Butyrate inclusion can help reduce dietary costs in poultry

Butyrate inclusion as a dietary additive in poultry has shown favorable responses in regards to maintaining intestinal health and productive performance (Moquet, 2018).

Due to the fact that sodium butyrate releases butyric acid when entering the digestive system, its absorption by enterocytes is favored as these cells use it as an energy source (Mahdavi and Torki, 2009).

Increased secretions of:

Pancreatic enzymes

Bile salts

Pepsin

and HCL

due to the effects of butyrate, can explain improvements in amino acid digestibility values as well as those for digestible and metabolizable energy (Denbow, 2015;  Moquet et al., 2016).

From a nutritional point of view, this opens the possibility of assigning butyrate a formulation value, as established by FEDNA in its 2019 tables. Where an AME value of 5,500 Kcal per kg of butyric acid is determined.

A greater nutritional value can be expected even if there is release of butyric acid in the first portion of the digestive tract. Considering that within this portion the molecule can increase gastric and pancreatic secretions (Moquet et al., 2016), which improves the digestion and absorption of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates.

Several authors report a significant improvement in the apparent ileal digestibility of methionine, threonine, proline, serine, and histidine (Moquet, 2018;  Kaczmarek et al. , 2016). Showing value improvements 35 day old chickens that range from 2 to 12% in.