Metagenomic data from the rumen of South African Mutton Merino sheep supplemented with crude or encapsulated Acacia tannin extracts

Rumen fluid was collected from 24 rams (six per treatment) fed a total mixed ration (TMR) supplemented with either distilled water (control), monensin (positive control), crude tannin, or microencapsulated tannin. However, one sample did not yield sufficient sequencing depth, resulting in 23 usable datasets. DNA was extracted and subjected to shotgun metagenomic sequencing on the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. The dataset comprises paired-end reads deposited in the NCBI SRA under accession SRP480487. Taxonomic profiling reveals dominant phyla such as Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, and the presence of archaeal genera such as Methanobrevibacter. This dataset provides insights into the structural and functional composition of the rumen microbiome and may be useful for comparative studies and biotechnology applications.