Effects of dietary supplementation with combinations of organic and medium chain fatty acids as replacements for chlortetracycline on growth performance, serum immunity, and fecal microbiota of weaned piglets

Abstract This study investigated the effects of dietary combinations of organic acids and medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) as replacements for chlortetracycline on the growth performance, serum immunity, and fecal microbiota of weaned piglets. Over 28 days, 144 piglets (8.09 ± 0.11 kg) were allocated to four treatments: CON (basal diet), CTC (CON + 0.075 g/kg chlortetracycline), OAMF (CON + 0.2% organic acid blend 1), and COAMF (CON + 0.2% organic acid blend 1 + 0.6% or 0.4% organic acid blend 2). Compared with the CON group, piglets in the COAMF group had greater body weight on day 28 ( P P P P P P  Lactobacillus and Faecalibacterium ( P