Low-temperature environments can strongly affect the normal growth and health of livestock. In winter, cold weather can be accompanied by strong winds that aggravate the effects of cold on livestock. In this study, two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of low temperature and/or wind speed on physiological indices, rumen microbiota, immune responses and oxidative stress in sheep. When sheep were exposed to cold temperature and/or stronger wind speeds, the average daily gain (ADG) decreased (p < 0.05), and the abundance of Lachnospiraceae was significantly higher (p < 0.05). The acetate and propionate contents and the proportion of propionate in the rumen also significantly reduced (p < 0.05). The immunoglobulin G (IgG) and TH1-related cytokines in the blood were significantly lower (p < 0.05). However, antioxidant enzyme contents were significantly increased and the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) was reduced (p < 0.05). In a cold environment, the abundance of Lachnospiraceae in the rumen of sheep was highly enriched, and the decreasing of propionate might be one of the factors affecting the immunity of the animals, the sheep did not suffer from oxidative damage during the experiment.

Background: Low-temperature environments can strongly affect the normal growth and health of livestock. Previous studies have shown that cold exposure can alter the intestinal microbiota and thereby affect other traits. In winter, cold weather can be accompanied by strong winds that aggravate the effects of cold on livestock. In this study, an experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of low temperature and wind speed on physiological indexes, rumen microbiota, and immune responses in sheep.Methods: The sheep were divided into control group and test group according to their ambient temperature.Sheep in the test group were divided into four groups according to wind-speed treatment: no wind (average wind velocity less than 0.5 m/s), low wind velocity (average wind velocity of 3 m/s), medium wind velocity (average wind velocity of 4 m/s) and high wind velocity (average wind velocity of 5 m/s).Results: Average daily gain and the utilization of forage, especially soluble fiber, decreased with increasing wind velocity in cold temperature (P<0.05). In rumen, the enzyme activity of cellulose degradation was also lowerwith increasing wind velocity (P<0.05). The abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria showed differedamong the wind treatments (P<0.05).The large fluctuations in the amount of bacteria provided a breeding opportunity forpotentially harmful bacteria (P<0.05). In addition, there were significant decreases in the serum levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ (P<0.05) and a large increase in IL-4 level (P<0.05), which indicated that the sheep underwent immune suppressionduring the trial. The significant increase in the activities of the antioxidant enzymes SOD, GSH-PX, and CAT (P<0.05) indicated that the production of oxygen free radicals was increased.Conclusions: The cold environment significantly reduced the growth of sheep and altered the composition of rumen microbiota, reducing the utilization of soluble fiber by the rumen flora. Furthermore, the sheep produced large amounts of enzymes to resist tissue damage and experienced immune suppression in the cold environment.

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This study explored effects of microbial preparation (MIP, developed by our research team) on production performance and body health of Boer goat to reveal the function of it in goat breeding industry. Compound yeast and enzyme preparation (CYP) was used to compare the function of MIP. Healthy male Boer goats (n = 15, BW = 25.31±4.06 kg) were allocated randomly into three groups as NC (Basal diet), MI (Basal diet + MIP) and CY (Basal diet + CYP). This study lasted for 71 days including 15 days for adaptation and 56 days for growth trial. Both MIP and CYP enhanced production performance such as average daily gain of goats, MIP enhanced the level of fat synthesis such as total cholesterol level significantly on day 28. As for rumen fermentation and microbial communities of goat, MIP decreased rumen pH. PCoA analysis showed that the rumen bacterial community on day 28 was significantly separated. In conclusion, MIP increased production performance, ameliorating rumen fermentation and shifting microflora. Our findings provide the evidence for the influence of probiotics on goat production performance as well as health condition.