Project Pork- boar taint experience?

This is me-n-Toby"s first experience raising consumable livestock rather than riding critters, and so far so good. Toby and I used the haystring measuring method today to calculate weight (ears-to-tail x girth x girth divided by 400) and these figure to be around 200 lbs. We"ve got a boar and two gilts, and I"ve been told I need to butcher the boar now (got them in March) to avoid "boar taint" that comes as he reaches maturity. Don"t plan on breeding them, so I have no problem if he"s the first of the three to go. Any experienced hog farmers out there got insight into "boar taint"?

go ahead and cut him now and you won't have that problem.

Numerous articles on this blog on the subject...here is one. Search for more...

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/boar-meat-redux/

John

Used to castrate our pigs at 2-3 weeks old.

After doing about 5 litters, my hands (yes, I tried washing them in mild bleach solution) would smell like boar whizzz for at least 3 days.

I'd say de-nut now and wait at least a month before butchering.

Still no guarantees the meat won't taste like a boar smells.

I have done them from 3days to 200lbs before. Soak your hands in clorox when done. Take them oysters and soak them in salt water for about 4 hours, cut them into smaller pieces and deep fry them.

That a pic from this week? Get yourself a new string. The biggest one there won't dress to 80 pounds, or I'll eat my hat. You got a long time before they will cut out to any meat worth the effort. Best time is in winter anyway, for the 'safety?', of it hanging more than a couple days.

Sorry, I'm too afraid I'd have to do a Clorox chaser to wash 'em down.

That boar will be breeding soon to ya better cut him soon as he is getting close to that time if he hasnt already.

when they reach around 220 lbs thier back will begine to flatten out ide say yours are about 150 max right now. to cut that boar make a noose around his neck and run the rope down his back then loop it under his belly in frt of his rear legs have someone pull the rope tight he will fall down and cant move this pinches a nerve and he will just lie there as long as the rope is tight then cut him and spray some iodion in the wond keep him seperate from the girls for a few hours till he quits bleeding and he will be fine i raise several hogs comercially and every now and then we miss one ive done this at 300 lbs and it works good.

We useta to cut the nuts out, at about 40-50 lbs. Them hogs is about 120-140 lbs, IMHO. Get them nuts out NOW. We would throw them on their backs, in a hog trough, and commence cutting, with a single edge razor blade, in in a piece of plastic holder, called a Widget. Cut low on the sac, so the wound will drain, splash with chlorox and water mixture. Wear waterproof pants, cause whoever is sittin on his belly is gonna get whizzed on!

If the gilts ain't bred now , they soon will be. CUTTEM, and soon!!

Cut him asap. He's getting pretty good size to handle. We cut them at about 7-10 days back in the day.

had no help on the farm, learned to cut them at 4 days old with side cuts.in twenty minutes they never even knew they had them in the first place.

I was thinking the same thing. That hog panel is only 40 inches high and they are alot shorter.

I agree. Years ago, I was given a couple of boars that were about that size, and didn"t cut them. When they got about butcher size, I got concerned about the possibility of the meat being tainted. So my buddy and I bought a couple of half gallons of the cheapest rotgut vodka we could find and got my two boars and his two, even larger boars really drunk. It took most of a day, and it was a real struggle to cut the 4 boars. They are incredibly strong, and even very intoxicated, they sure don"t like being cut. Then we waited another couple of months to butcher and had REALLY HUGE and probably very costly pork.

I sure wish we had cut the boars when we first got them...it would have been SO much easier. However, the liquor worked pretty well to sedate the boars, and I would pass that on as a suggestion. You will not believe how strong that boar you have will be if you just try to manhandle him without drugging him somehow. And single edge razor blades work OK to do the cutting. Just plan on using at least one new blade for each hog, as they dull quickly.

I don"t think I would accept a free half grown boar again...I"m getting too old!

By the time I get full of rot gut gin, my mind would be on exercisin them jewels, not losin them, LOL!

When we used to raise a few pigs we butchered boars a couple of times for our freezer.You want them about 160 lbs live so there is no boar taint.I prefer the taste of the little boars compared to barrows and they are really lean.Gave some to a friend who said they could taste the gamyness of the meat but I never found it objectionable.The first one we did was one that somehow never got cut.Later it was always a runt that we figured didn't need anymore stress in his life and would be ready about the time the last hog would be gone.The uncut hog would catch up to or pass the barrows he was with.The little boars cost more to put in the freezer than others but it was for ourselves so price wasn't the only consideration.Same thing with raising one jersey calf for the freezer to get what some consider better tasting beef for yourself even if it costs more to raise.