Long-term antibiotic-free poultry management with veterinary homeopathy: 11-month observation in a commercial layer flock in Nepal

Antibiotic use in commercial poultry production has raised concerns related to antimicrobial resistance, drug residues, and public health. As a result, alternative and preventive health management approaches are increasingly explored. This field-based case report documents the long-term antibiotic-free management of a commercial Brown layer flock using veterinary homeopathy under practical farming conditions in Nepal. A total of 4,000-day-old layer chicks were reared and monitored up to 11 months of age in a commercial farm setting, following standard housing, nutrition, biosecurity, and vaccination protocols. Veterinary homeopathy was employed as the primary preventive health management system, with multi-component formulations administered via drinking water according to age and production stage. No therapeutic antibiotics were used during the observation period, except for any antibiotic components present in commercially sourced feed. Key outcome parameters included mortality, egg production, egg size uniformity, feed conversion performance, and incidence of clinically apparent disease. The flock demonstrated cumulative mortality of less than 1%, average egg production of approximately 94%, uniform egg size, optimal feed conversion within breed standards, and no clinically evident major bacterial or viral disease outbreaks. Occasional suspected Newcastle disease cases were reportedly managed without measurable production loss. Although the study is observational and lacks a control group and routine laboratory confirmation, the findings suggest that veterinary homeopathy, when integrated with standard management and vaccination programs, may contribute to maintaining flock health and productivity in antibiotic-free commercial layer systems. Further controlled studies are recommended to validate these observation.