Mohammad Khani , Amir Fattah *, Sayyedroohollah Ebrahimi-mahmoudabad and Sahereh Joezy-Shekalgorabi
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahr-e-Qods Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
*Corresponding author: amir1356fattah@yahoo.com
The dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) has received increased attention recently; however, information on organic matter digestibility, blood parameters, and rumen fermentation of male Zandi sheep fed with various DCAD diets is scarce. In male lambs under heat stress, the effects of DCAD on these variables were examined in this study. A total of 40 male Zandi lambs were randomly assigned to 5 treatments, each with 8 duplicates, and had an average body weight of 39kg. Diets with various DCAD concentrations of 150, 300, 450, 600, and 750mEq/kg dry matter were provided to lambs. With a 21-day adaptation, this trial lasted 100 days. In terms of dry matter intake, dry matter digestibility, and crude protein digestibility, the results indicated that the control group had the highest values (P<0.05). Additionally, the control group had the higher ruminal pH (P<0.05). Additionally, the findings demonstrated that the various DCAD concentrations had no effect on the rumen fermentation parameters, including propionic acid, butyric acid, buffering capacity, butyric acid, acetic acid, the ratio of acetic acid to propionic acid, and the sum of acetic acid and propionic acid (P>0.05). According to the blood glucose parameter data, the control group's influence on blood glucose level was the most significant (P<0.05). Other blood indicators such as cholesterol, phosphate, magnesium, and potassium did not differ significantly (P>0.05). Rumen fermentation is unaffected by feeding a different DCAD. However, feeding more DCAD to lambs who are under heat stress could stabilize their production and apparent digestibility.