Apparent digestibility of crude nutrients from protein-
rich lucerne products for growing pigs

A digestibility trial was conducted with twenty growing male, castrated pigs (German Land​race) to determine the apparent digestibility of the crude nutrients of hot-air dried lucerne plant tips (LTH, crude protein (CP): 274 g/kg dry matter [DM]), lucerne plant tips silage (LTS, CP: 275 g/kg DM) and lucerne whole plant silage (LS, CP: 222 g/kg DM). The lucerne plant tips (LT) were defined as the upper 40% of the total above-ground plant, harvested using a special harvesting technique. The total faecal matter was collected in metabolic cages over five days. Digestibility values were calculated from the difference between nutrient intake and faecal output. The highest organic matter digestibility (OMD) and CP digestibility (CPD) were observed for LTS (69.5% OMD, 68.8% CPD), followed by LTH (64.4% OMD, 60.0% CPD) and LS (56.5% OMD, 52.9% CPD). The LT are a valuable protein source for pigs irrespective of the conservation method employed.