Table 4.
Ruminal pH profile of fermentation characteristics of heifers fed a barley straw diet before and after rumen content transfers from the bison.
| Item | Rumen transfers | SEM | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | After | |||
| Ruminal pH | ||||
| Mean | 6.47 | 6.45 | 0.005 | <0.01 |
| Minimum | 6.11 | 6.07 | 0.040 | 0.17 |
| Maximum | 6.76 | 6.74 | 0.016 | 0.03 |
| SD of mean pH | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.007 | 0.88 |
| Immediately before feeding | ||||
| pH | 6.70 | 6.66 | 0.025 | 0.27 |
| Ammonia-N, mM | 5.52 | 5.59 | 0.206 | 0.77 |
| Total VFA, mM | 88.8 | 104.7 | 2.37 | <0.01 |
| Acetate, mol/100 mol | 74.7 | 72.5 | 0.27 | <0.01 |
| Propionate, mol/100 mol | 18.2 | 18.5 | 0.20 | 0.24 |
| Butyrate, mol/100 mol | 5.50 | 6.68 | 0.150 | <0.01 |
| Isovalerate, mol/100 mol | 0.95 | 1.04 | 0.022 | <0.01 |
| Valerate, mol/100 mol | 0.38 | 0.48 | 0.018 | <0.01 |
| Isobutyrate, mol/100 mol | 0.68 | 0.75 | 0.013 | <0.01 |
| Acetate:Propionate | 4.10 | 3.93 | 0.058 | 0.02 |
| 6 h after feeding | ||||
| pH | 6.24 | 6.07 | 0.039 | <0.01 |
| Ammonia-N, mM | 7.80 | 8.80 | 0.461 | 0.05 |
| Total VFA, mM | 106.4 | 123.0 | 3.08 | <0.01 |
| Acetate (C2), mol/100 mol | 71.2 | 69.6 | 0.27 | <0.01 |
| Propionate (C3), mol/100 mol | 20.1 | 20.4 | 0.173 | 0.17 |
| Butyrate, mol/100 mol | 6.81 | 8.02 | 0.124 | <0.01 |
| Isovalerate, mol/100 mol | 0.64 | 0.59 | 0.028 | 0.13 |
| Valerate, mol/100 mol | 0.65 | 0.85 | 0.022 | <0.01 |
| Isobutyrate, mol/100 mol | 0.57 | 0.55 | 0.013 | 0.24 |
| Acetate:Propionate | 3.55 | 3.42 | 0.042 | <0.01 |