ADIMIX® PRECISION: LARGE BODY OF TRIAL DATA CONFIRMS VALUE FOR MONEY

Different commercial protected butyrate products liberate butyrate in different parts of the digestive tract. This has an important impact on their functionality. The efficacy and performance of Adimix® Precision has been confirmed in many trials and clearly shows its premium position in the market.

Butyrate is a molecule with high potential for farm animals and thus part of the nutritional toolbox to help producers cope with challenges, ranging from tight margins to antibiotic reduction and complying with food safety measures.

The most value for money

Like with any feed additive and with the current high feed prices, you want to make sure that the product does what it is supposed to do. Adimix® Precision is a precision delivery coated butyrate salt, developed by Adisseo and produced in the company’s own facilities. It is based on many years of expertise and knowledge on butyrate production. Because of its high target release capacity, this protected butyrate brings the most value for money for poultry and pig producers. This is reflected in:

• Intestinal function and nutrient utilisation. Adimix® Precision has a positive effect on the microbiota, gut barrier and immunity, all ingredients for a healthy working gut and good digestion and uptake of nutrients.
• Food safety. Adimix® Precision participates in the reduction of the risk of Campylobacter and Salmonella contamination, two important zoonotic bacteria to prevent throughout the whole production chain of pigs and poultry products.
• Animal resilience to deal with challenges. Adimix® Precision helps to overcome intestinal damage caused by bacterial, viral, parasites and toxins challenges.

Reliable and predictable results

Adisseo has performed a large number of trials to confirm the results of Adimix® Precision related to zootechnical performance and food safety issues. Here we discuss a few of the major effects shown in poultry and pigs.

POULTRY

Young animal nutrition is key. Adding protected butyrate to the starter diet (day 0-14) increases bird performance. Adimix® Precision showed:

• Significant higher body weight at day 7 and day 14
• Improved FCR at day 42
• Better intestinal developments

In a meta-analysis of 62 trials, protected and unprotected butyrate were compared under challenging conditions. In broilers, Adimix® Precision showed:

• Higher average daily gain (+4%), without significantly affecting the feed intake (+0.6%).
• Lower FCR (-3%)

In a trial with 1,440 broilers, protected butyrate was compared with antibiotic growth promoters during an E. coli challenge. At day 42, Adimix® Precision showed:

• Higher final weights (+6.1% vs control, +7.5%vs Bacitracin, +5.7% vs Halquinol)
• Lower FCR (- 7.5% vs control, -8.4% vs BMD and vs Halquinol)

Can we reduce performance losses when soybean meal is exchanged by rapeseed meal (RPM)? Adding Adimix® Precision to a RPM diet showed:

• Significant increase in body weight gain and FCR
• Greater duodenal villus height: crypt depth ratio

In a trial with 50 one-day old chicks, the effect on protected butyrate was evaluated on Salmonella enteritidis shedding after inoculation of the bacteria, compared to adding no butyrate to the diet. Adimix® Precision showed:

• Almost half the number of positive Salmonella test results, compared to the control group (48% against 97%) at day 20
• Significant drop of positive Salmonella test results, compared to the control group (6% against 36%) at day of slaughter (day 42)

Follow up trials confirmed that coated butyrate induces a beneficial shift in hindgut microbiota composition, compared to unprotected butyrate or no butyrate at all. Adimix® Precision showed:

• Higher Firmicutes:Proteobacteria ratio
• Increased relative abundance of beneficial butyrate-producing Lachnospiraceae + Ruminococcaceae
• Lower levels of potentially harmful Enterobacteriaceae
• Higher resilience against Salmonella colonisation in the gut

In two trials, it was further investigated whether caecal Campylobacter colonisation can be reduced in broilers using coated butyrate at different inclusion levels. Adimix® Precision showed:

• Significant reduction of Campylobacter caecal counts at day 29 and 39 for both inclusion rates (3g/t and 5g/t)
• Strong reduction in caecal Campylobacter counts when coated butyrate is fed throughout the whole life of the bird (from day 1 to day 39)

In a trial with 800 birds, the zootechnical and intestinal health promoting effects of coated butyrate was evaluated during a subclinical (without mortality) necrotic enteritis (NE) model with Clostridium perfringens. Compared to unsupplemented group, Adimix® Precision showed:

• Reduction of number of lesion scores 2 and 3 on day 21
• Increase of number of birds with zero lesion scores at day 28
• Higher final live weights
• Better feed intake, FCR and EPEF

PIGS

The sow’s diet is of utmost importance, as she needs enough nutrients for maintenance, milk production and piglet growth. A trial looked at the effect of adding protected butyrate or unprotected butyrate to the sow diet. Adimix® Precision showed:

• Positive effect on feed intake sows, shown in maintained weight during lactation
• Heavier piglets at birth and at weaning
• Higher IgG and IgA levels in colostrum

A trial with 300 high-health grower pigs looked at the effect of protected butyrate on performance and carcass characteristics in grower and finisher pigs. Pigs received either a diet with an antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) or not. Adimix® Precision showed:

• Highest carcass weight
• Improved final weight and FCR, both with or without AGP
• Increased profits for swine producers (ROI between 8:1 and 20:1)

A meta-analysis of 52 trials evaluated the effect of protected and unprotected butyrate under, both standard and challenging, conditions. Adimix® Precision showed:

• Increased ADG (+24%) at day 14 post weaning
• Improved FCR and feed average daily feed intake

In a trial with pigs from different ages, the effect on protected butyrate was evaluated on Salmonella, and in particular the Sample-to-Positive (S/P) ratio. Adimix® Precision showed:

• Consecutive low S/P values (lower than 0.6, meaning the farm is not in the risk status)

To prevent the spread of PEDv, the virus that causes porcine epidemic diarrhoea, a trial was set up to evaluate the effect of protected butyrate on piglets and sows that were infected with the virus. Compared to no butyrate supplementation, Adimix® Precision showed:

• More viable offspring
• Havier piglets from day 14 onwards

Can protected butyrate further increase the post weaning performance of piglets that receive a diet with organic acids? A trial with 383 Duroc piglets showed that Adimix® Precision:

• Improved growth rates of weaned piglets, on top of organic acid supplementation (biggest effect for youngest and smallest piglets)
• Improved daily feed intake levels

Conclusion

Pig and poultry producers are continuously seeking to improve performance and use less medication, while they also face increasing pressure to increase food safety measures and deal with tight margins. Different commercial butyrate products are available on the market to help producers with these challenges. However, the value for money can be quite different between them. Adimix® Precision is the result of Adisseo’s expertise on butyrate production and years of fine-tuning of the production process and a large number of trials.

This protected form of butyrate is released along the whole digestive tract, and especially in the hind gut, for it to express its full potential. Using Adimix® Precision helps to gain control over animal performance, young animal development, gut health and bacterial colonisation. All of this has positive effects on animal health, farm profitability, margins, dependence on antibiotics and food safety.