The antibiotics tylosin and chlortetracycline (CTC), which are commonly used in pig production, were studied to determine their effects on swine manure digestion in the presence and absence of biocide sodium azide. CTC enhanced initial hydrolysis reactions through volatile suspended solids production, while inhibiting methane and carbon dioxide production. Tylosin did not affect methane and carbon dioxide production: however, the relative abundance of both hydrogen utilizing and acetate-only utilizing microbial populations was significantly compromised. Sodium azide in the absence of antibiotics enhanced metabolic output and initial biomass production, and this observation suggests that populations of Methanobacteriales and Methanosaetaceae spp. appeared to contain sufficient periplasmic bound reductase to effectively utilize acetate and hydrogen in the presence of sodium azide. However, the combination of sodium azide and either CTC or tylosin was a very effective metabolic inhibitor, inhibiting methane and carbon dioxide production and VSS consumption compared to their no-azide counterpart. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.