Table 1.
Mean results for the high-ergovaline dosage trial (Exp. 1) on DMI, water consumption, serum prolactin concentration, rumen contents, and reticuloruminal motility contraction variables measured for 21 d in E− and E+ tall fescue seed-treated steers
| Treatment | P-value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | E− 1 | E+ 2 | SEM3 | Seed | Day | Seed × day |
| DMI, kg | 5.76 | 5.72 | 0.24 | 0.902 | <0.001 | 0.013 |
| 24-h water intake, L | 26.71 | 21.92 | 3.17 | 0.363 | <0.001 | 0.641 |
| Water intake (0800 to 1200 h), L | 14.55 | 5.13 | 1.53 | 0.022 | <0.001 | 0.002 |
| Water intake (1200 to 2000 h), L | 11.08 | 10.41 | 1.35 | 0.751 | <0.001 | 0.395 |
| Serum prolactin, ng/mL | 22.69 | 6.74 | 6.24 | 0.121 | 0.052 | 0.012 |
| Rumen content, kg | 35.15 | 32.64 | 0.99 | 0.171 | — | — |
| Rumen content, DM % | 11.73 | 17.56 | 1.25 | 0.046 | — | — |
| Rumen DM content, kg | 4.11 | 5.81 | 0.37 | 0.049 | — | — |
| Rumen wet content, kg | 31.04 | 26.83 | 1.33 | 0.112 | — | — |
| g rumen content DM per kg BW | 14.14 | 19.98 | 1.44 | 0.064 | — | — |
| g rumen content DM per kg DMI | 643.3 | 902.4 | 60.59 | 0.057 | — | — |
| Amplitude, mm Hg | 8.15 | 8.11 | 0.28 | 0.928 | 0.334 | 0.023 |
| Frequency, contractions/min | 0.96 | 1.27 | 0.07 | 0.051 | 0.020 | 0.683 |
1E−, endophyte-free tall fescue seed.
2E+, endophyte-infected tall fescue seed; 20 µg ERV/kg BW/d.
3SEM, Standard error of the mean, n = 4 steers per treatment.