In the past two decades, an intensive amount of research has been focused on the development of alternatives to antibiotics to maintain swine health and performance. The most widely researched alternatives include probiotics, prebiotics, spray dried plasma, and neutraceuticals such as copper and zinc. Since these additives have been more than adequately covered in previous reviews, the focus of this special edition will be on less traditional alternatives. The potential of antimicrobial peptides, clay minerals, egg yolk antibodies, essential oils, bacteriophages, fermented feeds, organic acids, and lysozyme are discussed. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology is a leading open access journal publishing innovative research across agriculture, dairy and animal science.