Host-specific probiotics feeding influence growth, gut microbiota, and fecal biomarkers in buffalo calves

AMB Express

Table 3 Fecal characteristics, metabolites, and short chain fatty acids of Murrah buffalo calves supplemented with probiotic formulation (PF) or not (CON)

Item	Treatment (Trt)¹		SEM	P Value (Trt)
Item	CON	PF	SEM	P Value (Trt)
^AFecal characteristics
Fecal pH	7.44^b	7.10^a	0.23	0.004
²Fecal score	2.75^b	1.92^a	0.45	0.030
Fecal moisture (%)	84.56^b	82.42^a	1.49	< 0.001
^AFecal metabolites (µmol/g of fresh feces)
Ammonia	6.01^b	5.30^a	0.39	0.001
Lactate	3.32^a	4.07^b	0.30	< 0.001
^BFecal short chain fatty acids (µmol/g of fresh feces)
Acetate	28.56	28.74	1.12	0.808
Propionate	10.75^a	12.08^b	0.75	0.026
Butyrate	4.60	4.82	0.45	0.433

Trt treatment, SEM standard error of mean
¹Treatments: ^†Basal diet with no supplementation (CON), supplemented with L. reuteri BF-E7 + L. salivarius BF-17 (PF; 1 g/calf/day)
^abMeans bearing different letters in a row differ significantly (P < 0.05)
^AMean of three periodic collections
^BMean of two periodic collections; P < 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant
²Fecal score rating: 1 = firm feces, 2 = normal or firm-soft, 3 = moderate or soft, 4 = mild or runny diarrhea, and 5 = watery and profuse diarrhea