This study aimed to investigate the effects of multiple mixing ratio pairs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) and Clostridium butyricum (CB) on rumen fermentation and growth performance of goats in hot summer. Thirty goats were divided into five groups: 0.00% probiotics (control), 0.30% SC and 0.05% CB (P1), 0.30% SC and 0.10% CB (P2), 0.60% SC and 0.05% CB (P3), and 0.60% SC and 0.10% CB (P4) of the dry matter (DM) weight of the basal diet and were assigned to a 5 × 5 Latin square experimental design. The results showed the pH values, the activities of ruminal cellulolytic enzymes, and the concentrations of ammonia nitrogen, acetic acid, propionic acid, total volatile fatty acids, vitamins B1 and B2, and niacin were significantly increased (p < 0.05) by probiotics. Moreover, the DM intake, average daily gain, the digestibilities of DM, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were significantly increased (p < 0.05) in probiotic-supplemented groups. Additionally, among all probiotic supplementation groups, the P3 group had the most beneficial effect on rumen fermentation parameters and the growth performance of goats. These results suggested that the mixture of 0.60% Saccharomyces cerevisiae and 0.05% Clostridium butyricum of the DM concentration was beneficial to improve rumen fermentation and promote the growth of goats in hot summer.
Keywords: goats; growth performance; hot summer; probiotics; rumen fermentation.