Effect of supplementation of postbiotics on dry matter intake, nutrient digestibility and rumen fermentation pattern in early lactating crossbred cows

Abstract

A 90-day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae postbiotics on  dry matter intake, nutrient digestibility and rumen fermentation pattern in early-lactating crossbred cows. Twenty-four crossbred cows (within 10 days of calving) were randomly assigned to three groups: a control group fed a standard diet and two treatment groups receiving the standard diet supplemented with either 3g or 6g of postbiotic per animal. All animals were managed uniformly and fed according to ICAR (2013) standards. Weekly average daily dry matter intake was similar across three groups (P0.05). A five-day digestibility trial conducted at the end of the experimental period revealed no significant differences (P0.05) among the groups in the digestibility coefficients of dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, crude fibre, nitrogen-free extract, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre. Rumen pH and ammonia nitrogen levels were similar and remained within the normal range for all three treatment groups. However, the acetate proportion was significantly higher (P