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Pig Castration and its Alternatives
Table of Contents
What this is about, who it is by and who it is for
Orientation
Aims and objectives
Introductory Quiz
Extent of pig production in the EU
Pig Castration in the EU
Extent of Pig Castration in the EU
How the prevalence of castration varies in different EU countries
Proportion of pigs castrated across the countries of the EU
Consequences of raising entire male pigs
What is boar taint and what causes it?
Compounds related to boar taint
Factors related to the presence of boar taint compounds.
How boar taint compounds are perceived by consumers
Anosmia
Methods of Pig Castration
Alternatives to Castration
Production only of entire (uncastrated) males
Production only of females / Spermatic selection
Immunocastration
Castration with anaesthesia and analgesia
Summary of advantages and disadvantages of alternative methods
Attitudes of producers and consumers towards pig production methods
Attitudes of the producers
Attitudes of consumers
Summary and Post Tutorial Test
For more information
References
Consequences of raising entire male pigs
As we saw earlier, the main reason for castrating pigs is to avoid boar taint in meat. The rest of this section will give you more information about boar taint and the compounds which cause it.