All about Castration

[Boleyz]

Hi!
It seems like every time I look in on this forum there are questions about castration. Sometimes it's a discussion on the need to castrate/not castrate and sometimes it's on the "How To Castrate" side.

As a former commercial operator with years of experience, I'd like to share my knowledge on both questions.

First, "To Castrate/Not Castrate".

Castration was never an issue in the commercial operation. It was required, in order to sell top hogs at top prices. A top hog weighs between 240-260lbs. and is either a gilt (virgin girl) or a barrow (castrated boy).

Sows fetched a price that usually 33%-50% less than top hogs, and boars fetched prices that were unbelievably low. The last boar we sold weighed almost 700 Lbs. and fetched $0.05 per pound ($35.00). His 5 1/2 month old barrow son who weighed 250 lbs. brought $0.50 per pound ($125.00).

As to the "Eatability" of a boar vs. barrow, all I can tell you is that there MUST be Some difference in taste/flavor, because the market basically does not want boars. Packers buy them merely as a courtesy to farmers who need to unload one from time-to-time. One packer told us that no part of a boar was ever used for human consumption. Strictly animal feed/dog food/cat food etc. If there was no difference, the market would relect that and the prices for boars would be comparable to barrows.

Personally, I've never eaten boar meat. I wouldn't. Of all the hogs in a hog barn, a breeding boar, covered with his musk and scent is by FAR the Stinkiest of all hogs. I don't see how it could ever be "cooked" out of it. (JMHO eat em if ya want...they just ain't for me...)

Next, "How to Castrate a Pig"

I raised hogs commercially for years and have castrated thousands of pigs. I usually cut them at a week old. It's much easier, but the technique is the same unless they are very big.

Straddle the pig with his hind quarters locked between your knees. Be sure his hind legs are off the floor. His head is sticking out behind you.

Use your left hand to "roll" the scrotum upward until the "jewels" are pressed up tight against the skin. Take a razor blade or scalpel (feed store has them) and make a slice over the center each nut. The blade should penetrate deeply enough to cut the membrane around the nut, and if you cut into the nut itself, no harm is done. Better to cut too deeply than not deeply enough.

Roll the scrotum tighter and the nuts will pop out. They will have a tube on them. Grasp the nut and Pull the nut and the tube out in one smooth, pull. The cut over the nut is the only cut that's necessary, and if you pull the tube out with the nut there is less chance that it will dangle out and get infected.

We never treated the pigs any further. Drop them back in the pen, and be sure they're only penned with litter mates. Some picking may occur at the bloody wound, but not much and they heal quickly. It was never a problem with us.

Let me know if you have any other questions...like I said, I've done literally thousands...

One other thing! If one of your pigs has 1 normal looking nut and one large, distended or elongated nut, DON'T CUT IT!! It's ruptured on that side of it's scrotum. The reason that nut appears large is because the membrane surrounding the nut has been invaded my the pig's intestines through a rupture in the top of the scrotum's inner wall.

If you cut a ruptured pig, the moment you slice the nut's surrounding membrane, his small intestine will boil out. It acts like it's pressurized and you CAN'T get it to go back in. The pig will die. You should euthenize it immediately.

I know how to safely castrate such a pig, but it involves a bit of surgery, fishing line to tie off the membrane, and a curved sutering needle to sew up that one side.

Even with alcohol and sterile practice, the pig will sometimes die from infection.

The best solution for this pig in your case would be to leave him uncut and slaughter him before he becomes sexually mature/active. About 100-150 lbs. if it was mine.

[John Schneider]

The market prices you quote are commercial market prices and have very little to do with the prices we achieve as smallholders selling pork from "farm gate sales". Good tasting naturally produced pork achieves prices that are many times greater than commercial prices. I get around $4.00 per pound hanging weight. Also, you are talking about boars that weigh 700 lbs. They are obviously sexually mature and the musk is definitely there. We are talking about boars that are 200-260 pounds and are maybe not old enough to have reached sexual maturity. I have heard of many smallholders that do not bother with castrating knowing that they are butchering the animal in a short amount of time. I have never heard of anyone complaining about the smell of boar taint. Even with mature boars in a small herd, my boar doesn't smell all of the time. When the sows are in heat, he starts to smell. If I were to keep him in a pen well away from the sows, as others have tried, I would assume that he wouldn't stink at all. The following link is a smallholder in Vermont that is experimenting with uncut pork. Everyone should have a look at his results. http://sugarmtnfarm.com/

I can't argue with people that have done it and reported good results. I will be trying uncut boars' with my next litter.

[Boleyz]

I never heard of a "Farm Gate Sale" and can't imagine why anyone would ever sell commercially if prices of $4.00 per pound hanging weight could be achieved on a regular basis.

What fools we were to sell ours for $0.50 per pound.

As I said, I raised hogs commercially, but buying stations will still buy hogs from anyone...regardless of the size operation. Where we sold was a buying station for IBP and we often saw pickup trucks with 4-5 hogs backing up to the ramp to sell.

I also said, "Eat em if you want to..."

At the bottom of the post I mentioned about killing a ruptured boar before sexual maturity. We've done that.

However, you're wrong if you think people on here don't say you can eat breeding boars as well. I've seen their posts in days gone by.

As I said, eat em if you want to...they just ain't for me...

[John Schneider]

Got a little off-topic....I simply cannot produce enough pork yet to keep up with the demand and I have at least 6 other producers in my immediate area with higher prices than me that are doing more volume! Its all about marketing and sales and having a plan and old-time farmers very rarely thought about those types of things, nor did they have to I suppose. When I looked into getting back into hogs, I researched many things...I very quickly determined that it is very easy to simply pull my stock trailer up to the marketing board dock like my Grandfather and Father did and get a check for $.40 a pound. The harder thing to do is to advertise, market, get a website and network with potential customers and get paid $4 a pound. I chose the latter.

I certainly respect your opinion to not eat an uncut boar. I won't eat Green Peppers!!!LOL

[Ronney]

As somebody who stopped castrating boars a very long time ago, I would agree with everything that John has said. We're not talking about 700lb breeding boars, we're talking about pigs that reach a killable weight by 5-6 months which is some 2-3 months before being sexually active.

However, if one does have a 700lb boar there is no reason why he can't be eaten either - just don't expect to pull him out from the sows and knock him off. He'll taste foul. He will have to be spelled for at least one month and preferably two, and even then he will only be useful for processed meats. This has nothing to do with taste but with age. As sows and boars mature their meat becomes coarse and the fat soft. It makes excellent pork mince, salami and associated spiced sausages, sausages and sausage meat. There is not one good reason why any pig should be wasted.

I no longer rear pigs through to porkers other than for our own use, but when I did, like John, my supply couldn't keep up with the demand no matter what price I charged - and I am on the other side of the world. There is a huge market out there for farm reared pork.
Cheers,
Ronnie

[Up North]

Yes the consumer is becoming more aware of their food and many are seeking out carefully raised foods where they feel they can see where and how their food is raised(and they are willing to pay a premium).
However, we should all maintain respect and high regard for the older farmers who worked their tailfeathers off and paid their taxes, and whose product fed many hungry families over the last 150 years. We can also learn much from their experience, even if we choose to do things in a different manner.