The Changes in Fecal Bacterial Communities in Goats Offered Rumen-Protected Fat.

Leizhou goats are famous for their delicious meat but have inferior growth performance. There is little information on rumen-protected fat (RPF) from the Leizhou goat. Hence, we observed the effects of RPF on growth, fecal short-chain fatty acids, and bacteria community with respect to Leizhou goats. Twelve goats (13.34 ± 0.024 kg) were selected and assigned randomly to one of two treatments: (1) a control diet (CON) and (2) 2.4% RPF with a control diet (RPF). The final body weight and average daily gain (ADG) were greater ( p < 0.05), and the dry matter intake (DMI): ADG was lower ( p < 0.05) in the RPF group than in the CON group. There were no differences in DMI between the CON and RPF groups. The concentrations of total short-chain fatty acids, acetate, propionate, and butyrate were lower ( p < 0.05) in the RPF group than in the CON group. The relative abundances of Ruminococcus , Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group , Treponema , norank_f__norank_o__RF39 , Eubacterium_siraeum_group , and Ruminococcus_torques_group were lower ( p < 0.05) in the RPF group than in the CON group. The relative abundances of Bacteroides , norank_f__norank_o__Clostridia_UCG-014 , norank_f__Eubacterium_coprostanoligenes_group , Eubacterium_ruminantium_group , norank_f__Oscillospirale-UCG-010 , Oscillospiraceae_UCG-002 , and Family_XIII_AD3011_group were greater ( p < 0.05) in the RPF group than in the CON group. It was concluded that RPF could improve the goats' growth performance by regulating their fecal bacteria communities.