Echinacea purpurea is one of the most important medical herbs. It is widely used around the world to treat common
cold and other infectious disorders with the claim to have paramunity-inducing and non-specific immune responses
stimulating effects. Therefore, the objective of this study was to test a repeated short-time application regime for Echinacea juice as feed additive on phagocytosis, antibody response, and blood cell counts of layers and fattening pigs. It was found that that a repeated short time application of Echinacea juice has immune stimulating effects in layers and fattening pigs. It seems that the repeated 2 days-trickle stimulation is sufficient to increase immune response. In this application regime, it is an easy and economic method to enhance immune reactions in layers and fattening pigs. A different dosage adjustment and application regime for layers in further studies will likely optimize the benefit from using Echinacea as feed additive.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci