Boar Taint - Controlling Boar Taint

Controlling Boar Taint

For centuries, pigs in some countries have been castrated to prevent boar taint which can show up in a small percentage of boars in some breeds. Most boar pigs do not have boar taint and are slaughtered before puberty so it is not an issue. The long-standing practice in some countries sees male piglets castrated when they are 2–3 weeks old.

In some countries, such as Australia, pigs are slaughtered at a younger age. This is because the two natural substances that cause boar taint – androstenone and skatole – only start to accumulate in the fat of male pigs when they sexually mature. Skatole can actually show up in female as well as male pigs. It is produced by bacterial action in the intestines and deposited in the fat independently of castration - this is a management issue. Pigs raised on pasture do not have this problem although it is common to pigs raised in confinement settings. Slaughter at the standard six month age can help reduce the presence of skatole based boar taint and adrostenone based taint.

Another possible method to control boar taint is to select the sex of the piglet before birth in an attempt to breed only female pigs, using sorting based on sex chromosome and artificial insemination. This method has been successfully used in cattle breeding but the technique is still under research and no economic or practical solution yet exists in pig production.