Is boar taint a myth?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 06:06AM Boar taint, or the fear of boar taint, is a concern faced by every farmer who raises pigs for meat. And now, a primer for those who may not be familiar with what boar taint is. Boar taint is associated with two compounds produced in the live male pig: androstenone and skatole. Androstenone is a steroid produced by the testes and concentrated in the salivary glands where it is converted to a pheromone involved in eliciting sexual behavior in gilts and sows during the mating process. Gilts and sows are both female pigs. Androstenone is also deposited in the fat tissue and can be released in response to heat during cooking thus contributing to boar taint. Skatole is a compound produced by bacteria in the hindgut of the boar. It is absorbed across the intestinal wall into the blood stream, is metabolized by the liver and may be excreted or absorbed into fat tissue where it may cause boar taint (Squires, 1999).
I underlined the word "may" in the last sentence, since the obvious conclusion is that it also "may not" cause boar taint. The controversy surrounding castration is one of humane treatment. In North American swine production, castration is essentially universal, although in the UK and Ireland, for welfare reasons pigs are not castrated. Additionally, legislation passed in Norway and Switzerland that banned castration of pigs starting in 2009. The majority of male pigs in Spain and Portugal are not castrated. McDonald’s & Burger King in the Netherlands both announced that they will no longer sell products containing pork from castrated pigs. According to The Pig Site, "There is substantial evidence that castration is painful and highly aversive to pigs and so is a significant welfare concern. The most painful part of castration appears to be the severing of the cords and vessels supplying testis. An assumption is often made that the procedure is less traumatic to younger piglets although the contrary maybe true."
Our processor was shocked when we brought our first male pigs in, which were all intact. He claimed that we would have boar taint and he could already smell it. I know the smell he's referring to, as I get a sense of that when I'm out with our male pigs. You can really detect it if they ever engage in a boar battle, which they do from time to time. Hey, that's what they do in nature. But the bottom line is that we made a decision last year to not castrate male pigs and to either hope that boar taint wouldn't be an issue, or to adjust our collective taste preferences to accommodate it. After all, when we go hunting for deer or wild boar, do we hope that big buck has been somehow castrated by nature before we pull the trigger? Or do we simply understand that there may be a taste difference between a mature buck and a young doe?
Boar Taint is Not an Issue
After almost two years of harvesting pigs, some castrated, but almost all not, we're convinced that boar taint is not an issue. We have yet to detect it once. And believe me, we're looking. We've gone so far as to tell customers in advance what we're doing and to encourage them to pay close attention to smell and taste to see if they can detect boar taint. Not one customer has.
Other farmers have discussed the issue of boar taint, with some suggesting that boar taint will not be an issue if the boar is removed from females for at least 30 days. Still others say the secret is to harvest boars younger, say before they reach 9 months or so, and indeed in Europe, it is common to harvest pigs at much lower weights (200 lbs) than we do in America (250-300 lbs).
It's easy for us to harvest Berkshire pigs at a younger age such as 8 months, as they reach market size at that time. But our Ossabaw Island pigs, which make up the majority of our pig population, take at least 15 months to reach market size, and the biggest one we have then is about 225 pounds. These boars are quite mature at that point and engage frequently in "friendly" boar battles and other games, so boar taint should be an issue. But it isn't.
It is true that we raise male pigs in separate paddocks from female pigs, so perhaps that contributes to the reason. Indeed, that's what our processor suggests is the reason, now that he's slowly accepted the fact that boar taint is not an issue. But we have found that this too is not the reason why we don't have boar taint.
Two weeks ago, we had an unfortunate incident where I had to shoot and kill our Ossabaw boar, Bandit. Bandit was my favorite pig on the farm. I had driven to Virginia to get him two years ago when he was only a few months old and maintained a good relationship with him every day he was here. He would occasionally paw the ground at me and flash his razor sharp tusks, but I always knew what he meant. Still, I was able to rub his head every time. We kept Bandit in his own paddock and brought sows to him when we wanted them bred.
We had an incident where Bandit bit one of our apprentices. Bandit was not properly handled, as the apprentice used a bag of food as his shield between he and Bandit as he walked. I don't think Bandit meant to bite him; rather, Bandit just swiped his head at the bag and hit leg as well. But a couple of days after this, Bandit broke out of his paddock, something he has never been inclined to do. He headed across the farm to where the young gilts are and, as we tried to catch him, entered their paddock. This left me with a difficult decision as night was falling. We weren't going to be able to separate him at that time of day among 30 young gilts, and Bandit was becoming, understandably, more aggressive. He had already begun mounting the young gilts, so I grabbed my 30.06, fired, and dropped Bandit. It was a sad evening for all of us, but let's stay focused on the topic of boar taint.
We took bandit to a local processor since we couldn't sell this meat. We just processed Bandit for ourselves. Bandit was obviously in a stressed and sexually active stage when he was killed. So we were anxious to try the pork and I fully expected to detect boar taint.
I was wrong. There was none. The bottom line is that we have yet to detect boar taint on our Ossabaw or Berkshire pigs. We have done nothing magical to "breed it out". It just isn't there. We do raise males from females separately, but I'm convinced that isn't it either. We have harvested male pigs as young as 7 months and as old as 2 years. Still no boar taint. The pork is always flavorful and delicious, and even more so for Liz and me since we know the animals did not have to endure an invasive, traumatic surgical procedure at a very young age without anaesthetic. We also do not castrate sheep and have moved away from castrating cattle (steers). Of course, this requires that we keep the males separate from the females, otherwise we'll have uncontrolled breeding.
We're not passing judgement or preaching. We're just sharing our experiences and views. But it seems that we do a lot in this country in the name of food production that isn't necessary. Gestation crates for sows and battery cages for hens are popular targets, but I'd like to add pig castration to the list.
Reader Comments (12)
Curious, have you compared say, a gilt's meat to the boar's meat. I find that I am not as aware of my buck's fall rutting odor as a visitor. I have become use to it and it does not bother me as much as a visitor.
Patricia
I raise a few pigs 8 at present time. 4 Sows, 3 gilts, and a 5 month old boar. Spring should bring between 30 and 50 piglets. We aren't sure how many we will be keeping, time will tell.
Anyhow, I have been raising pigs for 2 years now, and have come to the same conclusion that males don't need to be castrated, I have sold many intact males to be raised for meat and have convinced my farmer customers not to castrate, none have had any boar taint issue. We also butchered 4 - 9 month old boars last spring that were pastured with several sows, and a large boar, no boar taint.
I will most likely seek advise from you as I continue to grow my hobby farm into a more sustainable farm that hopefully will support my family in the years to come.
I enjoy reading your blog and following your farm. Keep up the good work.
Tim,
Always inspiring reading your blogs. I really appreciate all of the effort you put into doing the right thing, even with all of the rock throwing from the other side.
Scott
(180 Degree Farm)
We raised four mixed heritage feeder pigs together last year, three boars and a gilt, and slaughtered them in September at approx. 200 - 250 lbs, 7 months of age. When I took them to the butcher, the staff were aghast that I was slaughtering and selling boar meat to my neighbors. The lady at the front office told me the meat would be so awful, people would throw it away as soon as they started cooking it.
Since it was the first time I had raised boars, I was pretty worried, despite the fact that the farmer from whom I purchased the feeders raises a huge quantity of uncut pork for local restaurants and markets, and gets a premium price for his product.
So we conducted our own experiment at home, keeping 1/2 of the gilt, and 1/2 of a boar. I know who is who in the freezer, but my husband does not. We have repeatedly try to tell the difference...my husband has great fun trying to figure out who he is eating...but so far, no luck. And our friends and family have marveled at how tender and rich our pork tastes.
I have doubled the list of neighbors who have asked me to raise their pork for them next year!
A lot of folks say that taint is genetic, and a line without taint will never be tainted unless it's introduced. It can also be bred out with careful selection. We don't castrate, but we raise Guinea hogs, and there are only 6-10 lines out there, all supposedly taint free.
As an interesting aside, some people cannot detect taint in meat, where others can.
Tim,
Love what you guys are doing on your farm. In humans, sexual hormones are also involved in our fight or flight response. I propose that boar taint could in fact be an indicator of over stressed-abused animals. It seems you have ruled out all other causes, castration, boar fights, mating, etc. This is a case of agribusiness not finding the right cause but the least expensive solution to their own cruelty. That being said, go with your gut tim and not with the "conventional wisdom". Your gut is human and corporations are not!
Keep fighting the good fight and you will be rewarded!
I have several Large black X Yorkshire piglets that I am raising for meat. I have barrows and boars being kept in the pasture with gilts and sows. I will see how this goes and report back. On a side note, a hunter in our club killed a 350 lb wild boar a couple of years ago, we cut it up in camp and slow cooked it that night. No one noticed any taint. Several of the old timers would not touch it at first, thinking that it would be horrid. It was some fine meat.
Tim, an interesting article link from a todays Drovers Alert email no less. But interesting reading.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6936352.ece
taint or no taint I think I'll be sticking to eating the real thing rather than getting my pork via the method listed above in the article
Great post. We often butcher our Jacob Sheep rams that are over three years old. We had been told the meat would be tainted - but it is as mild as the meat from a weanling ewe. And much milder than the meat of some adult Suffolk/Hampshire ewes we once had. We've had people come for dinner that said they didn't like lamb and had them rave over the taste of our three year old intact male "lamb" chops. Thanks for helping to debunk the myths.
Tim, your blog and farmer's forum are such a great resource and inspiration to me. Thanks! I am currently raising my first batch of pigs. I move them every day or two within an electrified net (Premier). I have decided to leave my pigs intact. I have a problem though - the young boars (3-4 months old) are already mounting their sisters. For some reason, I thought that they would not be sexaully mature until they were older than butcher age (which for this batch, will be about 6 months). I'm thinking that I'll probably have to butcher these gilts now, even though they are not as big as I had hoped. Do you have any advice?
Yes. You should separate the boys from the girls. Otherwise they will breed at a young age, and the girls won't be mature enough to successfully mother. We maintain 5 pig paddocks; boys, girls, sows, and two boar paddocks.
We have a sow that is due the end of May....and I was dreading the casteration process. Now, my husband and I have decided not to casterate the males....which is a relief to me. Interesting to hear all the opinions about this. I am hoping to not have too many males, and will probably keep them for our own meat, and sell any of the females to friends and family until we are sure of the results, but this sounds like we will be happy with the results. I also raise Galloway cattle; and the farm my original bull and cows were raised on does not band any of the bull calves. They are raised, and either sold for breeding stock or butchered.....their meat is outstanding. Another myth I found out that is not true, having to casterate bull calves.....I love hearing from other farmers with open minds on raising their animals humanely and the best for the animal. Now if I could only get the on-the-farm butchering legal for resale....I would have the best for my animals.....Thanks for the advise!