Do all pig breeds produce Boar Taint

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Greg40

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Do all pig breeds produce Boar Taint
« on: May 01, 2011, 19:31 »
We are on the verge of keeping pigs and the only concern is ending up with a lot of pork with the smell and taste tainted.
 I've read on other sites of the advantage of leaner meat from boars.
 Are some breeds better than others, personally i would prefer Saddlebacks , Middle White or another old breed but it may depend on what is available locally.
 

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hillfooter

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Re: Do all pig breeds produce Boar Taint
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2011, 01:43 »
Provided you slaughter at 6 months and not let them go beyond you won't get boar taint.  Since it is caused by hormonal changes associated with sexual maturity I expect it is common to all breeds though I'm not certain of this it seeems logical to assume so.  However not all boars have taint anyway only around 20% or so and if you raise them on pasture these's less chance too.

Here are our Saddlebacks at 10 weeks both sows but last year we had two boars and one sow of New Hampshire lop crosses and had no problems.


HF
« Last Edit: May 02, 2011, 01:45 by hillfooter »
Truth through science.

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Greg40

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Re: Do all pig breeds produce Boar Taint
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2011, 16:38 »
Hi Hillfooter,

  Thanks for the reply,
      I have bought half a pig before and found the meat tainted not only when eating but also an unpleasant smell whilst  cooking.

  They look nice pigs in the picture, don't they root up the pasture?

  I have an area pigs have been on before about 2 years ago and as the arks and posts with insuators are already in position I am thinking of using this system for a start.

We have( well the wifes job really) reared Kade lambs last year and this but by the time they are 3 months old most of the works done, so we are used to keeping livestock bigger than hens & geese

 As with all animals I think the most interesting and exciting part is actually breeding them, so we shall see how we get on with a couple for meat and then have think about running  a gilt on and have a bash as a pig breeder.
  Thanks  Adrian

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hillfooter

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Re: Do all pig breeds produce Boar Taint
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2011, 18:12 »
They look nice pigs in the picture, don't they root up the pasture?

  Thanks  Adrian

They certainly do root up the pasture though the Saddlebacks are a bit too small yet and the ground's very hard at the moment.  The Hampshire Lop crosses last year made short work of being living bulldozers though but it's surprising how well its come back even when we kept turkeys on the same ground staright after so it had only from Christmas through April to recover it did pretty well.  As the picture shows.

Being rigorous on slaughter timing should eliminate boar taint it's a common mistake for newbies to let them run too long in the hope they will put on more weight where as in fact all that happens is they put on fat.  Best to be lean and not too old.  The Saddlebacks are both sows but last year we had 3, two being boars.  We still have joints in the freezer after 9 months and we sold more than half a pig and my daughter and husband have been sharing what we froze.  I will say it has been superb meat though.


HF

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debih

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Re: Do all pig breeds produce Boar Taint
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2011, 08:43 »
We only keep sows at the moment for this very reason.

We are hoping to start breeding next year which means that inevitably we will end up with some boars so it is interesting to know that as long as you are very careful with your timings you can avoid boar taint.
I always find that work gets in the way of life.



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