Performance responses of lactating Rahmani ewes fed diet supplemented with Enterococcus faecium NRC-3 or Lactobacillus rhamnosus

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition of feed ingredients and the basal diet (on DM basis).

Item	% On dry matter basis
	DM	OM	NDF	ADF	ADL	CP	EE	Ash	NSC
CFM	89.29	96.14	29.91	17.56	3.99	15.27	5.72	3.86	45.24
Egyptian clover	88.71	94.87	58.73	43.71	6.35	13.03	3.35	5.13	19.76
Bean straw	88.84	93.54	59.25	41.34	7.12	7.94	3.26	6.46	23.09
Basal diet	89.07	95.5	41.49	27.78	5.01	13.87	4.76	4.5	35.38

DM: dry matter; OM: organic matter; EE: ether extract; CP: crude protein; NDF: neutral detergent fiber; ADF: acid detergent fiber; ADL: acid detergent lignin; NSC: non-structural carbohydrates.

CFM: concentrates feed mixture which consisted of 55% yellow corn, 15% wheat bran, 15% soya bean meal, 12% cotton seed meal, 1.5% limestone, 1% mineral and vitamin mixture and 0.5% NaCl.

Table 2. Effect of E. faecium NRC-3 and L. rhamnosus supplementation on ewes’ nutrient digestibility coefficients.

Item	Experimental groups				p-Value
	C	EF	LR	±SEM	Diet	Period	Diet*Period
DM	70.93^b	75.47^a	75.29^a	0.49	0.0001	0.374	0.133
OM	75.50^b	79.72^a	79.35^a	0.44	0.0001	0.841	0.104
EE	75.48	77.57	77.5	0.55	0.219	0.688	0.284
CP	65.68^b	70.56^a	68.89^a	0.68	0.0005	0.547	0.087
NDF	60.85^b	65.71^a	64.54^a	0.64	0.0002	0.244	0.687
ADF	56.84^b	61.81^a	60.91^a	0.65	0.0001	0.244	0.681
NSC	68.42^b	76.08^a	76.24^a	0.80	0.0001	0.774	0.101

DM: dry matter; OM: organic matter; EE: ether extract; CP: crude protein; NDF: neutral detergent fiber; ADF: acid detergent fiber; NSC: non-structural carbohydrates; SEM: standard error of the means.

C: Control ewes fed the basal diet (60% concentrate feed mixture (CFM) + 30% Egyptian clover + 10% Bean straw).

EF: Ewes fed the basal diet + 2 g of E. faecium NRC-3.

LR: Ewes fed the basal diet + 2 g of L. rhamnosus.

Means in the same row with different superscripts differ (p < 0.05).

Table 3. Effect of E. faecium NRC-3 and L. rhamnosus supplementation on ewes’ blood metabolites.

Item	Experimental groups				p-Value
	C	EF	LR	±SEM	Diet	Period	Diet*Period
Glucose (mg/dl)	70.91^c	79.65^a	75.42^b	1.24	0.0002	0.832	0.558
Total proteins g/dl	6.84^b	7.35^a	7.09^b	0.11	0.0129	0.293	0.43
Albumin g/dl	3.72^b	4.04^a	3.82^b	0.06	0.004	0.816	0.663
Globulin g/dl	3.12	3.31	3.27	0.10	0.39	0.196	0.508
A/G	1.2	1.23	1.18	0.05	0.726	0.348	0.675
Urea-N mg/dl	31.34	31.86	30.76	1.31	0.839	0.411	0.887
Cholesterol	107.4	107.92	106.09	1.48	0.671	0.954	0.548
GOT U/L	39.57	38.61	40.93	1.08	0.333	0.928	0.992
GPT U/L	26.16	28.56	25.33	1.13	0.136	0.791	0.799

GOT: glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase; GPT: glutamatepyruvate transaminase; SEM: standard error of the means.

C: Control ewes fed the basal diet (60% concentrate feed mixture (CFM) + 30% Egyptian clover + 10% Bean straw).

EF: Ewes fed the basal diet + 2 g of E. faecium NRC-3.

LR: Ewes fed the basal diet + 2 g of L. rhamnosus.

Means in the same row with different superscripts differ (p < 0.05).

Table 4. Effect of E. faecium NRC-3 and L. rhamnosus supplementation on ewe’s milk yield and composition.

Items	Experimental groups				p-Value
	C	EF	LR	±SEM	Diet	Period	Diet*Period
Yield (g/d per head)
Milk	355^b	432^a	428^a	8.41	0.0001	0.542	0.706
4% Fat corrected milk	398.80^b	491.82^a	486.04^a	11.53	0.0001	0.488	0.667
Fat	17.12^b	21.27^a	20.99^a	0.59	0.0001	0.499	0.683
Protein	13.78^b	16.75^a	16.50^a	0.35	0.0001	0.877	0.594
Lactose	22.71^b	28.43^a	27.84^a	0.65	0.0001	0.54	0.964
Ash	3.98^b	4.79^a	4.66^a	0.08	0.0001	0.488	0.288
Solid not	40.46^b	49.97^c	49.00^a	1.06	0.0001	0.701	0.952
Total solids	57.58^b	71.24^a	69.99^a	1.53	0.0001	0.6	0.859
Milk composition %
Fat	4.82	4.92	4.9	0.11	0.78	0.691	0.866
Protein	3.88	3.88	3.85	0.03	0.847	0.088	0.707
Lactose	6.4	6.58	6.5	0.06	0.141	0.788	0.096
Ash	1.12	1.11	1.09	0.01	0.195	1	0.483
Solid not fat	11.4	11.57	11.45	0.09	0.397	0.649	0.469
Total solids	16.22	16.49	16.36	0.13	0.397	0.986	0.787

SEM: standard error of the means.

C: Control ewes fed the basal diet (60% concentrate feed mixture (CFM) + 30% Egyptian clover + 10% Bean straw).

EF: Ewes fed the basal diet + 2 g of E. faecium NRC-3.

LR: Ewes fed the basal diet + 2 g of L. rhamnosus.

Means in the same row with different superscripts differ (p < 0.05).

Table 5. Effect of E. faecium NRC-3 and L. rhamnosus supplementation on ewes’ milk fatty acids profile.

Item	Experimental groups
	C	EF	LR	±SEM	p-Value
Saturated fatty acids (SFA)
Butyric acid (C4:0)	2.38	2.635	2.715	0.11	0.254
Caproic acid (C6:0)	2.49	2.62	2.595	0.09	0.588
Caprylic acid (C8:0)	2.27	2.325	2.345	0.03	0.412
Capric acid (C10:0)	7.535	7.555	7.52	0.12	0.979
Lauric acid (C12:0)	5.02	4.965	4.965	0.1	0.915
Myristic acid (C14:0)	8.115	8.17	8.165	0.06	0.777
Pentadecanoic acid (C15:0)	0.95	0.935	0.96	0.01	0.221
Palmitic acid (C16:0)	24.63	23.895	23.71	0.26	0.168
Heptadecanoic acid (C17:0)	0.745	0.73	0.785	0.02	0.225
Stearic acid (C18:0)	8.42	8.365	8.35	0.24	0.978
Arachidic acid (C20:0)	0.295	0.32	0.345	0.01	0.136
Total SFA	62.85	62.515	62.455	0.29	0.627
Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA)
Caproleic acid (C10:1)	0.255	0.27	0.245	0.01	0.505
Tridecanoic acid (C13:1)	0.45	0.46	0.415	0.006	0.052
Myristoleic acid (14.1)	0.65	0.645	0.615	0.02	0.43
Pentadecenoic (C15:1)	0.45	0.435	0.465	0.02	0.186
Palmitoleic acid cis-Palmitoleic (C16:1)	1.29	1.315	1.28	0.08	0.956
Palmitoleic acid (C16:1, n7)	0.925	0.95	0.975	0.03	0.642
Heptadecanoic acid (C17:1)	0.81	0.865	0.86	0.03	0.469
Oleic acid (C18:1n9c)	27.01	27.185	27.23	0.19	0.717
Eicosenoic acid (C20:1)	0.18	0.185	0.18	0.01	0.966
Total MUFA	32.02	32.31	32.265	0.2	0.599
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
Myristolinoleic (C14:2)	0.475	0.49	0.49	0.06	0.98
Linoleic acid (C18:2n6c)	3.385	3.41	3.465	0.2	0.954
α- Linolenic acid (C18:3n3)	0.445	0.42	0.475	0.02	0.407
γ, Linolenic acid (C18:3n6)	0.825	0.855	0.85	0.01	0.415
Total PUFA	5.13	5.175	5.28	0.18	0.836
Total fatty acids	100	100	100

SEM: standard error of the means.

C: Control ewes fed the basal diet (60% concentrate feed mixture (CFM) + 30% Egyptian clover + 10% Bean straw).

EF: Ewes fed the basal diet + 2 g of E. faecium NRC-3.

LR: Ewes fed the basal diet + 2 g of L. rhamnosus.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.