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Methods of Pig Castration

How castration is most commonly performed

As we have seen, most of the European countries castrate without anaesthesia. This technique has some advantages and drawbacks, and it mainly brings up a problem of animal welfare because it is a painful practice (EFSA report "Welfare aspects of the castration of piglets" published in 2004).

Male piglets are restrained, the scrotum is incised with a sharp scalpel, the testes are extracted by pulling and the spermatic cord cut with a scalpel, an antiseptic is applied to the open wound and the piglet is rapidly returned to its pen. The overall procedure takes 1 - 2 minutes.

To see more detail about different techniques for surgical castration of pigs and how to perform them, follow this link.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Pig Castration without anaesthesia

Advantages:

  • Castrated males do not exhibit boar taint. Boar taint is an off-odour affecting the meat of some entire (= not castrated) males, which can be easily perceived during cooking and eating for sensitive consumers.
  • Castrated animals are less aggressive and exhibit less mounting behaviour that males left intact.

Drawbacks:

  • The tissues that are involved are innervated and the procedure induces pain and stress.
  • Suckling behaviour is reduced for around two hours after castration.
  • The open wound may be a source of entry for pathological germs.
  • On a long term basis, castrated animals perform worse than non-castrated pigs.
  • They need more feed to grow up and their carcass is fatter compared to animals left intact.