Effects of group size and homeopathic product supplement consisting of botanicals and mineral mixture on the performance and production traits of finishing pigs

Abstract

A total of 144 mixed sex pigs [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] with an initial average body weight (BW) of 52 kg were used in a 11 wk trial in a 2 × 2 factorial design with the following factors: group size (three pigs per pen vs. five pigs per pen) and 0% or 0.2% homeopathic product supplementation to evaluate growth performance, nutrient digestibility, meat quality, and stress-related hormones. The homeopathic product supplementation resulted in increased (P < 0.05) BW at week 11, average daily gain (ADG) during days 42–63 and 64–77. In addition, an increase (P < 0.05) in ADG and average daily feed intake during overall experiment period and an increase (P < 0.05) in apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter at day 77 were observed in pigs receiving homeopathic product. A trend in increase (P = 0.088) in serum cortisol concentration during day 42 and increase (P > 0.05) during day 77 was observed in pigs with group size of five pigs per pen, and this was reduced when homeopathic product was supplemented to the diet. In conclusion, the variation in number of animals per pen had no effects on performance and production traits, but the animals in bigger group size had higher serum cortisol concentrations which were reduced by the homeopathic product supplementation.