Rumen Metabolites and Microbiome of Semi-intensively Managed West African Dwarf Goats Supplemented Concentrate Diet of Varying Levels of Sodium Humate

Abstract

POOR quality forages such as mature grass could be improved by physical, chemical and biological treatment. One of such procedure is supplementing with feed that will modify the rumen environment to improve forage utilization. A 90-day study was conducted to examine the rumen ecology of semi-intensively raised West African Dwarf (WAD) goats fed supplemented concentrate diet containing incremental levels of sodium humate. The thirty (30) WAD bucks (age 10-15 months) used in this study were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments containing 0, 5, 7.5, 10 and 12.5 g/kg diet of sodium humate in a completely randomized design. Data were obtained on rumen pH, ammonia nitrogen, total volatile fatty acids (VFA) and some of their various proportions (Acetate, propionate and butyrate), protozoa, fungi and bacteria counts and were statistically analysed using the GLM procedure of SPSS (version 23). Results revealed that pH, NH3-N, and fungi count were affected (p<0.05) by the inclusion of sodium humate in the diets. However, volatile fatty acids and the various proportions, protozoa and bacteria counts were not affected (p>0.05) by the inclusion of sodium humate in the diets. It was concluded that sodium humate could be used in the diet of semi-intensively managed WAD goats to stabilize the rumen pH and that levels up to 10 g/kg diet could be utilized to improve fungi count.