AMAFERM Lab Report

In the livestock production industry, producers are always trying to get the most out of their animals, whether that be pounds (lbs.) produced in either meat or milk products or number of animals from breeding. The most important component of all livestock production is the health of the animal, it is important to understand what and how to feed these animals, especially those with a ruminant digestive system. This experiment was performed to determine if a probiotic AMAFERM affected the growth and health of pre and post weaned lambs. The weight, respiration and temperature of twenty-one lambs was measured over a span of six weeks, eleven of these lambs were given AMAFERM along with regular feed and ten were given water, not AMAFERM along with

for the control group and 22.91 lbs. for the AMAFERM group with a p-value of 0.32. The average daily gain for the lambs was 0.65 lbs. for the control group and 0.70 lbs. for the AMAFERM group with a p-value of 0.32. The beginning and end weights for the lambs, respectively were 53.06 lbs. and 78.11 lbs. for the control group and was 53.95 lbs. and 75.64 lbs. for the AMAFERM group. The p-values for the beginning weight was 0.82 and end weight was 0.57. The next factors were health related, the temperature and respiration rates of the twenty-one lambs throughout the experiment. The average temperature of the control group was 103.06F and AMAFERM group was 102.93F with a p-value of 0.47. The lamb’s respiration rates for the control and AMAFERM group, were respectively 86 bpm and 82 bpm with a p-value of

The objective, as stated in the introduction, is to determine the effects of AMAFERM liquid supplement on growing lamb health and performance before and after weaning and this objective was answered through this experiment. A similar study was done where a fresh rumen fluid was given to lambs and it improved their growth and feed conversion rate (Zhong, 2014). The company who makes AMAFERM, BioZyme reported that the liquid supplement boosts water intake, improves digestive health and appetite, maximizes energy, increases weight and lessen instances of diarrhea in young ruminants it is used on (BioZyme Expands Supplement Division, 2015) and through this experiment this statement has been proved to be true. Along with studies about how prebiotics affect digestion, water intake and overall health, there is one that focuses on the effects of prebiotics on the immune system. Prebiotics can stimulate the immune system by increasing the population of beneficial microbes, such as lactic acid bacteria, in the gut. Prebiotics can also change the expression of cytokines which are linked to anti-inflammatory mechanisms (Shokryazdan, 2017). Similar to this study done at Chico State, there are experiments