Review: Exogenous butyrate: implications for the functional development of ruminal epithelium and calf performance

The importance of the use of exogenous butyrate in calves’ diets is due to its role as a factor stimulating the functional development of ruminal epithelium and improving calf performance during the transition from preruminant to ruminant status. Our review will first present results related to effects of the administration of butyrate in calves’ diets on the development of ruminal epithelium toward a more effective absorption and metabolism of fermentation products from the rumen. The introduction of sodium butyrate at a level of about 0.3% of diet dry matter is accompanied by an increase to 35% in butyrate concentration in the rumen of 33-day-old calves. Mutual reliance between an enhanced ruminal concentration of butyrate and the activities of transcription factors, genes and proteins involved in cell proliferation, ketogenesis and the maintenance of cell pH homeostasis in the ruminal epithelial cells has been clearly confirmed in many experiments. Second, the review presents results related to the effects of the introduction of butyrate salts in the diet on calf performance. Of 11 studies a positive effect was found in six; five of these were obtained from the calves that started receiving butyrate supplement at a level of about 0.3% diet dry matter from the age of 3 to 5 days. Results indicate that when a supplement is given to calves soon after birth the functional development of ruminal epithelium in cooperation with the endocrine and digestion systems is transferred into improving the efficiency of rearing. There have been no studies on the effects of greater amounts of butyrate salts in milk replacer; butyrate constitutes about 1.2% of the whole cow’s milk dry matter. In older calves, when butyrate administration is provided as a component of a starter concentrate at the increasing inclusion rate from 0.3% to 3.0%, the practical effect in calf performance relates to the risk of depression of rumen pH below 5.5 and accompanying disruption of the organization of the ruminal epithelial tissue. The higher risk is noted in calves received starter with substantial content of a rapidly degradable starch. At present, the insufficient number of positive results confirming the beneficial effect of butyrate supplements in terms of an improvement in performance does not allow their recommendation for use in the practical feeding of calves.