Investigation of rumen fermentation parameters and some blood metabolites of dromedary camels fed with C3 and C4 forages

Dadvar, Pooria; Mohammadabadi, Tahereh; Sari, Mohsen; Fayazi, Jamal

doi:10.30466/vrf.2018.74067.1995

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal Science and Food Technology, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30466/vrf.2018.74067.1995

Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to investigate rumen fermentation and some blood parameters of dromedary camels fed with C₃ and C₄ forage. Four fistulated dromedary adult camels were fed with diets as a changeover design, 30 days for each period. The diets included alfalfa hay + wheat straw (C₃ forage) and atriplex+ suaeda + seidlitzia (C₄ forage). At the end of the experiment, rumen and blood parameters, gas production of wheat straw and atriplex as a 2 × 2 factorial experiment were determined. The highest blood glucose and urea nitrogen levels were found for camels fed with C₃ forage, 2 hr after feeding (p < 0.05). The maximum NH₃-N concentration in the rumen was for diets C₃ and C₄, 2 and 4 hr after feeding (p < 0.05). The lowest rumen pH was observed for C₃ diet at 2 and 4 hr and for C₄ diet at 4 and 8 hr after feeding. The activity of rumen carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) and microcrystalline cellulase (MCCase) enzymes was the highest for C₃ and C₄ diets, 8 hr after feeding, however, during feeding the enzyme activity in C₄ was higher than that of 2 hr (p < 0.05). The rumen volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations were significantly higher in camels fed C₃ forage in comparison with C₄(p < 0.05). The results showed that the gas production potential was significantly higher in treatments containing atriplex, however, the gas production rate was higher in treatment containing wheat straw (p < 0.05). The results suggested that for camels maintained in closed systems, the replacement of C₃ forages instead of C₄ could be possible and useful.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Nutrition

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Veterinary Research Forum

Investigation of rumen fermentation parameters and some blood metabolites of dromedary camels fed with C3 and C4 forages

References

References

Volume 10, Issue 3
September 2019
Pages 241-248

Investigation of rumen fermentation parameters and some blood metabolites of dromedary camels fed with C3 and C4 forages

References

References

Volume 10, Issue 3September 2019Pages 241-248

Volume 10, Issue 3
September 2019
Pages 241-248