No abstract

In this experiment, corn -oat, barley -wheat and barley -oats were used as a source of starch in 1, 2 and 3 rations respectively. The ratio of concentrate to forage in all treatments were 35:65. The results showed the concentration of total protein and cholesterol were not affected by the type and source of cereal grains (P > 0.05). Serum glucose and triglyceride concentration significantly increased in corn -oats treatment (P < 0.05). Also, in this experiment total volatile fatty acids (VFA), acetate (A), propionate (P) and A/P concentrations were not affected by the type of cereal grains (P > 0.05), but valerate and butyrate concentrations significantly increased in barley -wheat treatment (P < 0.05). On the other hand, concentrations of isobutyrate and isovalerate significantly increased in corn -oats treatment (P < 0.05). Fecal pH, were not significantly different between corn -oats and barley -oats treatments (P > 0.05), although the lowest pH was observed in barley -wheat treatment (6.02). According to the results, treatment 1 (corn -oats) improved fecal VFA and blood metabolites in the comparison of the other treatments.ARTICLE HISTORY