Table 3.

Median (1st/3rd quartiles) for scored of rumen fluid parameters from cattle treated with 1 litre (group 1), 5 litres (group 2) of rumen fluid or 5 litres of water (group 3)

Parameter	1 litre rumen fluid (group 1)			5 litres rumen fluid (group 2)				5 litres water (group 3)
day	day 0	day 1	day 4	day 0	day 1		day 4	day 0	day 1	day 4
odour	0.5 (0.5/0.5) *;§	0 (0/0) †;§	0 (0/0.2) †;§	0.5 (0.5/1) *;§	0.25 (0/0.5) *;§	0.5 (0/0.5) *;§		.5 (0/.5) *;§	.5 (.5/.5) *;¶	0 (0/.5) *;§
colour	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§		0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§
consistency	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§		0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§	0 (0/0) *;§
pH value	0 (0/2) *;§	0 (0/1) *;§	0 (0/2) *;§	2 (0/2 *;§	0 (0/2) *;§		0 (0/3) *;§	2 (0/2) *;§	0 (0/0) †;§	0 (0/.5) †;§
number of protozoa	4 (2/4) *;§	0 (0/2) †;§	0 (0/0) ‡;§	4 (2/6) *;§	1 (0/2) †;§		0 (0/0) †;§	2 (2/4) *;§	2 (2/4) *,†;¶	2 (0/2.5) †;§
vital protozoa	5 (4/5.5) *;§	2 (1/3.5) †;§	1 (0/2) ‡;§	5 (3.8/6) *;§	2.5 (2.0/4.25) †;§		2 (1.5/4) †;§,¶	4 (3/4.5) *;§	4 (3/6) *;¶	3 (2/4) *;¶
methylene blue reduction time	1 (1/4) *;§	1 (0/1) †;§	0 (0/0) †;§	1 (1/2) *;§	0 (0/2) †;§		0 (0/.5) †;§	2 (1/4) *;§	1 (1/2) *,†;§	1 (0/1.25) †;§
sedimentation and flotation time	1 (0/1) *;§	0 (0/1) *,†;§	0 (0/0) †;§	1 (1/1 *;§	1 (0/1) †;§		1 (.5/1) *,†;§	1 (.5/1.0) *,†;§	1 (1/1) *;§	.5 (0/1) †;§
overall score	12 (10/14.2) *;§	7 (2.5/8.5) †;§	2 (.9/4.2) †;§	11.5 (10/15) *;§	6.8 (4.5/10.4) †;§		5 (2.75/9.5) †;§,¶	11.5 (10/12) *;§	9.0 (7.2/11.5) *;¶	6.8 (5.4/9.1) †;¶

^{* ,}†^,‡ different indices represent significant differences between treatment days within a treatment group;

^§,¶ different symbols indicate significant differences between treatment groups within treatment days