Effects of Steam-Flaked Grains On Foals Growth Performance And Faecal Microbiota
Abstract BackgroundThere is little objective information concerning the effect of steam-flaked grains on foal’s growth performance and faecal microbiota.To determine the effects of steam-flaked grains on foal’s growth performance and faecal microbiota.Faecal samples were collection from 18 foals which had been fed corn, oat or barley diets over the 60 days of the experiment. Body weight and measurements were collected. Next-generation sequencing of the V3+V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was used to assess the microbial composition of faeces. Alpha diversity, Venn graph, Relative abundance and beta diversity are presented.ResultsThere was a significantly higher increase in the body weight of those foals fed barley compared to either corn or oats, both in terms of the total weight gain and the daily weight gain (P=0.0185). There were also significant changes in the Alpha diversity. The Shannon and Simpson indices were higher in the barley fed group than those fed corn or oats (P<0.05, P<0.05, P<0.05 and P<0.05). The Chao1 index was higher in the oat fed group than the corn or barley fed groups (P<0.05 and P<0.05). There were significant changes in the relative abundance of bacteria in the microbiota in terms of phylum, family and genus. The histogram of LDA value distribution showed that the statistically different biomarkers of the bacteria was 12. Tax4Fun function annotation clustering heat map showed that functional information was detected from 26 species of bacteria in faecal samples from the foals.ConclusionsDifferences were seen in the faecal microbiota of foals fed either corn, oat or barley, and also differences in the overall growth of the foals. Different grains have different impact on faecal microbiota, which are mainly related to the grain sources. Further investigation is required to look at the potential impact of changes in the microbiota on the functional impact on foals when fed grains.