Investigation of rumen fermentation parameters and some blood metabolites of dromedary camels fed with C3 and C4 forages

Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to investigate rumen fermentation and some blood parameters of dromedary camels fed with C₃ and C₄ forage. Four fistulated dromedary adult camels were fed with diets as a changeover design, 30 days for each period. The diets included alfalfa hay + wheat straw (C₃ forage) and atriplex+ suaeda + seidlitzia (C₄ forage). At the end of the experiment, rumen and blood parameters, gas production of wheat straw and atriplex as a 2 × 2 factorial experiment were determined. The highest blood glucose and urea nitrogen levels were found for camels fed with C₃ forage, 2 hr after feeding (<em>p</em> < 0.05). The maximum NH₃-N concentration in the rumen was for diets C₃ and C₄, 2 and 4 hr after feeding (<em>p</em> < 0.05). The lowest rumen pH was observed for C₃ diet at 2 and 4 hr and for C₄ diet at 4 and 8 hr after feeding. The activity of rumen carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) and microcrystalline cellulase (MCCase) enzymes was the highest for C₃ and C₄ diets, 8 hr after feeding, however, during feeding the enzyme activity in C₄ was higher than that of 2 hr (<em>p</em> < 0.05). The rumen volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations were significantly higher in camels fed C₃ forage in comparison with C₄(<em>p</em> < 0.05). The results showed that the gas production potential was significantly higher in treatments containing atriplex, however, the gas production rate was higher in treatment containing wheat straw (<em>p</em> < 0.05). The results suggested that for camels maintained in closed systems, the replacement of C₃ forages instead of C₄ could be possible and useful.