Table 1.
Chemical composition, pH and protozoa population of heifers’ rumen contents before rumen transfers and from the bison inoculum used in the rumen transfers.
| Item | Before 1st rumen transfer | Before 2nd rumen transfer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heifers | Bison inoculum1 | Heifers | Bison inoculum1 | |
| Rumen DM content, kg | 5.5 ± 1.08 | — | 5.5 ± 0.89 | — |
| pH | 6.76 ± 0.093 | 7.25 | — | 7.19 |
| Protozoa | ||||
| Total, ×104 | 13.4 ± 4.28 | 34.4 | 28.2 | |
| Entodinium, %2 | 83.3 ± 7.70 | 85.0 | — | 79.8 |
| Ostracodinium, %2 | 7.2 ± 6.69 | 1.8 | — | 3.9 |
| Metadinium, %2 | 2.9 ± 3.56 | 1.2 | — | 0.0 |
| Polyplastron, %2 | 2.3 ± 2.59 | 0.0 | — | 0.0 |
| Isotricha, %2 | 1.7 ± 2.34 | 7.4 | — | 10.6 |
| Eudiplodinium, %2 | 0.9 ± 1.17 | 0.7 | — | 2.1 |
| Diplodinium, %2 | 0.8 ± 1.39 | 0.7 | — | 1.4 |
| Dasytricha, %2 | 0.5 ± 0.93 | 2.5 | — | 1.4 |
| Ophryoscolex, %2 | 0.2 ± 0.51 | 0.2 | — | 0 |
| Epidinium, %2 | 0.1 ± 0.35 | 0.3 | — | 0.7 |
| Chemical composition | ||||
| DM, % | 9.5 ± 0.84 | 13.2 | 9.1 ± 0.98 | 12.0 |
| OM, % of DM | 87.0 ± 2.01 | 87.3 | 86.6 ± 2.22 | 85.7 |
| CP, % of DM | 12.6 ± 0.98 | 11.1 | 13.3 ± 0.86 | 14.4 |
| NDF, % of DM | 68.7 ± 2.74 | 73.6 | 67.9 ± 2.47 | 69.9 |
| ADF, % of DM | 44.6 ± 2.17 | 52.1 | 40.9 ± 1.36 | 39.7 |
DM, dry matter; OM, organic matter; CP, crude protein; NDF, neutral detergent fiber; ADF, acid detergent fiber.
1From pooled samples of all the bison rumen contents used.
2% of total protozoa count.