Addition of homeopathic products to pig diets in the finishing phase promotes improvement in growth performance

Abstract

Homeopathic products (HP) are a preventive and therapeutic alternative in pig farming. This study evaluated the effect of the concentration of dietary HP on performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and plasma metabolites of growing-finishing pigs. A total of 60 crossbred male pigs (Agroceres PIC × DanBred), immunocastrated at 90 and 120 days old, with an initial BW of 30.71 ± 2.60 kg were allocated in a completely randomized design to three treatments: i) control diet (CT), without HP), ii) CT + HP1 (Figotonus® and Sanoplus®) (1 g/kg of diet), and iii) CT + HP2 (Figotonus and Sanoplus) (2 g/kg of diet). The results indicate that pigs fed diets containing HP2 had a greater average daily gain compared with those fed the control diet, although a higher feed efficiency was observed when pigs were fed the HP1 diet. Animals fed the HP2 diet showed a slight increase in initial postmortem pH in the Longissimus dorsi muscle compared to the control group. Pigs fed HP2 showed a higher initial temperature in the L. dorsi than those fed the control diet. However, there was no effect on plasma metabolite concentration. Based on the results of the present study, the HP1 diet enhanced the performance of finishing pigs without negative effects on meat traits and plasma metabolites.