Evaluating the effectiveness of a sodium butyrate feed additive for the control of Salmonella carriage in finishing pigs

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of commercially available sodium butyrate to control the shedding of Salmonella on two Irish pig farms with a history of high Salmonella seroprevalence. On both farms, pens (12-17 pigs/pen) were randomly assigned to a control (finisher feed without additives) or an acid treatment (the same feed supplemented with 0.03% sodium butyrate) for 24-26 days prior to slaughter. On Farm A, Salmonella shedding was reduced in the acid group compared to the control group at the end of the treatment period (30% vs. 57% probability of detecting Salmonella in faeces, respectively; p\u3c0.05). However no effect of treatment was observed on Farm B, which could perhaps be explained by a concomitant infection by Lawsonia intracellularis. No significant differences in Salmonella recovery rates were observed from caecal digesta or ileocaecal/mesenteric lymph nodes collected at slaughter in either of the trials. Furthermore, feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion efficiency did not differ significantly between control and treatment groups on either farm