Question about castrating hog

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I have a boar that is almost a year old. If he is castrated now, how long should we wait to butcher him? My goal is to have meat without the strong boar taste. Is it possible this late in the game? Does anyone have experience in this area? Thanks.......Mona

-- Mona (jascamp@ipa.net), May 15, 2000

Answers

Mona -

I don't know about castrating a full-grown boar. I know that when mature boars are vasectomized to be used as teaser boars, they are sedated, maybe knocked completely out, not sure. It would be hard to hold him if he's not drugged I would think. The largest male hog I've worked on weighed about 80 pounds, was castrated, and this was to remove a scrotal abcess. Took 3 people, 2 to hold him, 1 to cut. The hog went ahead and healed up. They are amazingly tough. Regarding the "boar smell", I don't know how long it takes for it to leave the meat. 1 year is fairly young, but they certainly still have the odor. You might consider making lots of sausage, using the seasoning to help cover the boar smell/taste. Maybe someone in Countrysideland knows more about this than I do. At any rate, good luck with him.

-- nmays (mays@raptor.afsc.k12.ar.us), May 15, 2000.


Mona, older males can be a bit of a problem to castrate. I'd see about getting a vet, or at least someone experienced to help. Shock and bleeding can be problems. So can simply holding him-he is NOT going to care for this.

Give him at least a month, better a month and a half, two months before you slaughter him. On older boars you'll still have a strong taste to the meat, they go to sausage. You might luck out with a boar this young. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), May 15, 2000.


Thanks for the input. The actual procedure is not what I'm concerned about, our vet makes farm calls! What I'd really like to know is if the meat is likely to still taste strong. We haven't ruled out keeping him intact since we have a sow, I would just prefer to have this particular pig on the table. (Am I the only one who has found animals I just can't get along with? It doesn't happen often, this pig and one black mare which we sold to a woman that loves her!)

-- Mona (jascamp@ipa.net), May 15, 2000.

My understanding is that it takes 3-6 months for the boar taste/smell to be out of the meat.

-- teresa (teresam@ascent.net), May 15, 2000.

Smallgoods (and petfood) manufacturers are the only ones I know that will buy boars. I don't know personally whether the taint will go, or how long it would take, but I'd say you'd better be prepared to make a lot of salami, heavy on the garlic and chili. Alternatively, think about selling him as is right now, either for breeding or smallgoods. He'd eat a LOT in six months, and you could grow a lot of pigs to slaughtering size in the same time with the same food.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 16, 2000.


When I was a kid my father would go hog hunting and catch a boar once in a while. We'd put them in a pen, castrate them and feed them on cracked corn and what have you for three to four months. Made some of the finest tasting (and leanest) pork I've ever eaten. He always did the castration himself but if you've never done it before then it would be better to have the vet do it.

..........Alan.

The Prudent Food Storage FAQ, v3.5

http://www.ProvidenceCo-op.com

-- A.T. Hagan (athagan@netscape.net), May 16, 2000.


I have heard from local farmers who buy at auction [sometimes 350 lbs] to bring them home and castrate and then wait a few months .Let us know how it goes

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), May 16, 2000.

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