IntroductionThis study was conducted to assess the effects of dietary supplementation of coated sodium butyrate (CSB) on the growth performance, serum antioxidant, immune performance, and intestinal microbiota of laying ducks.MethodsA total of 120 48-week-old laying ducks were randomly divided into 2 treatment groups: the control group (group C fed a basal diet) and the CSB-treated group (group CSB fed the basal diet + 250 g/t of CSB). Each treatment consisted of 6 replicates, with 10 ducks per replicate, and the trial was conducted for 60 days.ResultsCompared with the group C, the group CSB showed a significant increase in the laying rate (p