The effects of different levels of Oak acorn on rumen and small intestine morphology and gastrointestinal pH of Markhoz goat kids

Oak acorn can be use as a cheap and a readily available feed in many countries such as Iran.
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of oak acorn on rumen and small intestine morphology and gastrointestinal pH in Markhoz goat.
Twenty four Markhoz male kids with mean body weight 16±1 Kg and 4-5 months of age in completely randomized design was used. Experimental period was 105 days and experimental diets consisted of control 0%, 8%, 17% and 25% oak acorn. The kids in all 4 groups were fed alfalfa hey and concentrate (barley for control and oak acorn as replacement in experimental groups).
The results showed that the experimental diets had no significant (P> 0.05) on rumen morphology (height of papilla, width of papilla, surface of papilla, density of papilla and rumen wall thickness) and morphology of intestine (height of villi, width of villi, surface of villi, depth of crypt and ratio of villi height to crypt depth). Also, experimental diets had no significant effects (P>0.05) on pH of different parts of rumen and small intestine.
The results of this study showed that using 25% of oak acorn in Markhoz kids had no negative effects on rumen and small intestine morphology and digestive pH in the contents of gastrointestinal.