INTRODUCTION: Brazil is the fourth largest producer and exporter of pork meat in the world, being responsible for producing more than 4 million tons per year, besides exporting more than 1 million ton. To increase the production chain and mitigate problems such as diarrhea in the nursery period, it is common to use antimicrobials in the feed, which can generate problems such as bacterial resistance. The use of homeopathic products may be an alternative to overcome these adversities, reducing stress and increasing the welfare and performance of these animals. OBJECIVES: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a homeopathic additive added to the diet on the welfare, intestinal health, inflammatory response and performance of newly weaned piglets. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The experiment was carried out at the PUCPR Swine Research Unit with 126 piglets (barrows and females). The experimental design was in randomized complete blocks, with 6 treatments, 7 repetitions, and 3 animals per pen. The treatments studied were: T1 – Basal diet (negative control), without addition of homeopathic and antibiotic products; T2 – Basal diet with addition of antibiotic (120 mg/kg of chlorohydroxyquinoline); T3: Basal diet with addition of Homeopathic Product (addition of 4.5 kg/ton); T4: Basal diet with addition of the Homeopathic Product (addition of 6.0 kg/ton); T5: Basal diet with addition of the Homeopathic Product (addition of 7.5 kg/ton ); T6: Basal diet with addition of the Homeopathic Product (addition of 9.0 kg/ton). During the experimental period, behavioral data were collected using tests such as: open arena, novel object, focal sampling, discriminative learning, judgement bias and reactivity during weighing. Also, for 4 days the animals were weighed and the performance variables were calculated. Blood samples were collected to perform hemogram, biochemical, and flow cytometry analyses. On the 36th day of the experiment, the piglets were slaughtered for sample collection and organ weight. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference between treatments for the variables of performance (days 1 to 35), organ weight and serum biochemistry. For diarrhea, T3 and T6 showed similar results to T2. For hemogram there were significant differences between treatments and baseline and between levels of the homeopathic (P<0.05), with the higher levels of the homeopathic, the higher the values of hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and concentration of MCH. For flow cytometry, significant difference was also observed among treatments: T1, T2 and T3 showed higher phagocytic activities if compared to T4, T5 and T6. Animals from T1 showed more pathological changes in the duodenum than animals from T2, T3, T4, T5, and T6 (P<0.05). FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: Therefore, it can be verified that the homeopathic additive did not cause damages to the piglets' health, and it can be a possible substitute for performance enhancing antimicrobials.
