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. 2021 Sep 7;8:706592. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.706592

Table 1.

Rumen fermentation and blood parameters of goat kids reared in the absence (CTL) or presence of adult companions (CMP) at 5, 7, and 9 weeks of age (n = 16).

Time Week 5 Week 7 Week 9 p -value
Treatments CTL CMP CTL CMP CTL CMP SEM Treat. Time T × T
BW, kg 6.53 6.66 8.33 8.39 9.49 9.15 0.208 0.980 <0.001 0.124
Rumen pH 6.53 6.65 6.42 6.55 7.00 7.08 0.036 0.046 <0.001 0.775
NH3-N, mg/dl 17.1 18.1 14.8 13.7 2.74 7.93 0.883 0.279 <0.001 0.158
VFA, mM 25.0 23.9 31.8 32.4 30.6 36.4 1.160 0.452 0.002 0.193
Acetate, % 74.7 72.5 71.4 69.0 64.0 63.4 0.723 0.158 <0.001 0.576
Propionate, % 13.5 13.7 16.1 16.6 19.0 17.1 0.374 0.515 <0.001 0.229
Butyrate, % 4.83d 6.06cd 7.04c 8.68b 6.28c 11.5a 0.298 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001
Valerate, % 2.29 2.22 2.09 2.02 2.04 2.02 0.051 0.955 0.039 0.534
Isobutyrate, % 2.04 2.69 1.50 1.59 2.29 2.38 0.101 0.187 0.920 0.263
Isovalerate, % 2.61bc 2.91ab 1.92d 2.12cd 2.21cd 3.40a 0.103 0.009 0.831 0.049
BCVFA1, % % 4.64 5.59 3.36 3.68 4.50 5.78 0.187 0.033 0.957 0.685
Blood metabolites
BHB, mM 0.97 1.49 1.34 2.40 2.69 3.18 0.198 0.048 0.015 0.935
Glucose, mg/dl 105 94.0 101 78.1 73.8 82.6 3.020 0.052 0.008 0.082
Ratio BHB/glucose 0.18 0.38 0.28 0.72 0.72 0.70 0.069 0.088 0.013 0.354
Urea, mg/dl 16.1 21.1 24.0 17.9 35.0 40.3 1.660 0.479 0.001 0.705
Total proteins, g/l 53.1 53.4 61.0 59.4 57.1 59.6 0.746 0.554 0.052 0.297
a−d

Means within a row with different superscripts differ (p < 0.05).

1

Branched-chain VFA= iso-valerate + iso-butyrate.