Hopefully not a stupid question...

NorCalChicks · #1 09/12/10, 01:34 AM

I've been reading a lot of the posts here and keep coming across "boar taint" - can someone explaign this and how you know if you have a boar with it?

lisarichards · #2 09/12/10, 07:34 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar_taint

It's important to know if you have it in your herd. We don't have it, so we don't castrate male piglets.

NorCalChicks · #3 09/12/10, 07:29 PM

Ok, so I read the info on Wikipedia and also went to a couple of the links they listed; so the taint is a foul odor when the pork is cooked - does that mean that if your boar smells (while he's alive) that he has taint? We have a PBP boar, and he has a musky scent about him - we do not plan to butcher him, but we do have an un-castrated male offspring of his that is to be butchered and now I'm wondering if there will be a problem. We don't raise pigs as a rule, we just happen to have 4 leftovers from an accidental breeding!

HeritagePigs · #4 09/13/10, 02:05 PM

Castration is now not allowed in the U.K. This is because they butcher their pigs before they grow over 200 lbs. Not sure of the weight but too lazy to look it up. Anyway, their thinking goes that if you are slaughtering boars before they develop taint then castration is an unnecessary surgical procedure.

We don't castrate anymore either.

**highlands** · #5 09/13/10, 04:28 PM

What we did is gradually test our herds by slaughtering boars at older and older ages and testing the meat. No boar taint. We sell to thousands of people through local stores and restaurants. Pastured is one of the factors that reduces the likelihood of taint. Note that taint is caused my more than one chemical. One is found in testes. Another is produced in the intestines. Even sows can have taint if it is an issue. Breed it out, feed it out, manage it out.

For more than you probably ever wanted to know about boar taint here is a link to some articles:

http://google.com/search?q=site%3Afl...com+boar+taint

happydog · #6 09/13/10, 04:58 PM

Well, reading all this raised a stupid question in my mind. If you breed the same sow and the same boar and you know there's no taint in that line, then that's great. But what if you want to save one of their daughters to breed, wouldn't you need to use a different boar? And start all over with the testing?

So how would this work with a small pig keeper that has to keep changing boars?

Rogo · #7 09/13/10, 10:42 PM

=== Castration is now not allowed in the U.K. This is because they butcher their pigs before they grow over 200 lbs. ===

The gal I got my AHH from raises them for meat. She has a bunch from different lines. I wonder if, due to their small size (quite a bit less than 200 pounds), it's the reason she's had no boar taint. Or it could just be that like many pigs, they just don't have the taint. I'll never know and won't lose sleep over it! -LOL-

Once again someone today asked me what breed of pigs I raise. I just love saying Asian Heirloom Hogs 'cause no one in these parts have heard that name used for the Potbelly! Folks are always disappointed -- they're expecting some new and different exotic.