Effects of different dietary ratio of physically effective neutral detergent fiber and metabolizable glucose on rumen fermentation, blood metabolites and growth performance of 8 to 10-month-old heifers

OBJECTIVE: The present study was undertaken to determine an optimal balance between the amount of physically effective neutral detergent fiber (peNDF) to metabolizable glucose (MG) on rumen fermentation, blood metabolites and growth performance of 8 to 10-month-old heifers. METHODS: A total of 15 healthy Holstein heifers weighing an average of 256 kg (8 month of age) were randomly assigned to three groups of five. Treatment diets consisted of the following three peNDF(8.0)/MG levels: 1.46 (Treatment A), 1.74 (Treatment B), and 2.08 (Treatment C). RESULTS: The results showed that the ratio of peNDF(8.0)/MG affected rumen fermentation, blood metabolites and growth performance of heifers. The average daily gain of heifers tended to decrease as the ratio of peNDF(8.0)/MG increased (p = 0.07). The concentrations of blood urea nitrogen, triglyceride, and cholesterol increased significantly (p<0.05), while the high-density lipoprotein concentration decreased (p<0.05). After feeding 2 h and 4 h, insulin concentration in Treatment A was greater than Treatment C (p<0.05). Propionate concentration had decreasing trend (p = 0.07); acetate to propionate ratio and non-glucogenic to glucogenic volatile fatty acid (NGR) increased significantly (p<0.05). In addition, the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber decreased significantly (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The present investigation indicated that dietary peNDF(8.0)/MG ratio can affect the growth and development, blood metabolites, rumen fermentation and apparent digestibility of heifers, and the optimal dietary peNDF(8.0)/MG ratio for 8 to 10-month-old heifers in the present study was 1.46.