Study on characteristics of growth performance and rumen microbiota of yaks in cold season under house feeding fattening mode

ZHANG Ben; DING Ziqiang; KANG Yandong; GUO Shaoke; CAO Mengli; HU Liyan; GUO Xian

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2025.19.002

Abstract：This study aimed to investigate the growth performance and dynamic changes in rumen microbiota of yaks during cold season under house feeding fattening.Eight male yaks of 18 months of age,with similar body weights and good health conditions,were selected for a housed fattening experiment.The pre-trial period was 10 days and the formal trial period was 90 days.The formal trial period was divided into three fattening stages:0～30 days was the early fattening stage(group D1),31～60 days(group D2)was the middle fattening stage,and 61～90 days(group D3)was the late fattening stage.The results showed that the body weight of the groups D2 and D3 was significantly higher than that of the group D1(P＜0.05).The average daily feed intake of the group D2 was significantly higher than that of the groups D1 and D3(P＜0.05),while the average daily gain of the group D1 was significantly higher than that of groups D2 and D3(P＜0.05).16S rDNA sequencing revealed that with the progression of the fattening period,the Ace,Chao1,Shannon,and Sob indices of the rumen microbiota showed an increasing trend(P＞0.05).The relative abundance of Bacteroidetes in the group D1 was significantly higher than that in the groups D2 and D3(P＜0.05),while the relative abundance of Firmicutes was significantly lower than that in the groups D2 and D3(P＜0.05).The relative abundance of Euryarchaeota and Actinobacteriota in group D2 was significantly higher than that in group D1(P＜0.05),and the relative abundance of Verrucomicrobia in the group D2 was significantly lower than that in the group D1(P＜0.05).The relative abundance of Spirochaetota in the group D3 was significantly lower than that in the groups D1 and D2(P＜0.05).Compared with the group D1,the relative abundance of Prevotella in the group D3 was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),while the relative abundance of the Christensenellaceae_R-7 group was significantly increased(P＜0.05).In the group D2,the relative abundance of Methanobrevibacter was significantly increased(P＜0.05).The relative abundance of signal transduction pathways was significantly higher in the group D2 than in the group D1(P＜0.05),while the relative abundance of immune disease pathway was significantly lower(P＜0.05).The study shows that house feeding fattening in the cold season can effectively improve the weight of yak,increase the relative abundance of dominant phyla and genera,and enhance the metabolic activity of microbiota and immune regulation ability of the body.