title: Full or partial outdoor rearing of slaughter pigs – effects on performance, carcass quality and nutrient load
creator: Hermansen, John E.
creator: Eriksen, Jørgen
creator: Strudsholm, Karin
subject:  Pigs
description: An experiment with slaughter pigs from weaning to slaughter including five treatments and five replicates was carried out at the Danish organic experimental station, Rugballegård. Treatments included full or partial outdoor rearing of the pigs, and the replicates covered the seasonal effects. Pigs fed ad libitum indoors had a significantly lower feed consumption (5 MJ ME /kg gain), a lower lean percentage (2.3% points), and a higher backfat depth (1.1 mm, P < 0.05) than pigs fed ad libitum outdoors. Compared with outdoor pigs fed ad libitum, restricted feeding outdoors resulted in a significantly lower daily gain (107 g), a lower feed consumption (6.3 MJ ME/kg gain), higher lean percentage (2.1% points), and a reduced backfat (1.8 mm) (P <0.001). The content of soil nitrogen was considerably higher than for the soil outside the paddocks. Despite a considerable variation within the paddocks, N was distributed throughout the paddock. The present investigation highlights the fact that outdoor rearing of organic finishers may be a competitive option even in a temperate climate and all year round.
date: 2005
type: Conference paper, poster, etc. 
type: NonPeerReviewed
format: application/pdf
identifier: http://orgprints.org/4368/4/4368-Hermansen_etal_4p_revised-ed.pdf
identifier: Hermansen, John E.; Eriksen, Jørgen and Strudsholm, Karin (2005) Full or partial outdoor rearing of slaughter pigs – effects on performance, carcass quality and nutrient load. Researching Sustainable Systems - International Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture, Adelaide, Australia, September 21-23, 2005. [ Unpublished, ]
relation: http://orgprints.org/4368/