Abstract
The European pig sector has committed itself to ban surgical castration of male piglets by 2018. One alternative
is raising uncastrated pigs (entire males) with as a major drawback the occurrence of boar taint. Boar taint is an
off-odor that can occur in the meat or fat of entire males and affected carcasses should not reach the consumer.
More insights are needed in factors affecting the prevalence of boar taint on farm. In this study 23 farms raising
entire males participated and on average 5 slaughter batches per farm were included. Data on feed, management
and genetics were collected per farm and per slaughter batch by means of questionnaires. Data on housing and pig
behavior were collected through observations in the barns one week before slaughter. Carcass data were collected
in the slaughterhouse. At slaughter backfat samples were collected (from 148 entire males per slaughter batch on
average). These were scored on a 5-point scale (0-4) for boar taint by an olfactory panel of trained experts. Each
sample was evaluated by 3 experts and the median score was taken as the final score. When this final score was 2 or
higher, the sample was considered tainted. Factors were evaluated for their association with boar taint in univariable
mixed binomial models The average boar taint prevalence per farm was 1.9% and the range was 3.3%. Skin lesion
score in the barn and age at the start of the fattening period were positively correlated with the incidence of boar taint.
Lean meat percentage, time spent in the lairage, single vs mixed sex rearing, lysine and fat content of the feed, and
mortality were negatively correlated with the incidence of boar taint. The results suggest that reducing aggression
and stress, breeding leaner pigs and adapting feed can lower the occurrence of boar taint.
is raising uncastrated pigs (entire males) with as a major drawback the occurrence of boar taint. Boar taint is an
off-odor that can occur in the meat or fat of entire males and affected carcasses should not reach the consumer.
More insights are needed in factors affecting the prevalence of boar taint on farm. In this study 23 farms raising
entire males participated and on average 5 slaughter batches per farm were included. Data on feed, management
and genetics were collected per farm and per slaughter batch by means of questionnaires. Data on housing and pig
behavior were collected through observations in the barns one week before slaughter. Carcass data were collected
in the slaughterhouse. At slaughter backfat samples were collected (from 148 entire males per slaughter batch on
average). These were scored on a 5-point scale (0-4) for boar taint by an olfactory panel of trained experts. Each
sample was evaluated by 3 experts and the median score was taken as the final score. When this final score was 2 or
higher, the sample was considered tainted. Factors were evaluated for their association with boar taint in univariable
mixed binomial models The average boar taint prevalence per farm was 1.9% and the range was 3.3%. Skin lesion
score in the barn and age at the start of the fattening period were positively correlated with the incidence of boar taint.
Lean meat percentage, time spent in the lairage, single vs mixed sex rearing, lysine and fat content of the feed, and
mortality were negatively correlated with the incidence of boar taint. The results suggest that reducing aggression
and stress, breeding leaner pigs and adapting feed can lower the occurrence of boar taint.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Book of Abstracts of the 68th Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Place of Publication | Tallinn |
| Publication date | 28-Aug-2017 |
| Pages | 218 |
| Publication status | Published - 28-Aug-2017 |
| Event | 68th annula meeting of the European federation of animal science - Tallinn, Tallinn, Estonia Duration: 27-Aug-2017 → 1-Sept-2017 http://www.eaap2017.org |