Abstract
The green oak (Quercus ilex) plays an important role in forest ecology when oaks are the dominant species or are plentiful. The use of acorns as an alternative to barley for livestock feeding can be beneficial for breeders. The aim of this study was the evaluation of the acorn intake by lambs in two stages, suckling and fattening, on growth, diet digestibility, carcass and non-carcass characteristics. For this, 32 lambs were used. During the suckling period, 16 lambs were reared on range pasture, supplied by barley (S-Ba), the other 16 on forest pasture and supplied by acorns (S-Ac). During the fattening period, lambs were assigned to concentrate based either on barley (F-Ba) or acorn (F-Ac) resulting in eight animals per suckling treatment per fattening treatment. The feed intake, diet digestibility and lamb growth were recorded. At 90 d of fattening, all animals were slaughtered and carcass traits studied.The main results show that the incorporation of acorn in concentrate was without effect on digestibility of organic matter, crud protein and neutral detergent fibre. The nitrogen balance was positive for animals fed barley concentrate or acorn one ( g d). The lamb growth rates and slaughter body weight were not affected by acorn incorporation in both phases (). Consequently, the carcass weights and carcass yields were similar. The F-Ac and S-Ac lambs had relatively heavier liver than F-Ba and S-Ba. The carcass composition in cutting pieces and that in tissues (muscle, fat and bone) was similar for all groups. These results suggest that acorns could replace partially conventional feedstuffs as concentrate without affecting animal performance and carcass quality.
Highlights
Animal nutrition in the southern Mediterranean area is based on natural pastures in the rangelands, where production is fluctuant among years and seasons with a particular drop of herbage availability during the dry season, resulting in inefficiencies in nutrient supply to the animals (Elloumi et al, 2011)
The conventional concentrate is a mixture of barley, wheat bran, soya bean meal and mineral–vitamin supplement (MVS); it is considered fattening barley concentrate (F-Ba)
40 % of barley was replaced by acorn, so the fattening acorn concentrate (F-Ac) contains 45.6 % of barley and 30.4 % of acorn and the same proportions of wheat bran, soya bean meal and MVS as F-Ba
Summary
Animal nutrition in the southern Mediterranean area is based on natural pastures in the rangelands, where production is fluctuant among years and seasons with a particular drop of herbage availability during the dry season, resulting in inefficiencies in nutrient supply to the animals (Elloumi et al, 2011). The Quercus ilex (green oak) is one of the most common forest trees in the Mediterranean area; its product, the acorn, may serve as feedstuff in this region. It contains high starch level and tannins, which make it an alternative and cautionary feed for animals (Shimada et al, 2006).
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