Abstract: The effect of coated sodium butyrate (CSB) on intestinal mucosa morphology and digestive enzyme activities in Beijing duck were evaluated in this study. Two hundred and forty onedayold Beijing ducks were randomly divided into four groups with four replicates. The dietary treatments were as follows: basal diet， basal+500 g·t-1 CSB， basal+1 000 g·t-1 CSB and basal+40 g·t-1 zinc bacitracin. On the day 21 and day 42， two ducks of each replicate were selected and villous lengths and crypt depths of duodenum， jejunum and ileum were measured， based on which V/C ratio were calculated. Meanwhile， digestive enzyme activities in the duodenum contents were measured. It showed that addition of CSB could obviously improve the villous length and crypt depth of duodenal compared with control and antibiotic group; addition of 1 000 g·t-1 CSB could increase the height of jejunal villous and decrease the depth of crypt significantly (P<005)， the intestinal mucosa morphology of 1 000 g·t-1 group was better than that of 500 g·t-1 group. At the same time， CSB could improve activity of lipase in the duodenum (P<005). In conclusion， CSB in dietary could effectively improve the intestinal mucosa morphology， increase lipase activity and enhance intestinal health in Beijing duck．

Key words: coated sodium butyrate, meat duck, intestinal mucosa morphology, digestive enzyme activities