Effect of sodium butyrate supplementation in sow and nursery diets on reproductive performance and nursery pig performance

The experiment (Young Dal Jang, 2015) evaluated the effect of coated sodium butyrate (CSB) supplementation on reproductive and nursery growth performance. In Exp. 1, a total of 43 gestating sows (d 81–90 of gestation) were allotted to 0 (n = 15), 500 (n = 16), and 1,000 (n = 12) ppm of CSB (fed treatment diets until weaning). In Exp. 2, a total of 72 weanling pigs were selected from the 0 (n = 5 sows) and 1,000 (n = 4 sows) ppm CSB treatments in Exp. 1 and allotted within the sow treatment to 0, 500, and 1,000 ppm of CSB in nursery diets for a 35-d growth study. All pigs were injected with ovalbumin at weaning and d 14 postweaning as an immune challenge. In Exp. 1, colostral IgG and IgA concentrations tended to increase as CSB supplementation increased. In Exp. 2, pigs from the 1,000 ppm CSB sow treatment had significantly greater BW (23.1 vs. 21.6 kg), ADG (0.462 vs. 0.418 kg/d) and ADFI (0.776 vs. 0.684 kg/d) than those from without CSB sow treatment at d 35. For the nursery treatments, ADG and ADFI during the 35-d period increased linearly as CSB supplementation levels increased. In summary, CSB supplementation increased colostral IgG and IgA concentrations of sows when supplemented in the sow diet and improved growth performance of nursery pigs under an immune challenge when supplemented in the nursery diet