Boar Taint from a Castrated Pig!!??

linnell · #1 01/22/15, 02:25 PM

Just got a call from our butcher and they told us the pig we took to them had boar taint. He was castrated at 6 days old. Is this possible? The pig was sold to us by a friend who raises pigs and castrates them himself. Is it possible there was one testicle left inside? He showed no physical signs of being even semi-intact. This pig was sold as two pig shares and now I have to explain this to my customers. We won't have another pig ready for them for 5+ months. Is it wrong to think my butcher could have mixed pigs? So stressed about this

jester31780 · #2 01/22/15, 03:19 PM

One testicle could have been left and was not sticking out yet i would taste the meat you mite not tell if it has a bad taste

**highlands** · #3 01/22/15, 04:15 PM

Highly unlikely. There are a lot of things that are not boar taint that get blamed on boar taint. It can be an excuse for some other handling problem such as inhumane handling at slaughter that stressed the animal causing stress taint, poor bleed out that causes blood taint, insanitary handling that spoils the meat. Lots of things.

Taste it yourself and find out.

linnell · #4 01/22/15, 04:16 PM

The butcher said it smelled very strong like a "old boar". The pig was only ten months old. We took this pigs litter mates including other barrows to the butcher three months ago and all of them were fine. This one was the smallest of the batch so we kept him longer to get bigger. He was around a gilt on pasture but never showed ANY interest in her. The butcher said that they did not find any testicles, but might have missed it.

linnell · #5 01/22/15, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by highlands

Highly unlikely. There are a lot of things that are not boar taint that get blamed on boar taint. It can be an excuse for some other handling problem such as inhumane handling at slaughter that stressed the animal causing stress taint, poor bleed out that causes blood taint, insanitary handling that spoils the meat. Lots of things.

Taste it yourself and find out.

Thank you Highlands.. That's even worse, I'd prefer it to be mysterious boar taint. Our farm has a humane certification and the butcher is certified with the same organization that specifies the pigs be handled humanely(which doesn't mean it was followed). We drop off our pigs the day before slaughter specifically so they have the night to calm down after the stress of travel. This pig loaded and unloaded no problem and he didn't seem stressed at all. To think he was handled inhumanely makes me furious.

Just to make sure Highlands, you're saying it's highly unlikely this assumed castrated pig had boar taint? Also, it seems the friend we bought it from would have mentioned he only found one testicle when castrating him.

linnell · #6 01/22/15, 04:26 PM

One more thing, would I be able to tell the difference in smell/taste between boar taint,blood taint,stress taint,ect. ?

**highlands** · #7 01/22/15, 04:42 PM

Yes, I can smell it. If you have a keen nose and know the smells you will too but that takes learning which tends to be an unfortunate experience.

There are many forms of taint and taint gets blamed for other errors and it could be as simple as mixed up pigs. Did you get the ears back? Are they identifiable? Head?

-Walter

linnell · #8 01/22/15, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by highlands

Yes, I can smell it. If you have a keen nose and know the smells you will too but that takes learning which tends to be an unfortunate experience.

There are many forms of taint and taint gets blamed for other errors and it could be as simple as mixed up pigs. Did you get the ears back? Are they identifiable? Head?

-Walter

Our butcher does not offer scalding, therefore in the state of VA we cannot have any part of the head,tail, or feet back. Even not for human consumption. Are there labs I can have it sent to? They only slaughtered 3 pigs that day, it's not like its a huge plant with lots of pigs going in and out..

SouthGAMan · #9 01/22/15, 06:56 PM

Anything is possible but I would think the odds are it is NOT boar taint but it is some other situation that caused the meat to taint.

gerold · #10 01/22/15, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linnell

Just got a call from our butcher and they told us the pig we took to them had boar taint. He was castrated at 6 days old. Is this possible? The pig was sold to us by a friend who raises pigs and castrates them himself. Is it possible there was one testicle left inside? He showed no physical signs of being even semi-intact. This pig was sold as two pig shares and now I have to explain this to my customers. We won't have another pig ready for them for 5+ months. Is it wrong to think my butcher could have mixed pigs? So stressed about this

I would just call it a lost and give the people their money back and take the meat for your own use.

It is possible that the pig had taint. Even Sows can have taint sometimes.

Also to add to this: castration does not reduce the risk of taint 100 percent. This pig you had butchered was older then the other ones you had butchered. At 10 mos. more time for other chemicals to set in that could cause taint. When you get the meat back test it and see for yourself. If it has a bit of taint you can cure it and smoke it with different spices and also make sausage out of it using some spices that would outcome the taint. Check the bacon out first. Sometimes the bacon when cured makes it ok and less taint.

linnell · #11 01/22/15, 07:02 PM

Can you tell the difference between boar taint and other types of taints? How do I ask my butcher about this without seeming totally acusatory of them doing something wrong? We have been totally happy and trusted our butcher up until this pig.

gerold · #12 01/22/15, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linnell

Can you tell the difference between boar taint and other types of taints? How do I ask my butcher about this without seeming totally acusatory of them doing something wrong? We have been totally happy and trusted our butcher up until this pig.

Boar taint is the only one i know that smell like boar taint. Your butcher should know the differ between boar taint and any other. Check it yourself and see if you can smell taint. Take a piece and cook it. If it is strong boar taint you should be able to taste and smell the taint.

If it is spoil meat you sure can smell it.

**highlands** · #13 01/22/15, 07:25 PM

Looking at the cuts you might be able to know if it was your pig or not. I can tell pork from our pigs by looking at the cuts to a pretty good degree, at least compared to something of different breed, feed and management.

At this point is probably a loss. So sorry.

-Walter

linnell · #14 01/22/15, 07:43 PM

Good idea, I do believe I could recognize our meats by the marbling and fat cap. But, at that point, it's just my words against theirs. I think we're going to have it cut up and bring it home and try it. Maybe it's not that bad, I just feel terrible disappointing our customers. Thank you all for the info and support though! What a crappy day, maybe tomorrow will be better.

Philosaw · #15 01/22/15, 09:52 PM

Explain it well and most folks will take it in stride, at least better than you

I would tend not to put blame on the butcher since it doesn't serve their best interest to deceive you. Sorry that you have to go through this, but it is a part of being in business...s**t happens!

Wanda · #16 01/23/15, 05:08 AM

You should go talk to folks as soon as the called you. If he was wanting to take advantage of you he would have packaged and not said anything! See how bad it is before you spend the money to cut and package. If you can smell the taint you could have it made into a spicier sausage.

linnell · #17 01/23/15, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wanda

You should go talk to folks as soon as the called you. If he was wanting to take advantage of you he would have packaged and not said anything! See how bad it is before you spend the money to cut and package. If you can smell the taint you could have it made into a spicier sausage.

I dont believe they are wanting to deceive, I just hope it wasn't stress taint that's being named on boar taint, but there's nothing I can do about that now. The butcher is 2 hours away, we can't drive just to go smell it unfortunately. I think we're just going to have it quartered and frozen, i think thats the cheapest option. Don't want to waste any more $ than we already have.

**highlands** · #18 01/23/15, 08:38 AM

One question would be "did the pig have balls at slaughter?"

If it had balls (boar) and yours was a castrated male (barrow) then this boar was not your pig. In that case he owes you your pig.

If it did not have balls (barrow) then you're back to the question of could your barrow have had taint and what was the taint.

This is a pretty simple thing. Very clear. Balls are either there or not. In the scrotum or up higher. Either way he would have run into them if they were there.

This is one reason to use a butcher that offers scald and scrape so that you get back the head and ears which clearly mark who's pig it was.

For the future: The butcher should be tagging all incoming pigs as part of their basic SOP to prevent any sort of confusion. When you unload the pig a tag goes on the ear. This tag stays with the pig all the way through the process. If skinning then the tag is transferred from the ear to the rail hook or the number is written on the pig at skinning time in vegetable dye - they stamp the pig already with vegetable dye - none issue. Insist on process tracking on all future pigs.

-Walter

linnell · #19 01/23/15, 08:48 AM

Walter, thank you for your responses, it is very much appreciated. Do yo know of a lab where I could get this meat tested? I know if the pigs were mixed and it wasn't really my pig it does not matter what type of taint is it, but If it is my pig I would like to know if it is boar taint or stress taint. Could I send you a sample of the meat? I have never seen boar taint. You can tell the difference between boar taint and stress taint? Great idea on tracking.

Just another thought, I have heard of farms castrating a boar later in life, letting it heal and then taking it to butcher. If the butcher says No, the pig we killed did not have balls, maybe it was mixed up but the other pig las castrated late?

njenner · #20 01/23/15, 10:39 AM

Being a newbie myself, I have no advice but just wanted to say how sorry I am about this. I can imagine what a huge disappointment this must have been.