TABLE 3.

Effects of individual and simultaneous supplementation with alfalfa and starter feeding on the rumen fermentation characteristics of yak calves.

Rumen fermentation indexes	Starter feeding + Alfalfa	Starter feeding	Alfalfa	CON	SEM	P-value
pH value	6.86b	6.90b	7.54a	7.68a	0.117	0.007
NH3-N (mg/dL)	6.91b	8.17a	6.40b	4.81c	0.315	<0.001
Acetate (mmol/L)	42.09a	34.47c	36.86b	16.31d	2.249	<0.001
Propionate (mmol/L)	11.53b	15.4a	8.49c	9.42c	0.626	<0.001
Isobutyrate (mmol/L)	1.56a	1.49a	1.16b	0.57c	0.099	<0.001
Butyrate (mmol/L)	8.60a	6.42b	5.21c	1.36d	0.623	<0.001
Isovalerate (mmol/L)	1.87a	2.11a	1.44b	0.61c	0.143	<0.001
Valerate (mmol/L)	1.18a	1.10a	0.81b	0.72b	0.060	0.005
Acetate/Total VFA	0.63b	0.57c	0.68a	0.56c	0.012	<0.001
Propionate/Total VFA	0.17c	0.25b	0.15c	0.32a	0.016	<0.001
Butyrate/Total VFA	0.13a	0.11b	0.10b	0.05c	0.007	<0.001
Isobutyrate/Total VFA	0.023	0.024	0.022	0.020	0.008	0.131
Valerate/Total VFA	0.018b	0.018b	0.015b	0.025a	0.001	0.001
Isovalerate/Total VFA	0.028b	0.035a	0.027bc	0.021c	0.001	0.002
Total VFA (mmol/L)	66.82a	60.99b	53.97c	28.98d	0.991	<0.001

^a−b within a row with different superscripts means significantly difference which tested by One-way ANOVA test (P < 0.05); VFA, volatile fatty acid; NH3-N, ammoniacal nitrogen.