Boar taint (again)

springvalley · #1 06/16/12, 08:16 AM

I am not new to raising hogs, but have just started raising a few again after a few years off. I have berk/duroc boar, a york/berk sow, and two berk sows. I have way to many irons in the fire and didn`t get the last batch of piggers castrated, and end up with 11 boars. Well one of them we left by himself and fedhim out faster than the rest, we sent him to freezer camp a couple weeks ago, got him back and made some ground pork patties the day I got the meat home. Sure enough, boar tait, I could smell it as soon as I got in the house. Now it isn`t real bad, but I have a good nose for it. Well the next day we cut the rest of the boars, and the new batch of piggers. The larger ones were kinda big for the surgery, but I`ll be darned if I sell tainted meat as I won`t have customers long if I do. The little guys went very quick and easy, the bigger ones not as fun. Had to run them through the chute, and cut them babies out. If done two to three weeks old, castrating pigs is such a simple and easy job. Guess from now on I will be doing that so I never have to cut a bigger boar again. > Thanks Marc

gerold · #2 06/16/12, 08:44 AM

Thanks for sharing. Live and learn. :-)

Viking · #3 06/16/12, 10:00 AM

Is there hope for tainted meat? I've never experienced it. Could you make spicy sausage out of it?

Ru2hunt · #4 06/16/12, 02:46 PM

I just had a friend give me some sausage and wife cooked it this morning.....I could smell it on the other end of house! We tossed it out after first bite! It will turn you against eating pork when you taste it or even smell it!

Lazy J · #5 06/16/12, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ru2hunt

I just had a friend give me some sausage and wife cooked it this morning.....I could smell it on the other end of house! We tossed it out after first bite! It will turn you against eating pork when you taste it or even smell it!

This is the experience that pork producers want to avoid by the pork customer.

springvalley · #6 06/16/12, 03:37 PM

The meat we got back will be eaten, the smell isn`t bad, but you can smell it. The taste isn`t bad, but it isn`t prime. This young boar we butchered was by himself, no where near a female, I thought maybe we lucked out, but no such luck. So just have to make sure we get them baby piggers castrated when they are small. I use to work a couple hundred head by myself with the help of my good dog, dog would bring the pigs to me and I would catch them and cut them and put them in another pen. Boy I miss that dog. > Thanks Marc

tinknal · #7 06/16/12, 06:48 PM

OK, just thinking out loud here.................. do big boar balls have boar tint?

springvalley · #8 06/16/12, 09:19 PM

What do you mean Tink?

tinknal · #9 06/17/12, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by springvalley

What do you mean Tink?

Thinking you have a big batch of mountain oysters there!

springvalley · #10 06/17/12, 08:21 AM

Yes I did have, and I really was going to try fryin up a batch. But I just couldn`t do it, after I got them cleaned and cut in half, I just decided they would be cat food. Some of the cats didn`t even think much of them. And yes they did smell. > Thanks Marc

Viking · #11 06/17/12, 02:46 PM

This all begs the question which I'm sure has been answered a hundred times but which answer I am unable to find:

What do you do with your boar when he's past his prime?

Hooba39 · #12 06/17/12, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viking

This all begs the question which I'm sure has been answered a hundred times but which answer I am unable to find:

What do you do with your boar when he's past his prime?

Take him to the market or an auction. They actually bring decent money these days as opposed to back when I was younger. $.18-.20/lb seems to be average. Old boars are where all your spicy ground meat such as pepperoni comes from.

I think you may be able to breed some of the taint out of the males by being selective as Walter does but for the most part you're going to have a taint to the meat. I will say that it surely isn't as noticeable with outdoor hogs as it was being raised around confinement hogs.

springvalley · #13 06/17/12, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hooba39

Take him to the market or an auction. They actually bring decent money these days as opposed to back when I was younger. $.18-.20/lb seems to be average. Old boars are where all your spicy ground meat such as pepperoni comes from.

I think you may be able to breed some of the taint out of the males by being selective as Walter does but for the most part you're going to have a taint to the meat. I will say that it surely isn't as noticeable with outdoor hogs as it was being raised around confinement hogs.

I don`t think hog confinements and boar taint have much to do with anything. I have been around both, and the boars had taint either way. Now if your talking health and just plain old stink then confinements have it hands down. I still don`t know what the problem with casterating boars is, it is a simple operation that takes seconds, and the pigs if done young recover in a day. The bigger hogs I cut the other day are a bit swollen, but otherwise act fine. So just casterate your baby piggers at about two weeks and we will not have to worry about boar taint > Thanks Marc

Hooba39 · #14 06/18/12, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by springvalley

I don`t think hog confinements and boar taint have much to do with anything. I have been around both, and the boars had taint either way. Now if your talking health and just plain old stink then confinements have it hands down. I still don`t know what the problem with casterating boars is, it is a simple operation that takes seconds, and the pigs if done young recover in a day. The bigger hogs I cut the other day are a bit swollen, but otherwise act fine. So just casterate your baby piggers at about two weeks and we will not have to worry about boar taint > Thanks Marc

I castrated for 20+ years in confinement for my parents and now that I raise my own outdoors I do as well. Like everything else, everyone has their own way of doing things. I don't notice it as much now probably because the boars are in the open air, in confinement I could pinpoint a missed oyster to the pen in a 1000 head finishing barn.....guess that's not something to be too proud of

Raeven · #15 06/18/12, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hooba39

I castrated for 20+ years in confinement for my parents and now that I raise my own outdoors I do as well. Like everything else, everyone has their own way of doing things. I don't notice it as much now probably because the boars are in the open air, in confinement I could pinpoint a missed oyster to the pen in a 1000 head finishing barn.....guess that's not something to be too proud of

The heck it's not!!! Wish you lived nearer, as I'd be so grateful for a lesson in how to castrate. And I'd love to have the skill of sniffing out one uncut pig out of a thousand!!

Viking · #16 06/18/12, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raeven

The heck it's not!!! Wish you lived nearer, as I'd be so grateful for a lesson in how to castrate. And I'd love to have the skill of sniffing out one uncut pig out of a thousand!!

Youtube is pretty helpful, and shows some great "how to" and definitely some "how not to" castrate videos

I watched a couple and just jumped on in. I cut 5 the first time and they all came through just fine. ....The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first testical.....

richmond1273 · #17 06/18/12, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by springvalley

This young boar we butchered was by himself, no where near a female, I thought maybe we lucked out, but no such luck.

How old was he when you butchered him?

springvalley · #18 06/27/12, 07:57 PM

Sorry I havn`t been on here for a few, the young boar was under a year old, maybe 8 months. Nice looking boar, but didn`t need him. > Thanks Marc

haypoint · #19 06/27/12, 08:27 PM

Last year I bought feeder pigs and my son raised them. We didn't notice a differrence in the pen. But the butcher noticed as soon as he started skining him. The guy I bought them from missed getting both testicals. The hide was different, had thick pads on the shoulders and stunk. We were stuck, had buyers for every one, so we had to split up the stinky one. After cooking, I don't really notice it, much. But sure wouldn't dare selling one like that. He was 6 or 8 months old, over market weight by 50 pounds. They were ready to butcher right after the local 4H fair, so they got backed up with fair steers and pigs.

nathan104 · #20 06/27/12, 10:41 PM

So is this boar taint only something having to do with domestic hogs? Ive killed wild boars here raning from 20 lbs all the way up to 300 lbs boars and did not experience boar taint with any of them? One small 30 lbs boar we butchered had a very strong smell to him until we got him skinned out and the smell was all from the hide.

We have two york/hamp cross uncut boars we are planning to slaughter next week. They are around 2 1/2 months old. Perfect smoker size. Hopefully we dont have any issues.

CJBegins · #21 06/27/12, 10:46 PM

Last december we butcherd our 4 year old boar that attacked and killed our pony. Approximately 6 days before he was butchered he was breeding our sow. I just knew he was gonna stink to high heaven. A friend of ours wanted him turned into sausage. I told him he is gonna stink. He said the worst he could be is dog food. To all our surprise there was no taint.....at all. I would never have guessed. I am hoping this is a trait that he passes on to his offspring cause I have kept one of his babies for a future boar.

This last litter of 6 boar piglets took 20 minutes to castrate. I don't like to take chances on the possibility of having taint with my hound dog nose.

TomYaz · #22 06/29/12, 12:43 PM

I never had the pleasure of experiencing boar taint until I was at a restaraunt and orderd the pork chop "special"..had a funky smell; taint never crossed my mind until after I left...I suspect that was it. Cant believe they would serve that.

CJBegins · #23 06/29/12, 05:26 PM

Nathan, some people and I would suspect you to be one, can't smell the taint smell. I think it is more common that people don't smell it and then there are those that have hounddog noses.

I would think that a wild hog would have horrible taint.

springvalley · #24 06/30/12, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJBegins

Nathan, some people and I would suspect you to be one, can't smell the taint smell. I think it is more common that people don't smell it and then there are those that have hounddog noses.

I would think that a wild hog would have horrible taint.

I think your right CJ, and I have a hounddog nose, allways have. And it just may be certain boars have more than others. The taint this boar had was mild, it will be eaten that is for sure. But it also makes me a firm believer in casturating small boars at an early age. So people keep cuttin those piggers. > Thanks Marc

livinzoo · #25 06/30/12, 10:56 AM

I agree the some have a hound dog nose. I'm one of them. I had another breeder swear there was no need to cut the GOS as they don't carry it. I laughed and said I will always cut my feeders from now on. I've ate a few boars ad experience different degrees of taint based off their sexual activity level. But it was always there. Than he finally admitted he had one customers wife complain, but no one else.

And as far as it becoming illegal here, when keeping a goldfish in a bowl becomes illegal here than I might worry. In the UK that has been illegal for several years prior to this anti-castration talk.

CJBegins · #26 06/30/12, 11:47 AM

My sense of smell is pretty high. My sow that we have used for 3 years smells like maple syrup. I have no idea why she smells that way. My youngest son can smell it. Nobody else can. I can scratch her and smell it on my hand. She is healthy. I thought maybe she was diabetic and spilling sugar in her urine or something. But she would have other symptoms, I would think. I can't say my pig stinks.....

oregon woodsmok · #27 06/30/12, 02:22 PM

I've bought pork from the market that had boar taint. Usually in "special of the week" meat. Sometimes cheap pork isn't good.

It will stink you out of the house when it is cooked, but the flavor isn't that bad. Sometimes things taste better than they smell. It makes good Mexican dishes. Lots of chilies, cumin, and onions and it makes great chili, tacos, and enchiladas. So it doesn't have to go to waste.

I prefer white pork. The tainted pork that I've bought was more on the red side in color and cooked up gray instead of white. I haven't had enough experience with it to know if that was coincidence or just happened to be the luck of the draw.

oregon woodsmok · #28 06/30/12, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viking

What do you do with your boar when he's past his prime?

Dog food.

One of these days, I've going to drive over to the auction and buy one of those 1,000 pound boars for 10 cents a pound. Home butcher. Test cook some of the meat and if it is good, I'll share it with the dogs. It it is tainted, the dogs will eat road kill; they won't mind a little boar taint.

I suspect that the normal buyer for those old boars send them to the sausage factory. Like the old bulls go to the bologna factory.

nathan104 · #29 06/30/12, 11:36 PM

My sow has the string maple syrup smell as well. Everyone who has been around her comments on it. If she rubs against your pants, you can smell the maple syrup smell hours later.

**highlands** · #30 07/01/12, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viking

This all begs the question which I'm sure has been answered a hundred times but which answer I am unable to find:

What do you do with your boar when he's past his prime?

We eat them, sell the meat to chefs who request it and make sausage & hot dogs. The meat is delicious. The only negative on old boars here is that they're very lean. Old sows are wonderfully marbled - my personal favorite pork is an old sow's Boston Butt steaks.

All this depends on your line, herd management, feeding and other factors. Our boars don't have taint so that isn't an issue.

See:

Old Boar | Sugar Mountain Farm

Archimedes’ Farewell | Sugar Mountain Farm

Archimedes Update | Sugar Mountain Farm

Boar Meat | Sugar Mountain Farm

Boar Meat Redux | Sugar Mountain Farm