Dairy Science Commons^™

Comparing The Effects Of Monensin And Sodium Butyrate On Coccidia In Post-Weaned Heifers, Hannah R. Coffin

Honors Theses and Capstones

The emergence of antibiotic resistances has raised concerns in society about the widespread use of antibiotics, such as monensin, as growth enhancers in agriculture. Pressure to find alternatives has increased since the European Union banned the use of ionophorous antibiotics. Butyrate supplementation has been found to enhance growth in pre-weaned calves and it has been recently suggested to enhance growth in post-weaned heifers. In a recent study by Rice in 2017, there was a quadratic (P=0.03) response for coccidia counts as sodium butyrate was increased, with the lowest counts being at the intermediate doses. This suggested that butyrate has the …