Three experiments involving 156 pigs were conducted to determine the nutritive value of autoclaved or unheated faba beans (Vicia faba L.) as a protein supplement for pigs of 10–90 kg liveweight. In experiment 1, diets containing 0, 10, 15, 25 or 30% unheated faba beans were fed to pigs of 16 kg liveweight for a period of 6 wk, while diets containing 25% faba beans that had been autoclaved for 0, 30 or 60 min were fed to pigs of a similar weight group for a period of 5 wk. In experiment 2, the effects of autoclaving faba beans on the digestible energy (DE) and digestible nitrogen (DN) coefficients of faba bean diets were determined. In experiment 3, diets containing 0, 10, 15, 20 or 25% unheated faba beans or 25% faba beans that had been autoclaved for 30 min at 121 C were fed to pigs from 10 to 90 kg. In both experiment 1 and experiment 3, there was a gradual reduction in growth rate as the level of faba beans in the diet increased. When each 5% faba beans added to the diet replaced 2.8% grain and 2.2% soybean meal, a reduction in gain of 0.01–0.02 kg/day resulted. A significant reduction in feed conversion efficiency was observed in experiment 1 but not in experiment 3. Feed intake was not significantly affected by the level of faba beans in the diet. Autoclaving the faba beans did not significantly improve the DE or DN of the diets or growth and feed conversion efficiency of the pigs.
