Table 2 Effect of dietary treatment on DMI, reticular pH, daily average of time spent below the three reticular pH thresholds, ruminal volatile fatty acid (VFA) N-NH3 and lipopolysaccharides (LPS)

DMI, ² kg/d

14.5^a

13.4^b

14.7^a

0.62

0.021

Reticular pH

  Average

6.04

6.11

6.09

0.067

0.466

  Maximum

6.61

6.54

6.55

0.063

0.569

  Nadir

5.40^b

5.69^a

5.62^ab

0.106

0.037

  pH <5.6, ³ min

199^a

16^b

18^b

-

0.022

  pH <5.8, ³ min

360

190

171

-

0.311

pH <6.3, min

1156

1118

1071

86.4

0.546

VFA, mM

  Acetate

59.2

60.9

60.6

3.60

0.911

  Propionate

26.5

30.8

27.9

2.07

0.249

  Butyrate

10.5

10.7

9.8

0.69

0.683

Ac:Pr⁴

2.05^α

1.66^β

1.77^αβ

0.125

0.048

N-NH₃, mg/dL

50.1

54.5

31.1

9.70

0.303

LPS^{5, 6}, × 10³ EU/mL

15.7

6.0

8.9

(5.3–16.7)

0.172