Abstract: The present invention relates to the combination of organic acid salts with at least one active ingredient of plant origin, preferably essential oils, partially protected with vegetable fats and/or oils, which prevent these active ingredients from being digested by stomach enzymes during the digestive process. The sodium salts of short-chain acids, preferably salts of butyric, acid are preferred. The preferred essential oils are ginger, piperine, oregano, garlic, thymol, carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde and/or any combinations thereof. The combination of organic acid salts and the essential oils protected with vegetable fats and/or oils, are used as powerful promoters or stimulants for animal growth, as organic bactericides against pathogenic bacteria present in said animals and as modulators of immune response thereof.

Abstract: A process for preparing a feed supplement that promotes growth in animals by (i) preparing a dry metal carboxylate of formula M(RCOOH)2; (ii) preparing a metal aminoate; and (iii) mixing the dry metal carboxylate and the metal aminoate under conditions that form a complex including the metal carboxylate and the metal aminoate and water, then removing the water to form a dry metal complex of the metal carboxylate and the metal aminoate. When administered to an animal in its feed, a bioavailability of the divalent metal in the dry metal complex is different than the bioavailability of the divalent metal in either the dry metal carboxylate or the metal aminoate alone.