Composition of compound feeds.

Weaning is a critical stage for piglets, often leading to intestinal barrier disruption, impaired nutrient absorption, and growth reduction. This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with dried bovine colostrum or sodium butyrate on intestinal barrier function, nutrient absorption, and growth performance in weaned piglets. Eighteen DanBred Hybrid piglets (28 days old) were allocated to three groups (n = 6): control (no additive), colostrum, and sodium butyrate. Piglets were fed standardized prestarter and starter diets for 28 days. Growth performance and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were monitored, and intestinal permeability was assessed using a sugar absorption test with LC-MS/MS analysis of urinary sugars. Additional evaluations included intestinal histomorphometry, brush border enzyme activities, immunohistochemistry for tight junction proteins, hematological and biochemical parameters, and gene expression analysis. Colostrum supplementation resulted in significantly higher final body weight and average daily gain compared with control and sodium butyrate groups (P