Colibacillosis is a disease caused by Escherichia coli that manifests itself when there are homeostatic imbalances or in the context of increased exposure, in which case the organism displays opportunistic behavior. To control this problem in poultry, antibiotics are used in the feed, because E. coli is component of the intestinal microbiota of birds. However, because of the changing dietary habits of the human population that seeks out healthier foods without antimicrobial residues, there have been many studies of alternatives to replace conventional antimicrobials as performance enhancers. Thus, the objective of the present study was to determine whether daily consumption of a homeopathic product (immune stimulator) by broilers stimulates immune responses and thereby minimizes the negative effects of experimental E. coli infection. We used 320 1-day-old Cobb 500 chicks, distributed in two groups with eight repetitions each, and 20 birds per repetition: control (CG) and homeopathy (HG). HG birds consumed doses of 0.02 mL/bird/day (1–7 d) via water, 0.01 ml/bird (8–21 d), 0.02 ml/bird (22–28 d), 0.01 mL/bird (29–35 d), and 0.02 mL/bird (35–45 d), as recommended by the manufacturer. At day 22 of the birds' life, the two groups were divided into four subgroups, with four repetitions per subgroup. On day 22, birds in CG1 and HG1 groups were infected intraperitoneally with 0.5 mL of inoculum containing 1.0 × 10⁸ CFU of E. coli/mL. During the experimental period, data were collected for analysis of performance. On days 21 and 45 of age, we collected blood and feces. During the first 21 days of the experiment, we found that birds that consumed the immunostimulator had lower neutrophil counts and higher levels of globulins, however without significant difference between groups in terms of performance. Uninfected birds that consumed the homeopathic product in the water had less feed conversion (HG2) between days 1–35 and 1 to 45 compared to the other treatments. Mortality was higher in groups experimentally infected with E. coli (HG1 and CG1) from 22 to 35 days of life. There were greater numbers of lymphocytes in the HG2 group on day 45 than in CG1 and CG2; while numbers of neutrophils were lower at 42 days in birds of groups HG1 and HG2 than in CG1. Lower total bacterial counts, total coliforms and E. coli were observed in the feces of birds in the HG2 group compared to the other groups. Taken together, these findings suggest that inclusion of homeopathic product in the water of broilers had positive effects on the modulation of the immune response and on feed conversion in birds not challenged with E. coli. But the preventive protocol used in this study was not able to minimize the negative effects caused by the experimental E. coli intraperitoneal infection in broilers, featuring a substantial infectious challenge.

Colibacillosis是由大肠杆菌引起的疾病，当存在体内稳态失衡或在暴露增加的情况下表现出来，在这种情况下，生物体表现出机会主义行为。为了控制家禽的这一问题，饲料中使用了抗生素，因为大肠杆菌是鸟类肠道菌群的组成部分。然而，由于不断变化的饮食习惯正在寻找不含抗菌素残留物的健康食品，因此已有许多研究替代传统抗菌素作为性能增强剂。因此，本研究的目的是确定肉鸡每天食用顺势疗法产品（免疫刺激剂）是否能刺激免疫反应，从而最大程度地减少实验大肠杆菌的负面影响。感染。我们使用了320只1天大的Cobb 500雏鸡，分为两组，每组八次重复，每重复20只鸡：对照（CG）和顺势疗法（HG）。HG禽类通过水消耗的剂量为0.02 mL /只鸟/天（1–7 d），0.01 ml /只鸟（8–21 d），0.02 ml /只鸟（22–28 d），0.01 mL /只鸟（29–35） d）和0.02 mL /只（35–45 d），按照制造商的建议。在鸟类生命的第22天，将两组分为四个亚组，每个亚组重复四次。在第22天，用0.5 mL含1.0×10 ⁸  CFU大肠杆菌的接种物腹膜内感染CG1和HG1组的禽类/毫升 在实验期间，收集数据用于性能分析。在第21和45天，我们收集了血液和粪便。在实验的前21天中，我们发现食用免疫刺激剂的禽类的中性粒细胞计数较低，球蛋白水平较高，但各组之间在性能方面没有显着差异。与其他处理相比，在水中食用顺势疗法产品的未感染禽类在1至35天到1至45天之间的饲料转化率（HG2）少。在实验性感染大肠杆菌的人群中死亡率更高（HG1和CG1）从22到35天的寿命。第45天，HG2组的淋巴细胞数量比CG1和CG2多。而HG1和HG2组中的中性粒细胞数量在42天时要低于CG1。与其他组相比，HG2组禽的粪便中细菌总数，总大肠菌群和大肠杆菌的总数更低。综上所述，这些发现表明在肉鸡的水中加入顺势疗法产品对未受到大肠杆菌攻击的禽类的免疫应答和饲料转化具有积极的影响。但是，本研究中使用的预防方案无法将实验性大肠杆菌引起的负面影响降到最低 肉鸡腹膜内感染，具有实质性的感染挑战。