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Acorns for fattening free-range pigs (OK-Net Ecofeed Practice Abstract)

Abstract

- The fattening performance is very much influenced by the age of pigs and their compensatory growth; hence, pigs should be as old as possible (≥1 year) and adapted to grazing. - Grass is necessary as a source of protein to compensate for the low protein levels in acorns. - The food conversion rate is 10.5 kg of whole acorns of Q. i. rotundifolia to gain 1 kg, besides the contribution of grass; to establish the stocking rate, consider that an adult evergreen oak produces ≈11 kg of acorns/year). - Iberian pigs peel acorns to avoid the high content of tannins in the shell. However, during peeling, approxi-mately 20% of the kernel can be wasted

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