Research: Butyrate presentation and broiler performance

Gustor BP-70, a form of semi-protected sodium butyrate developed by Norel, has shown its efficacy, including an efficient control of Salmonella in broilers.

During the recent European Poultry Conference (EPC 2010) Norel presented a paper titled “Effect of Butyrate on Broiler Performance”. This reports a trial where a total of 720 one-day-old Ross 308 chicks were allocated at random to 3 experimental treatments (T1: basal diet; T2: Gustor BP-70, semi-protected butyrate, and T3: Gustor B-coated, protected butyrate) including 12 replicates of 20 broilers per treatment (half male and half female).

Mash feeds and water were offered ad libitum with no added growth promoter or veterinary antibiotics. Starter feeds were fed from 1-21d and finisher feeds from 22-42d of age.

Observations included body weight (BW), growth (ADG), feed intake (ADFI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), European production efficiency factor (EPEF), general health and histology.

Broilers receiving T2 had lower mortality rates than T1 (4.2 vs 1.7 % for T1 and T2; P=0.1005), a near-significant trend. At 42 d, birds receiving T2 were heavier than Controls, a near-significant trend (2,241 vs 2,301 g for T1 and T2; P=0.1077). Also, broilers fed T2 showed higher EPEF values than animals receiving the control diet (254b, 271a, 260ab for T1, T2 and T3, respectively). Moreover, broilers fed Butyrate (T2 and T3) had reduced crypt depth (257, 230, 207 µm for T1, T2 and T3; P=0.0031) and consequently lower ratio crypt depth to villus height (0.46, 0.36, 0.37 for T1, T2 and T3; P=0.0005) than Control chicks.

It is concluded that the addition of butyrate improves growth, reduces mortality, increases EPEF and improves intestinal health of the chicks, especially the semi-protected form.

Related website
• Norel