Boar taint is an unpleasant odour that is released when pork is cooked. Research has shown that many consumers are susceptible to this odour. To reduce boar taint as much as possible, the following measures must be enforced when keeping intact boars:
- Male and female animals must be housed in separate pens from the outset.
- Maximum weight uniformity should always be the objective from the outset.
- Unloading a pen should be avoided.
- Bright daylight in the barns should be avoided.
- Avoid unrest in the barns.
- Additional feed components during the last phase can reduce boar taint.
- The ideal supply weight is 110 kg for live animals.
Want to know more about how these rules are applied? Contact Belgian Pork Group.
What about castration?
Belgian Pork Group encourages T&W pig farmers to use alternatives (for the benefit of the flavour) that are accepted throughout all the links in the chain. Any form of castration must be painless and the animals may not experience welfare problems as a result of the castration.
