Summary of advantages and disadvantages of alternative methods
The table below summarises the advantages and disadvantages of the alternative methods:
Production of entire male pigs | Spermatic selection (only females) | Immunocastration | Castration with anaesthesia and analgesia | |
ADVANTAGES | ||||
To avoid pain, stress and health consequences | X | X | X | X |
Reduction of feeding cost due to better feed conversion | X | X | ||
Leaner carcasses | X | |||
It prevents boar taint | X | X | ||
Pigs are less aggressive and exhibit less mounting behaviour | X | |||
DRAWBACKS | ||||
The meat is tainted. | X | |||
Aggressive behaviour (low ranking animals may suffer from increased aggressiveness and mounting behaviour) | X | X | ||
Management more difficult | X | |||
Extra cost | X | X | X | |
Technique not available at farm level yet | X | |||
Potential risk for farmers | X | |||
More research is needed | X | X |