Role of Calcium Propionate and Monensin on Performance, Rumen Fermentation Patterns, and Ruminal Bacterial Populations in Growing Lambs
2025
Amada Isabel Osorio-Terán | German D. Mendoza | Luis A. Miranda-Romero | Daniel Martínez-Gomez | Pedro A. Hernández-García | Velia Verónica Rangel-Ramírez | Héctor A. Lee-Rangel
The objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary calcium propionate (CaPr) and monensin (MON) on lamb growth performance, ruminal volatile fatty acids (VFAs), methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) production, and ruminal bacteria and archaea populations. Forty crossbred ram lambs (initial weight 23.4 ± 2.8 kg) were randomly assigned to one of four diets (n = 10 per treatment): (a) control diet (CONT); (b) MON diet, which contained 30 mg/kg dry matter (DM) of monensin + CONT; (c) CaPr diet, which contained 10 g/kg DM of CaPr + CONT; and (d) MCA diet, which contained both additives (30 mg/kg DM of monensin plus 10 g/kg DM of CaPr) + CONT. Dietary MON or CaPr in lamb diets did not affect (<i>p</i> ≥ 0.05) dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), or DMI/ADG. The main effect (<i>p</i> ≥ 0.05) of CaPr supplementation was observed in acetate concentration and CH<sub>4</sub> production. The addition of calcium propionate increased (<i>p</i> < 0.05) <i>Fibrobacter succinogenes</i>, <i>Ruminococcus albus</i>, and <i>Selenomonas ruminantium</i>, whereas CaPr reduced (<i>p</i> < 0.05) methanogenic archaea. The addition of MON and CaPr did not affect lamb performance; however, CaPr improved fermentation kinetics towards more efficient routes, reflected by a reduction in the proportion of methane and methanogenic archaea.
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