%0 Journal Article %9 journal article %J Journal of Animal and Feed Sciences %@ 1230-1388 %V 29 %N 4 %D 2020 %F Xia2020 %T Forestomach fermentation and microbial communities of alpacas (Lama pacos) and sheep (Ovis aries) fed maize stalk-based diet %X The aim of the study was to investigate the differences of forestomach digestion and microbial communities between alpacas and sheep fed maize stalk-based diet. Six alpacas and six sheep were housed in metabolic crates, and were fed low-quality diet (30% maize-based concentrate and 70% rubbed maize stalk) twice a day. The animals were adapted to diet for 18 days, followed by 3 days of sampling. It was shown that alpacas had lower ( P < 0.001) feed intake than sheep, but presented similar apparent digestibility in the total tract in comparison with sheep. The concentrations of propionate, valerate, isobutyrate and isovalerate in alpaca forestomach were higher ( P < 0.001) than those in sheep, whereas acetate and acetate:propionate ratio was lower ( P < 0.001) in alpacas than in sheep. The concentrations of ammonia-N and microbial protein in alpaca forestomach were 23 and 33% lower than those in sheep, respectively. For ruminal microbes, the proportions of fibrolytic bacteria Clostridium and Pseudobutyrivibrio were higher ( P < 0.05) in alpacas than those in sheep, but the proportion of proteolytic bacteria Selenomonas was lower ( P < 0.05) in alpacas. In conclusion, the forestomach fermentation characteristics in alpacas and sheep fed low-quality maize stalk diet were significantly different, and this phenomenon may result from the different composition of ruminal microbes (such as carbohydrate degrading bacteria and proteolytic bacteria). %A Xia, C. Q. %A Pei, C. X. %A Huo, W. J. %A Liu, Q. %A Zhang, C. X. %A Ren, Y. S. %P 323-329 %R 10.22358/jafs/131230/2020 %U https://doi.org/10.22358/jafs/131230/2020