biostudies-literatureUnknown21Wang YThe dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) has the potential to influence the physiological functions of animals. Nonetheless, there is a notable scarcity of research in the field of ruminant science regarding its effects on fattening sheep, particularly with respect to the rumen microbiota. Therefore, this study evaluated the effects of varied DCAD levels on growth performance, rumen fermentation, and rumen bacterial communities in fattening Hu sheep. Thirty-six fattening male sheep (20.66 ± 1.53 kg) were divided into two blocks based on body weight (BW), and the sheep in each block were then randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments: low DCAD (LD, 2.3 mEq/kg of dry matter [DM]), medium DCAD (MD, 132.1 mEq/kg of DM), and high DCAD (HD, 276.9 mEq/kg of DM). The experiment lastedAnimal nutrition (Zhongguo xu mu shou yi xue hui)119-128https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12143603biostudies-literatureEffects of increasing levels of dietary cation-anion difference on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, and rumen microbiota in fattening Hu sheep.PMC12143603Yin YShen JMao SLuo JZhu WWang YZheng WYu ZDuan HfalseEffects of increasing levels of dietary cation-anion difference on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, and rumen microbiota in fattening Hu sheep.The dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) has the potential to influence the physiological functions of animals. Nonetheless, there is a notable scarcity of research in the field of ruminant science regarding its effects on fattening sheep, particularly with respect to the rumen microbiota. Therefore, this study evaluated the effects of varied DCAD levels on growth performance, rumen fermentation, and rumen bacterial communities in fattening Hu sheep. Thirty-six fattening male sheep (20.66 ± 1.53 kg) were divided into two blocks based on body weight (BW), and the sheep in each block were then randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments: low DCAD (LD, 2.3 mEq/kg of dry matter [DM]), medium DCAD (MD, 132.1 mEq/kg of DM), and high DCAD (HD, 276.9 mEq/kg of DM). The experiment lasted2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Jun2026-03-17T13:43:17.43Z2025-08-28T03:04:52.373ZS-EPMC121436034048709910.1016/j.aninu.2024.11.026