Castrating ??

[kenfromMaine]

Does everyone castrate their male piglets? And if you dont has there been any off flavoring in the meat? I have been getting told not to cut the boys that they will grow out quicker and there will not be any off flavor to the meat, they claim that they only will get tasting "off" if you let them go to over a year old, so what do you folks think?
Thanks
ken from Maine

 

[drdoolittle]

Check out this website: windridgefarm.us

They raise PBPs for meat and do not castrate.

 

[fair weather chicken]

we had a boar that was over 1 1/2 yrs. old and we butchered him. no off flavor. he had not been with our sows so i believe that was the reason there was no off flavor. we castrate all others makes for less fighting and no unwanted breeding.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Breed makes a

huge

difference in taint! PLUS some folks can smell/taste it, others cannot. (I can't remember the percentages.) Also some folks swear that boar meat is the best meat you can eat. It really is personal taste. I can't remember the breed of pigs you have Ken BUT if you are selling the meat to the general public CASTRATE. Keep them whole only if someone has paid you up front to raise an intact male for you!

We butchered some 1 year old Red Wattle boars last year & they had taint but it was mild & so we could eat it but we couldn't have stomached anything stronger.

Large Blacks have taint & we would not eat one of our boars.

Now on the other hand we really dislike castrating & have never had 100% success & by that I mean, we always lose at least one to infection after it has been done. We take ours to the local vet as we just do not like to do the job.

The time it takes to feed them out also makes a difference. If you have got the pig to butchering size before it reaches sexual maturity then you are probably going to be OK. There are breeders out there who have bred selectively for NO TAINT so do not castrate. Of course most of them are raising cross breeds. The LB's are a slower maturing pig as are most heritage breeds so that doesn't work for them.

Liz