Table 7.

Effects of forage type and dietary inclusion of an ionophore and(or) soybean and coconut oils on ruminal fluid and plasma measures of yearling Alpine doelings

	Treatment1
Item	Control	L	L-I	L-S	L-N	L-I-S	L-I-N	L-S-N	L-I-S-N	SEM	Contrast2
Ruminal fluid3
pH	6.51	6.57	6.49	6.48	6.53	6.63	6.63	6.52	6.60	0.056	5
Ammonia N, mg/L	75.3	73.8	73.7	80.5	67.3	73.9	55.1	67.6	63.5	6.02	7
Volatile fatty acids
Total, mM/L	57.9	47.0	51.0	52.5	51.1	45.6	49.0	50.4	47.7	2.92	1
Molar %
Acetate	71.6	70.6	70.7	70.8	70.6	69.5	70.5	70.4	70.6	0.69
Propionate	14.5	16.8	17.4	17.6	17.2	18.2	18.1	18.9	17.7	0.99	1
Butyrate	11.8	10.8	10.1	9.7	10.4	10.1	9.8	9.2	9.9	0.52	1
Isobutyrate	0.47	0.38	0.34	0.39	0.38	0.50	0.31	0.27	0.36	0.052	6,7
Valerate	0.99	0.89	0.90	0.97	0.97	0.92	0.90	0.92	0.87	0.066
Isovalerate	0.62	0.55	0.50	0.54	0.49	0.82	0.39	0.32	0.48	0.102	6,7
A:P ratio	5.20	4.39	4.27	4.22	4.21	4.11	4.34	3.74	4.09	0.290	1
Total bacteria, ×1010/ mL	3.50	1.16	2.90	2.94	3.02	2.04	3.15	3.24	1.19	1.003
Protozoa, ×105/mL	1.77	1.26	1.28	1.32	0.94	0.66	0.37	0.83	1.08	0.213	5
In vitro methane, mL4	46.2	26.9	22.0	20.8	28.9	21.4	26.1	23.1	16.6	2.77	8
Plasma
Urea-N, mg/L	146	113	141	133	148	135	134	139	129	14.4
TAC, μM/L	172	196	175a	224	215	201	190	209	194	9.7	3

¹C = control (alfalfa hay as basal forage); L = lespedeza as basal forage; L-I = L and the ionophore monensin; L-S = L and soybean oil; L-N = L and coconut oil; L-I-S = L, ionophore, and soybean oil; L-I-N = L, ionophore, and coconut oil; L-S-N = L, soybean oil, and coconut oil; L-I-S-N = L, ionophore, soybean oil, and coconut oil.

²1 = control treatment vs. others; 3 = L-I vs. L-S and L-N; 5 = L-I, L-S, and L-N vs. L-I-S, L-I-N, and L-S-N; 6 = L-I-S and L-I-N vs. L-S-N; 7 = L-I-S vs. L-I-N; 8 = L-I-S, L-I-N, and L-S-N vs. L-I-S-N (P < 0.05).

³N = nitrogen; A:P = acetate:propionate; ciliate protozoa; TAC = total antioxidant capacity.

⁴Incubation of 0.0001 mL of ruminal fluid in a methanogenic medium for 3 wk, with methane production indicative of initial methanogen presence.