Do you feed pigs on the day of butcher?

[misfitmorgan]

Sad face because you will have to tell them goodbye. Too bad, but they never stop growing.

It is really sad, they are such good natured pigs. We will be keeping gilt replacements from their next litters and buying a new hereford boar. So we will be keeping the line at least.

 

[goatyyymama164]

Did you get your pig loaded up? How did it go?

We got him loaded up with no problems, a lot of squealing though. He is at the butcher and they are probably hanging him now. He was a small pig because when our neighbor gave him to us he was already too big to be castrated and we didn't want his meat to get tainted.

 

[Baymule]

Home raised pork! You will definitely want to do this again.

 

[goatyyymama164]

Home raised pork! You will definitely want to do this again.

Yup! This time we might sign our daughter up for 4H.

 

[misfitmorgan]

4-H would be cool but get a pig for yourselves too. Worst part about $-h is they get everything to butcher weight then auction it off and you get no meat. I know some kids skip auctioning but they really need the money for their next year project/savings accounts.

Depending on the breed boar taint isnt a real thing btw. It does exist yes but not until over 6-8 months old, and mostly in dark skinned pigs. Of all finished male pigs only 20% have taint and only 75% of people can taste boar taint.....so your odds are pretty low for ever experiencing it.

 

[farmerjan]

We have had boars over 200 lbs castrated... got to do it by the moon signs, less bleeding, and have a VERY STOUT STRONG crate to get them in to do.... but I get not wanting to do him once he was a little older. Yes, as @misfitmorgan said there is not as much boar taint as many think.... but I've tasted it and you will throw out the WHOLE HOG if you get one.... still, as she said, it is much more prevalent in certain breeds.... and the older, the more likely you will taste it if they have the "gene" for it. One other thing... as the pig grows up, if he starts to smell strong... it is the hormones and he will more likely have the taint too.... funny thing is that I never smelled it in the berks but did in the duroc and some of the hamp crosses.

 

[misfitmorgan]

We have had boars over 200 lbs castrated... got to do it by the moon signs, less bleeding, and have a VERY STOUT STRONG crate to get them in to do.... but I get not wanting to do him once he was a little older. Yes, as @misfitmorgan said there is not as much boar taint as many think.... but I've tasted it and you will throw out the WHOLE HOG if you get one.... still, as she said, it is much more prevalent in certain breeds.... and the older, the more likely you will taste it if they have the "gene" for it. One other thing... as the pig grows up, if he starts to smell strong... it is the hormones and he will more likely have the taint too.... funny thing is that I never smelled it in the berks but did in the duroc and some of the hamp crosses.

Durocs are the most known breed for it. No matter the breed if you are butchering at 6 months you dont have to worry about it. Since most pigs reach butcher weight by 6 months it doesnt need to be a concern for most. Makes one question why commercial pork uses castrated males since they are butchered at or before 6 months. Basically you have a 15% chance of tasting boar taint in pigs over 6-8 months of age.

 

[farmerjan]

Most pigs are castrated for 2 reasons, disposition and not getting the females bred. Even if not sexually mature, many young boars get "ideas" and can be very disruptive in pens ... especially in confinement operations.
The females will start coming in heat, and they set the intact males off.... and there were alot more hogs that were kept well past the 6 months age years ago... pigs were gotten in mar/apr and not butchered til Thanksgiving, or even after deer season in Dec because of needing the colder weather. So many were in the 6-9 month time frame.
Plus, if there was any breeding with taint in the background, castrating took care of that. You just didn't have to be concerned and barrows have a much less aggressive disposition than intact males or even females.
It also stopped any from random breeding if they got loose.... and years ago, many hogs were run out in oak forests in the fall, loose, and foraged on acorns... they were getting old enough to start thinking breeding.
I have smelled a "boar hog smell" in males as young as 5 months....
I prefer my males castrated unless raising for breeding.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Most pigs are castrated for 2 reasons, disposition and not getting the females bred. Even if not sexually mature, many young boars get "ideas" and can be very disruptive in pens ... especially in confinement operations.
The females will start coming in heat, and they set the intact males off.... and there were alot more hogs that were kept well past the 6 months age years ago... pigs were gotten in mar/apr and not butchered til Thanksgiving, or even after deer season in Dec because of needing the colder weather. So many were in the 6-9 month time frame.
Plus, if there was any breeding with taint in the background, castrating took care of that. You just didn't have to be concerned and barrows have a much less aggressive disposition than intact males or even females.
It also stopped any from random breeding if they got loose.... and years ago, many hogs were run out in oak forests in the fall, loose, and foraged on acorns... they were getting old enough to start thinking breeding.
I have smelled a "boar hog smell" in males as young as 5 months....
I prefer my males castrated unless raising for breeding.

Yes I realized many years ago there was good reason for it. I am talking todays commercial confinement raising where they use landrace pigs and they are for sure butchered at or before 6 months. For the boar taint in younger then 6 month old boars....its not real boar taint. Real boar taint is caused by 16-androstenes which doesnt occur until 6 months or older. 2/3 of all "boar taint" is actually caused by Skatole which is what causes feces to smell. So basically.....the bad smell in that 5 month old boar was not boar taint it was Skatole. Skatole comes from pigs eating feces.

Any pig, any sex, any age can have Skatole taint. Odds of getting true boar taint are slightly over 6.5% and the boar must be over 6 months for it to build up enough to be detected by humans. If any live pig has the "boar taint" smell it is Skatole and not real boar taint...real boar taint can only be smelled when the pork(fat) is cooked. Castrating does not stop Skatole taint.

So far in my life I have been lucky to never come across boar taint so either I am in the 25% who cant taste or smell it or it is really rare in modern pigs.

I can understand castrating for disposition and ease of working with them.

 

[Baymule]

I’ve raised boars and never experienced boar taint. My pen is big enough that they have a potty corner, giving them plenty of space to root in. So I’m pretty confident that they aren’t eating their own feces. Pigs are going to root. It’s what they do. When they are in such small pens that they can’t get away from their own feces, they are going to root and eat their own feces.

Also, if pigs have roughage, it helps keep the meat clean. They will eat hay and grass.

Another thing on taint, if there are no females to get them excited, it greatly diminishes the male hormones, which can lead to taint.