Pig Castration and its Alternatives

Table of Contents

1. What this is about, who it is by and who it is for
   1. Orientation
   2. Aims and objectives
2. Introductory Quiz
3. Extent of pig production in the EU
4. Pig Castration in the EU
   1. Extent of Pig Castration in the EU
   2. How the prevalence of castration varies in different EU countries
   3. Proportion of pigs castrated across the countries of the EU
5. Consequences of raising entire male pigs
   1. What is boar taint and what causes it?
   2. Compounds related to boar taint
   3. Factors related to the presence of boar taint compounds.
   4. How boar taint compounds are perceived by consumers
   5. Anosmia
6. Methods of Pig Castration
7. Alternatives to Castration
   1. Production only of entire (uncastrated) males
   2. Production only of females / Spermatic selection
   3. Immunocastration
   4. Castration with anaesthesia and analgesia
   5. Summary of advantages and disadvantages of alternative methods
8. Attitudes of producers and consumers towards pig production methods
   1. Attitudes of the producers
   2. Attitudes of consumers
9. Summary and Post Tutorial Test
10. For more information
    1. References

What this is about, who it is by and who it is for

Introduction

This material was created for an EU contract with the Health and Consumers Directorate-General (SANCO) entitled "Study on the improved methods for animal-friendly production, in particular on ALternatives to the CAStration of pigs and on alternatives to the DEhorning of cattle" (Alcasde http://www.alcasde.eu).

The aim of this European contract was to develop and promote alternatives of castration in pigs and dehorning of cattle. In this tutorial, we will focus on the alternatives to pig castration.

Authors: Marta Blanch, Nuria Panella, M. Angels Oliver (IRTA)

	This project is led by IRTA-Food Technology Granja Camps i Armet, s/n, 17121 Monells, Catalonia, Spain. Tel.: +34-972 630052 e-mail: mariaangels.oliver@irta.cat
	This tutorial was supported by EAAP, Via G. Tomassetti 3,1/A, 00161 Rome, Italy. Tel.: +39-06-44202639; E-mail: ecs@eaap.org
	Learning Design and Software Realisation by Julian Cook, Bristol, UK. e-mail: e-learning@gedulah.co.uk