The purpose of the present study is to determine the daily grazing time, the components of diet, the voluntary
intake and the nutrient balance obtained by finishing Iberian pigs grazing in the dehesa pastures during the montanera period without any supplementary feed. It was found that the proportion of grass and acorns influences nutritional balance and fatty acid profile, which is the present official system (MAPA, 2007) to assess the absence of any supplementary feed during the montanera fattening of Iberian pigs. However, it has shown an individual and year variability in diet composition and these results can contribute to explain final fattening performance differences and meat quality. Considering that acorn production has been quantified in 8–14 kg per tree an Iberian pig should eat approximately the acorn production of 0.5–1 tree per day during montanera fattening. These results are useful to determine set stocking in order to guarantee the traditional finishing system without concentrates or any supplementary feed.
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