Evaluation of Herbal Choline and Chelated Minerals on Growth and Ruminal Bacteria in Katahdin Rams

This study evaluated the effect of herbal choline (Ch) and chelated minerals (CM), alone or combined, on growth and rumen bacteria in rams. Four entire male Katahdin sheep with initial live weight of 25 ± 0.5 kg were randomly distributed in a 4 × 4 Latin square, where each period consisted of 21 d (7 d of adaptation to the diet and 14 d for sample collection). Rams were housed in metabolic cages and fed a basal diet (BD) for growth containing 1.17 Mcal of NEG and 14% CP. The treatments evaluated were: T1) Basal diet (Control, BD); T2) BD + 4 g herbal choline (Ch); T3) BD + 1 g of chelated minerals (CM); and T4) BD + 4 g of Ch + 1 g of CM (BD+Ch+CM). The treatments Ch alone or in combination with CM improved daily weight gain (p 0.05), without showing changes in dry matter intake, ruminal pH, or in total, cellulolytic and lactic acid bacterial populations (p 0.05). The addition of choline alone or in combination with chelated minerals improves daily weight gain, without altering the pH or ruminal bacteria in rams.