298	0.540^*	0.483^*	0.261
Plasma hormones
Cortisol	−0.012	0.512^*	0.485^*	0.350	−0.561^*	0.341	0.440^†
Aldosterone	0.319	0.360	0.255	0.380	−0.140	0.394	0.404

Variables are pooled across treatments and periods (n = 17). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ^†0.05 ≤ p < 0.10.