Oral administration of lactate producing bacteria alone or combined with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Megasphaera elsdenii on performance of fattening lambs

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients (g/kg DM), chemical composition (g/kg DM) and metabolizable energy (ME; Mcal/kg DM) of the experimental diet.

Ingredients
Alfalfa	201
Wheat straw	99
Barley grain	300
Corn grain	210
Soybean meal	123.5
wheat bran	55
Calcium carbonate	4
NaCl	2.5
Vitamin and mineral premix^a	5
Chemical composition^b
Dry matter	903
Organic matter	948
Crude protein	161
Ether extract	27
NDFom	290
ADFom	165
Lignin	30
ME^c	2.65
Non-fibre carbohydrates^d	472

Note: NDFom, ash-free neutral detergent fibre; ADFom, ash-free acid detergent fibre.

^aPremix contained (per kg): Vitamin A, 500,000 IU/mg; vitamin D₃, 100,000 IU/mg; vitamin E, 100 mg/kg; Ca, 180 g/kg; P, 60,000 mg/kg; Na, 60,000 mg/kg; Mg, 19,000 mg/kg; Zn, 3000 mg/kg; Fe, 3000 mg/kg; Mn, 19,000 mg/kg; Cu, 300 mg/kg; Co, 100 mg/kg; Se, 1 mg/kg; I, 100 mg/kg; antioxidant, 400 mg/kg; carrier, up to 1000 g.

^bAnalysed from each feed composition (explained in Section 2.2.).

^cEstimated from each feed composition.

^dCalculated as: 1000 – (NDFom g/kg + crude protein g/kg + ether extract g/kg + ash g/kg).

Table 2. Feed intake and growth performance of lambs fed with different sources of microbial additives.

Item	Treatments				SEM	P-value
	CON (n = 7)	FP (n = 7)	SCFP (n = 7)	MSCFP (n = 7)
Intake (g/d)
Dry matter	1021	1029	1054	1070	30.7	0.69
Organic matter	970	977	1001	1016	28.8	0.68
Crude protein	165	166	170	173	4.70	0.67
NDFom	294	296	302	308	9.79	0.77
ADFom	167	170	172	176	5.74	0.76
Performance
Initial body weight (kg)	24.3	23.8	24.5	24.4	1.62	0.95
Final body weight (kg)	37.3	37.3	38.2	38.3	1.64	0.95
Average daily gain (g/d)	205^b	214^ab	218^ab	220^a	6.82	0.047
Feed efficiency (Gain:Feed)	0.202	0.209	0.208	0.207	0.01	0.94

Notes: NDFom, ash-free neutral detergent fibre; ADFom, ash-free acid detergent fibre; CON, without microbial additive; FP, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus plantarum; SCFP, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) plus FP; MSCFP, Megasphaera elsdenii plus SC plus FP; SEM, standard error of means. ^a-b Means in the same row with different superscript letters are different (P < 0.05).

Table 3. Apparent digestibility (%) and estimated metabolizable energy (Mcal/kg DM) of lambs fed with different sources of microbial additives.

Apparent digestibility	Treatments				SEM	P-value
	CON (n = 5)	FP (n = 5)	SCFP (n = 5)	MSCFP (n = 5)
Dry matter	73.2^b	72.1^b	73.3^b	75.6^a	1.11	0.041
Organic matter	75.6^b	74.9^b	75.8^b	78.6^a	0.87	0.013
Crude protein	78.5	77.2	78.9	78.8	0.76	0.361
NDFom	53.7^ab	51.2^b	53.4^ab	55.4^a	1.50	0.017
ADFom	51.4	50.7	53.8	56.1	2.67	0.436
ME	2.69	2.67	2.70	2.75	0.04	0.317

Notes: NDFom, ash-free neutral detergent fibre; ADFom, ash-free acid detergent fibre; ME, metabolizable energy; CON, without microbial additive; FP, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus plantarum; SCFP, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) plus FP; MSCFP, Megasphaera elsdenii plus SC plus FP; SEM, standard error of means. ^a,b Means in the same row with different superscript letters are different (P < 0.05).

Table 4. N balance of lambs fed with different sources of microbial additives.

Item	Treatments				SEM	P-value
	CON (n = 5)	FP (n = 5)	SCFP (n = 5)	MSCFP (n = 5)
Intake (g/d)
Dry matter	1017^c	1087^b	1122^a	1158^a	17.9	0.006
Organic matter	946^c	1013^b	1044^a	1077^a	16.5	0.006
DOMI	720^c	758^bc	791^ab	833^a	19.6	0.010
N balance
N Intake (g/d)	26.2^b	27.1^b	28.9^a	29.8^a	0.43	0.005
Faecal N (g/d)	5.54^b	6.45^a	6.15^a	6.33^a	0.16	0.003
Urinary N (g/d)	6.32^c	5.13^d	7.89^a	7.26^b	0.19	0.001
N retention
Total N retention (g/d)	14.4^c	15.5^a	15.0^a	16.2^a	0.51	0.006
mg/g of N intake	540^b	573^a	517^c	544^b	9.19	0.013
mg/g of N digested	686^b	752^a	655^c	690^b	7.28	<0.0001

Notes: Intake, feed intake during of sampling; DOMI, digestible organic matter intake; N, nitrogen; CON, without microbial additive; FP, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus plantarum; SCFP, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) plus FP; MSCFP, Megasphaera elsdenii plus SC plus FP; SEM, standard error of means. ^a,dMeans in the same row with different superscript letters are different (P < 0.05).

Table 5. Blood chemistry parameters of lambs fed with different sources of microbial additives.

Item	Treatments				SEM	P-value
	CON (n = 5)	FP (n = 5)	SCFP (n = 5)	MSCFP (n = 5)		T	D	T × D
Glucose (mg/dL)	82.2	81.8	82.7	82.3	0.95	0.831	<0.0001	0.729
BUN (mg/dL)	18.5	19.2	21.5	21.3	1.16	0.190	0.0005	0.016
Creatinine (mg/dL)	0.75	0.81	0.81	0.80	0.03	0.747	0.0002	0.970
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	19.6	19.7	19.9	20.1	0.14	0.288	0.0008	0.801
Cholesterol (mg/dL)	58.4	56.4	58.1	55.8	1.70	0.925	0.132	0.566
LDL (mg/dL)	20.3	18.4	19.4	19.3	0.99	0.648	<0.0001	0.209
HDL (mg/dL)	25.1	23.8	22.7	24.4	1.83	0.181	<0.0001	0.0132
Total protein (g/dL)	7.13	6.76	6.68	6.36	0.30	0.221	0.294	0.407
Albumin (g/dL)	3.48	3.24	3.21	3.29	0.13	0.097	0.363	0.061
SGPT (U/L)	17.0	14.8	17.6	15.2	1.03	0.597	0.019	0.191
SGOT (U/L)	77.6	76.5	77.9	80.6	1.67	0.505	<0.0001	0.048

Notes: Average of repeated sampling of blood collected on days 1, 14, 28, 42, 56 and 63 of experimental period, just 4 h after morning feeding. BUN, blood urea nitrogen; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; HDL, high-density lipoproteins; SGPT, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase; SGOT, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase; CON, without microbial additive; FP, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus plantarum; SCFP, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) plus FP; MSCFP, Megasphaera elsdenii plus SC plus FP; SEM, standard error of means. T, effect of treatment; D, effect of sampling day.

Figure 1. Effect of different source of microbial additives on ruminal pH of the lambs. □ (CON), without microbial additive (control); ▪ (FP), Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus plantarum; ▴ (SCFP), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) plus FP; Δ (MSCFP), Megasphaera elsdenii plus SC plus FP. Arrow (↑), morning feeding at 8.

Table 6. Ruminal fermentation parameters of lambs fed with different sources of microbial additives.

Item	Treatments				SEM	P-value
	CON (n = 5)	FP (n = 5)	SCFP (n = 5)	MSCFP (n = 5)
pH
Min	5.82^c	5.93^b	6.08^a	5.99^b	0.034	0.009
Max	7.41	7.20	7.26	7.24	0.088	0.443
Mean	6.54	6.55	6.56	6.53	0.026	0.912
Ammonia-N (mg/dL)	22.1	26.0	25.4	24.8	1.77	0.479
Total VFA (mmol/L)	113	116	114	117	2.21	0.709
VFA as % of total
Acetate (A)	51.8^a	48.5^b	50.1^b	49.1^b	0.704	0.015
Propionate (P)	24.0	24.4	24.9	26.7	0.721	0.081
Butyrate	18.4^b	21.1^a	20.8^a	19.3^b	0.568	0.034
Valerate	2.69	2.91	2.88	2.70	0.116	0.428
Isobutyrate	1.31	1.30	1.35	1.34	0.032	0.781
Isovalerate	1.53	1.48	1.54	1.53	0.116	0.994
A:P	2.15	1.99	2.01	1.84	0.143	0.642

Notes: Data obtained from pH were analysed as repeated and this table we used only the main effect of treatment. Also, the volatile fatty acids and ammonia-N were analysed for each treatment on day 63, at 0, 3, and 6 h after morning feeding. Min and Max, average Min and Max on days 1, 14, 28, 42, 56 and 63 of experimental period. VFA, volatile fatty acid; CON, without microbial additive; FP, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus plantarum; SCFP, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) plus FP; MSCFP, Megasphaera elsdenii plus SC plus FP; SEM, standard error of means. ^a–cMeans in the same row with different superscript letters are different (P < 0.05).