Effect of feeding sodium butyrate in the late finishing period on Salmonella carriage, seroprevalence, and growth of finishing pigs

Overall, results suggest that strategic feeding of sodium butyrate, at 3 kg/t of feed, to finishing pigs for 24-28 days prior to slaughter was effective in reducing Salmonella shedding and seroprevalance but perhaps only in the absence of co-infection with other pathogens. However, sodium butyrate supplementation at this rate did not influence intestinal carriage, nor did it reduce seroprevalence to below the cut-off used for the high Salmonella risk category in Ireland (50%), or significantly improve growth performance.