castration

[caroline00]

How is this done on a pig? WE have 5 week piglets... I know when we bought our weaned pigs last year, he castrated them as we picked them up.

Cut a slit in each side of the testicle? Saw up and down the vein with scissors/knife until it breaks? Spray with an antibiotic? I think that catching them might be the hardest part.

Thanks

[tyusclan]

Use a very sharp knife or a scalpel. Lay the pig on his side with the back legs pulled in gently so that his back is slightly bowed. Cut as low on the scrotum as possible. Put a slight pressure on the testicle to hold it tight against the skin of the scrotum, and slit the skin of the scrotum. Then, still holding pressure on the testicle, slit through the membrane and the testicle will pop out. Cut the membrane on the concave side of the testicle and it will roll down the tube. Use the edge of the knife to gently push it down the tube as you gently pull on the testicle until the tube breaks. Do the same on the other side of the scrotum, put some antiseptic on it and you're done.

Remember to be gentle in handling the pig as you can cause a rupture during this procedure. It doesn't happen often, but this is usually when it happens.

[highlands]

Before you castrate read these articles which link to additional research:

To Cut or Not

Boar Meat

[Ronney]

Caroline, I don't cut our boars and haven't done for the better part of 30 years. For whatever reason, one litter never got done and when they were killed and we ate them, we wondered why we had ever bothered - and haven't done since. In New Zealand it is almost unheard of now to barrow pigs.

And if they are castrated, ideally they should be done within the first 3 days of birth.

Cheers,
Ronnie