# Intact boars for meat



## krenee (May 26, 2014)

Everyone I have ever talked to said you cannot eat intact board. I've been told over and over about boar tante. Well I had a free large black boar that was six months old. He roamed free on five acres with two gilts and his daddy Johnny who I at least six hundred pound large black. Everyone told me not to do it. But I did it. I processed little black (prob 180 ish pounds) on Thursday. Let the meat hang and set up. I was cutting it up this morning and decided to pop a small piece off the Boston butt in the crock pot. That thing has cooked all day.

I just tried my first piece and I can't believe so many people are so wrong. There is NOTHING wrong with this meat. I mean nothing. It has the best flavor and no game taste at all. I'm going to process it all as I normally would and if any of it starts getting gamey I'll just grind it up. But I even cooked it with the blade one in there with it. There is no off putting taste at all. 

I hope to be expecting piglets in about a month and a half and I am not going to castrate them now. Unless further tasting of the meet proves differently. I don't think I'll ever castrate. I know people say they grow fast castrated but from my own experience I think it's the opposite. Anyway, that's my two cents. What's yours?


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

I have raised and processed a few 'intact' boars. So far we have never experienced any tainted meat from our boars.

Our last one was a 5 year old Large Black, he dressed at 750 pounds. His meat is a little tough, but the flavor is great.


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## chaossmurf (Jan 6, 2017)

back when I was a kid we always caught a few pigs almost every night we could go hunting & brought them back to "prep" them ---we didn't even cut any of the males --we just put them into a big pen and fed them a combo of some grains & mostly food scraps from a few produce sections in some local grocery stores ----once they realized we wouldn't hurt them & they ran up to us when we walked up with the feed bucket & stuck their heads into the trough too wait for the glorious mana from heaven to be poured on their heads ---out came the pistol from its sheath  boom right there in the trough --hop the fence toss a rope on its leg & up into the barn it went  ---the rest of them went right back to eating once we were outta sight ussualy --or shortly afterwards anyways  ---you wouldn't belive how desperately I want real pork again ---store pork is about as bland as can be compared to wild pork fattened on the local farmers crops sadly  but hey their welcome to allow me to help rid them of the buggers  ---although at my age , I think id do it with a rifle --instead of dogs and chasing them down on foot & tieing them up --those days are well behind me


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

You ate a Boat?......
How long did ya have to soak it in salt water........

Bazinga...Sorry couldn't resist.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I have had two boars that I sent to butcher. One was slaughtered because he failed to breed. The other I bought as a gilt, but at slaughter they recognized the job was only half done. The butcher recognized the pig was a boar by the heavier shoulder plates. He could smell the boar taint. I didn't notice any off taste.

Your tiny experiment and my limited experience isn't of much value. In southern Michigan, the Bob Evan's sausage factory buys only old sows, never a boar. The boars that show up at auction sell for under 20 cents a pound. If there were any way a boar could be made into sausage, they would. It requires a lot of spices to hide boar taint, so it is often the main ingredient in pepperoni.

You can believe it is just certain blood lines, you can think it is controlled by diet, or you can deny it exists. Wonderful. But if you ever get to the point where you are selling finished slaughter hogs to others, boar taint will eventually, sooner or later, cause you a financial loss. As with most things, don't gamble more than you can comfortably lose.


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## chaossmurf (Jan 6, 2017)

well ive always found the issue of "taint" is the same if its hogs or deer or ?beef? ---you wound something & chase it down to its death its going to be fulla hormones or adrenaline or some internal chemical situation that makes it into dog-meat ---ya kill it fast & smooth it tastes like its supposed to ---now I don't ever plan on torturing a steer before killing it to compare it to normal but the only hogs weve ever had that we disliked was ones that were wounded & we had to track down to dispatch them ---and the same with deer ---I remember a friend having gator years ago that was horrible & he told some long story about how long it took him to kill it or find it or something -but I cant even come close to remembering what his story was --I think iwas ten at the time & was far more interested in the skin of it & his daughter


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## krenee (May 26, 2014)

Thanks for the input. I've been reading up on it all evening. Yes I do sell the meat. Well up till no I have bought live pigs to process (usually show pigs in late spring). This upcoming liter of piglets will be my first that I raise from birth till slaughter. From the best I can read, raising them on pasture like I am has a lot to do with it. Maybe I'm searching for the easy way out. I can't even begin to image castrating half a dozen tiny piglets. 

Yes maybe this was a fluke. I don't know. Maybe if I had an old timer or even just someone that was experienced come out and show me with this first liter of piglets I might be less reluctant to castrate. I guess this is where my emotional female side kicks in. It just seems terrible to castrate. 

And yes hunter63 the boat was wonderful. Just salt and pepper lol. I processed that whole pig today and the as I'm cleaning up and hand washing my knives I filled my thumb open. Makes for typing on my phone a tad challenging plus I'm terrible at proof reading


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## krenee (May 26, 2014)

I also think that there is difference of processing it yourself and sending it to a butcher. I never like venison until I started processing it myself. Same with wild hog. Idk I think a butcher shop is just not going to take the time like you take for yourself. That's probably why I have more processing business than I can handle during deer season. The way it's process can dramatically change the flavor of the meat.


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

krenee said:


> Snip.....
> 
> And yes hunter63 the boat was wonderful. Just salt and pepper lol. I processed that whole pig today and the as I'm cleaning up and hand washing my knives *I filled my thumb open.* Makes for typing on my phone a tad challenging plus I'm terrible at proof reading


You fixed it ...no fair....LOL.
As a full fledged "Geezer Squad charter member" I have my moments as well.....
Never could spell...... but used to be a pretty good proof reader....UNTIL....Spell check made things worse, spell somewhere close to a word....it better fix it...as that's all I got.

Glad the boat worked out for you...
Carry on...


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

I have butchered different breeds of Boars. Hereford,Hamps,Large white,


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

gerold said:


> I have butchered different breeds of Boars. Hereford,Hamps,Large white,


And?

What have you observed regarding boar taint?

When does it happen and when does it not happen?


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## chaossmurf (Jan 6, 2017)

well you can always ask your husband to supervise you castrating the piglets ...just so he knows whats coming if he cheats 
(gets caught anyways) -----its really not hard on piglets & it good practice


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

haypoint said:


> I have had two boars that I sent to butcher. One was slaughtered because he failed to breed. The other I bought as a gilt, but at slaughter they recognized the job was only half done. The butcher recognized the pig was a boar by the heavier shoulder plates. He could smell the boar taint. I didn't notice any off taste.
> 
> Your tiny experiment and my limited experience isn't of much value. In southern Michigan, the Bob Evan's sausage factory buys only old sows, never a boar. The boars that show up at auction sell for under 20 cents a pound. If there were any way a boar could be made into sausage, they would. It requires a lot of spices to hide boar taint, so it is often the main ingredient in pepperoni.
> 
> You can believe it is just certain blood lines, you can think it is controlled by diet, or you can deny it exists. Wonderful. But if you ever get to the point where you are selling finished slaughter hogs to others, boar taint will eventually, sooner or later, cause you a financial loss. As with most things, don't gamble more than you can comfortably lose.





krenee said:


> I also think that there is difference of processing it yourself and sending it to a butcher. I never like venison until I started processing it myself. Same with wild hog. Idk I think a butcher shop is just not going to take the time like you take for yourself. That's probably why I have more processing business than I can handle during deer season. The way it's process can dramatically change the flavor of the meat.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

Sorry i have been trying to reply but its not been taking because of storms in the area,,i have satilite connection. Maybe this time it will take. I have butchered pasture raised boar pigs over the past 6 years. Those under 5 mos. had less boar taint and were ok. One very large boar (duroc) 800 lbs. and 2 years old was ok. 
One Hampshire weight 450lbs. had a lot of taint and i fed it to the dogs. One Large white (500 lb.) 2 years old had a lot of taint. Dog meat again. I do cut my pigs now when they are 1-2 weeks old. Not hard to do at that age. I do fatten a lot of female pigs to butcher for people. The female pigs make for much better tasting meat and no worry about taint. I sell a lot of male (cut) pigs for roasting. (75-100 lbs.) I have learned my lesson on raising boar pigs past 5 mos. old because a few of them will have to much taint in them for consumers. Does not matter what breed or how you butcher them some will have to much boar taint to sell.


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## jkleven (Feb 28, 2016)

krenee said:


> Maybe I'm searching for the easy way out. I can't even begin to image castrating half a dozen tiny piglets.


Like you, I wasn't keen on castrating piglets either for various reasons. But since I am raising a mixed herd together on pasture, keeping several intact boars creates issues for me once the pigs approach sexual maturity, which can happen as early as 5-6 months. I realized quickly that, in order to prevent unwanted breeding of siblings, mother/son, ect. I was going to have to either castrate, butcher before they reach the size I want or keep boars in a completely separate pasture which would essentially double the amount of work involved. 

I called my vet and asked if they'd castrate the boar piglets if I brought them into the office. They said sure, so that's what I did. They only charged me 6$ per piglet, it only took a few minutes and as a bonus the castration was performed by a professional in a clean and sterile environment. Money well spent IMO, maybe this would be an option for you as well.


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## DoubleAcre (Dec 15, 2014)

We normally castrate ours, the wife is scary good at it. But we tried leaving a couple intact. The butcher said "you're crazy. Don't blame me if your pork taste like #*@%"

It tasted great. Even the boar that was about 1.5 years old. As far as genetics, the sire was a large black/Hampshire cross and the sow was Berkshire. Looking forward to trying the sire later this year.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

A few weeks ago we took 2 pigs to a meat processor. One old sow and a 2 year boar. We got back the ribs, lard slabs, 4 shoulder hams and all the rest is link sausage.

400 pounds of link sausage.

Last Friday we were at market, I cooked up a plate of each kind of the sausage. Some sweet Italian, some hot, some garlic, and some chorizo. 

Everyone sampled the sausage and loved it. No complaints. We sold a lot of it.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

krenee said:


> Everyone I have ever talked to said you cannot eat intact board. I've been told over and over about boar taint.


Well, you've unfortunately been talking only to people who didn't know what they were talking about.

Boar taint is real.
The vast majority of boars do not have boar taint.
Boar taint is controlled by genetics, feed (high fiber is better) and management (clean/pasture is better).
We don't castrate. We've processed many thousands of boars and don't have any problem with taint.
Boar taint is caused by several different chemicals.
Only about 75% of the human population can taste boar taint.
Sometimes people blame other forms of taint on boar taint.
Taint is stored in the fat.
You can live test a boar by taking a small bite, cooking it up and seeing if the boar has taint - provided you are able to taste taint. See: http://SugarMtnFarm.com/taint for how I do it and a lot more information about boar taint.

Cheers,

-Walter


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## chaossmurf (Jan 6, 2017)

ok ive been trying to resist the urge to say this since I noticed this thread & I CANNOT STAND IT ANY LONGER 

your not supposed to eat the boars "taint" 
as much meats on a boar ya can toss that part


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Chaossmurf, what are you trying to say?

Boar taint refers to a smell/flavor found in a small minority of boars (and very rarely females, particularly a certain breed from the Pacific) caused by several chemicals produced in the testes or in the small intestines. The flavor is stored in the fat, not in any particular organ but all over the body.

See the link above.

-Walter


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

chaossmurf said:


> ok ive been trying to resist the urge to say this since I noticed this thread & I CANNOT STAND IT ANY LONGER
> 
> your not supposed to eat the boars "taint"
> as much meats on a boar ya can toss that part


I just eat the bacon and ham raw so i don't taste any boar taint. LOL

When i BBQ i use tons of pepper to cover up the taint. 
Only 40 percent of boars over 6 mos. old have taint in their fat so i would not worry about it.


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## chaossmurf (Jan 6, 2017)

well I cant believe nobody got the joking reference to that little part between the butt & the sexual organs  the "taint" 

good job on keeping this mature I guess ??  ??  ??


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

Taint right to eat that part. . Yes i got your joke. 

Overall in most countries 40 percent of boars over 6 mos. have taint. I have been forced to castrate most of my pigs. I sale meat hogs that are over 400 lbs. so i have learned the hard way to cut the boars at a very young age when its not a very big job.

www.thepigsite.com/articles/3950/mybusting-boar-taint/


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

That PigSite article is contradicted by a lot of other research. Since Pfizer, who gets prominent mention in that article, is the maker of an 'anti-taint' vaccine and tries very hard to sell it I would view that article as more of a marketing and promotional product for Pfizer's drugs rather than good information.

What I do know is real is that I have sold the meat from many thousands of boars to tens of thousands of customers over much more than a decade with zero problems with boar taint. That sort of large scale field research proves quite conclusively that castration and Pfizer drugs aren't needed and that boar taint can be controlled through good genetics, high fiber feed and good clean management which is what a tremendous amount of research all agrees on.

-Walter


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## Jamie Sadler (Apr 19, 2017)

The only time I have ever experienced any issues with an intact boar was when we slaughtered a wild boar who had apparently been around a fair amount of in heat females. He smelled rank before we butchered him. In hindsight we should have let him sit in a pen for a few days or weeks first. We do cut all of our boars but only because we do not want them being used a studs.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

I tested the "around heat" issue with many boars and found it didn't cause taint so I would mark that one down as a myth. 

Cutting to control breeding makes sense.


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## Jamie Sadler (Apr 19, 2017)

highlands said:


> I tested the "around heat" issue with many boars and found it didn't cause taint so I would mark that one down as a myth.
> 
> Cutting to control breeding makes sense.


Interesting. Im not sure why the meat would be so strong in that one then. Eitherway I've never had any other issues with Boar meat.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

Improper meat handling often leads to claims of 'taint' 'gamey', etc. In my observed experience that comes from lousy cooling technique. That isn't true taint. Lousy feed schedules can lead to bad taste but isn't always taint, just really bad stock management. I haven't seen hog taint in a while, long time, but I've run into it in black bears, a cousin. There isn't mistaking taint for anything else once you run into it. It is beyond foul, 10 yards up wind is about as sweet as gangrene.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Rely on what the neighbor told you or some internet stranger, up to you.
Some will have you believe boar taint is rare.

I think the market tells a different story. In a big slaughter facility, doing many hundreds of pigs each day, they don't want a boar. So, I looked at auction prices as a determining factor. If taint is somewhat uncommon, boars would sell at a bit less than old sows.

Most recent sales of boars, in the 500 pound range, sold for 8 or 9 cents a pound. Old sows sell above 30 cents a pound. From that, you can be sure that there is no market for boars, beyond pepperoni, otherwise, they'd bring more.

If you have a boar that you need to butcher, you have little to lose in trying to butcher him. But there is no way that I'd shy away of routine castration in the hope on top of hope that I'll end up with eatable pork. But that's just how I roll.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

haypoint said:


> Rely on what the neighbor told you or some internet stranger, up to you.
> Some will have you believe boar taint is rare.
> 
> I think the market tells a different story. In a big slaughter facility, doing many hundreds of pigs each day, they don't want a boar. So, I looked at auction prices as a determining factor. If taint is somewhat uncommon, boars would sell at a bit less than old sows.
> ...


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

Boar taint is real for sure in around 40 % boars. I found out the hard way. Lost a couple very good customers because of taint that i didn't catch. I have studied this for 5 years clear across the U.S. in large Pork farms and at many different auctions. I can get free boars for meat if i want to go to the expense of going a picking them up. They would have to be for my own use and not for butchering for the public. In KC you can pickup boars for 8cents a # or less.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

ET1 SS said:


> A few weeks ago we took 2 pigs to a meat processor. One old sow and a 2 year boar. We got back the ribs, lard slabs, 4 shoulder hams and all the rest is link sausage.
> 
> 400 pounds of link sausage.
> 
> ...


Been looking for a good recipe for Chorizo.  Could you share.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Ok Wild Boar, really stunk, cut him soon as I got to him. Took him Home skinned Him, washed him down, let him hang couple hours to dry. Meat was really good I was truly surprised.



big rockpile


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

The lesson is that the smell of the live animal is not the same as the smell in the fat - the taint chemicals are stored in the fat.


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## Lady89 (Feb 22, 2014)

not all boars get boar taint, it is a genetic thing, feed and management are part of it as well, and not all people can taste boar taint, that is also genetic.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I've heard that some folks can't smell or taste boar taint. I suspect some folks even acquire a taste for it. I suppose to get that flavor, if your boar turned up taint free, you'd have to make up some dipping sauce out of billy goat urine.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

Been 1000,s of test in Europe to try and breed out of boar taint. Very few have worked. Makes the boars so they can't produce very well test have shown over there .


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Incorrect.

Boar taints can and have been successfully bred, managed and fed out. Reducing and eliminating taint has not reduced boar performance. It does appear to reduce aggression which is a good thing. Breed for good temperament, that was how I originally started down the path of breeding out taint. It works.

The existence of N people saying it can't be done doesn't mean it can't be done. It is very hard to prove negatives.

The existence of 1 person having done it shows it can be done. There are many people, including myself, who have done it. 

Ergo it is possible and speaking from experience it is not all that hard. This starts with the simple fact that most boars don't have taint and the level of taint in boars varies with some lines/breeds having more than others.

There has been a _LOT_ of research done on this topic. There are drug companies who sell vaccines against taint who want you to believe that it is impossible to breed out or feed out or manage out taint. There is a lot of research and lay articles in the literature about keeping pens cleaner to reduce taint, feeding high fiber diets and chicory to reduce taint, etc. And breeding it out does work.

We have sold the meat from many thousands of boars to tens of thousands of consumers and they keep buying week after week. That's a very significant sample set and a conclusive proof. With so many customers that lays to rest the question that some people can't taste/smell the taint. My sons and I can and our meat doesn't have boar taint.

See this article for discussion and links to additional articles and scientific research on the topic of taint:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/taint

Boar taint is real.
Most boars don't have taint.
It can be managed or eliminated.

The extra interesting thing is that boars grow faster and are more efficient at turning feed into meat than barrows and gilts so there is an extra economic incentive for not castrating. This is part of why the industry is interested in eliminating castration. Other reasons include the wasted time, costs, piglet mortalities and humane handling issues.

-Walter


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I try to keep up to speed with the latest pork developments. Just read an article where a university is working on breeding for non-aggressiveness. Seems with a few hundred generations bred for feed efficiency, loin size, lean pork, no one got around to breed for neighborliness.

If, as some tend to argue, boars grow faster, how in the heck could anyone determine feed efficiency? Certainly not in the average farm setup. If, as some will have you believe, a boar out grows a barrow, will a boar produce as much meat, after you carve off the heavy shoulder pads that boars develop?

I've never heard of any commercial operations looking to eliminate castration.

Some say that you can't smell taint on a boar, because it is in the boars fat, which is true, but if you believe than then you'd know better than to believe that a clean pen reduces taint.

Believe what you want. A hillside farm in the remote northeast may have the data you want to believe. When the national market pays 55 cents a pound for butcher hogs, castrated, 32 cents for old worn out sows and 9 cents for boars, my money is on the folks that market millions of hogs and boars taint worth much.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

I'm bettin' on my local customer base that likes my end product a whole lot better than the national market that pays .55 and less for hogs. I can't say that I'm doing as well as they appear to be, yet, my regular customers pay nearly in full in advance, hard to tell exact costs. I don't ask, they insist. That doesn't seem to happen much down at retail level, huh?


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

haypoint said:


> I've never heard of any commercial operations looking to eliminate castration.


Actually, you have, Haypoint. My farm is a commercial operation. We even have our own on-farm inspected butcher shop. We sell primarily wholesale to stores and restaurants here in Vermont. We eliminated castration a long time ago. You have heard of my farm - Sugar Mountain Farm - thus you have also heard of a commercial operation that was looking to and has successfully eliminated castration.

-Walter


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

krackin said:


> I'm bettin' on my local customer base that likes my end product a whole lot better than the national market that pays .55 and less for hogs. I can't say that I'm doing as well as they appear to be, yet, my regular customers pay nearly in full in advance, hard to tell exact costs. I don't ask, they insist. That doesn't seem to happen much down at retail level, huh?


Interesting, perhaps. But not sure what you re saying. Is it that while you butcher boars without concern for taint while you build an eager customer pool?
When customers paid extra for brown eggs, the commercial market filled it. If there were a sizeable market for premium priced pork raised your way, the commercial market would copy it and capture that market. A majority of the locally raised products sold at a steep premium above the grocery store is salesmanship. Congratulations.
The top names in pork sausage are grinding up old sows and have millions of satisfied consumers. Part of their plan is to stay away from boars and the taint they bring with them.

I've had a couple boars and I wouldn't recommend anyone gamble on taint.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

Just reread it a couple of times, like a good book. It may dawn on you.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

The market doesn't have to be huge, just satisfied with the product. Small producers making enough often do far better than big producers. 

There is an old joke about how the big producers lose $5/pig but make it up in volume. There is a bit of truth to that. Quite a bit. The conventional commodity hog market has a large cycle to it where producers lose money for years and then make up for it by making money for a few years before the cycle dips again. This is a widely bemoaned reality and not really a joke.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, a lot of small commercial producers like Krackin, like myself, like Gerold and many others are making a profit on each pig, a profit that the big producers would give their eyeteeth to have. We know our niche and our customers. They know us.

Keep on keepin'

-Walter


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I wonder how this thread about boar taint devolved to the small farmer out smarting the big producer. Interesting, but not the topic of this thread.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

But hay, point. Threads drift some.


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## Antlerspringsfarm (Jun 22, 2017)

I had one processed last week. The inspector said he'd watch for me to ensure meat was ok! It passed and the meat was great! He was 300lb 7 months old


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

That is a pretty good sized hog for 7 months. Not unusual but a good one.


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## Ken Houser (Jul 1, 2017)

Here us our experience with taint:
Last year we bought some feeders uncut 5 boars 2 gilts. We had plans to cut 4 boars and keep 1 to breed. The guys we bought them from was going to come over and teach us how to do it.
Well as time went on, he never came. We are glad that he did not. We had the opportunity to moniter the little ones and choose based on several factors, mostly temperament. Well the pig that didn't have a chance came up from behind to win.
We had no issues with taint, all happy customers that were informed of the possibility. We raise on what will someday be wooded pasture. Right now it is semi-wooded mess and scrub.
Mr Pig is the kindest, most gentle fella you will meet. He is a goon, but very easy to deal with.
So our experience was great, and I don't think we will ever cut them. Not a problem this year, as our sow lost all the little boys. She only had 2 and lost both, the little girls are growing like bad weeds though!


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## rodneymurrell347 (8 mo ago)

Has anyone cut a 500 lb boar before and had success. And how many months did you wait to Bucher the boar


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

rodneymurrell347 said:


> Has anyone cut a 500 lb boar before and had success. And how many months did you wait to Bucher the boar


Boar taint comes from a bacteria. IMPROVAC is the _vaccine that prevents it. Cutting a boar has no effect on the presence of bacteria. There is a genetic factor which may make the bacteria more noticable. 

I have never butchered a tiny 500-pound boar, though I have butchered 800-pound boars. I have never seen taint in any of our boar meat.

If you had a 500-pound boar, why would you want to butcher him so young? Let him grow and reach his full weight._


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Livestock auctions can only attract 10 or 12 cents a pound for boars, due to taint. The only commercial market that I'm aware of is highly spiced, taint hiding pepperoni.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

ET1 SS said:


> Boar taint comes from a bacteria. IMPROVAC is the _vaccine that prevents it. Cutting a boar has no effect on the presence of bacteria. There is a genetic factor which may make the bacteria more noticable.
> 
> I have never butchered a tiny 500-pound boar, though I have butchered 800-pound boars. I have never seen taint in any of our boar meat.
> 
> If you had a 500-pound boar, why would you want to butcher him so young? Let him grow and reach his full weight._


Our hogs come nowhere close to those weights when mature. I currently have 7 boars penciled in for the freezer this fall. I rarely castrate and of the ones I have processed, I do not recall any taint in the meat.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

Some boars have it, some don't. The problem is when you butcher a 300 pound boar and get hundreds of pounds of inedible meat. Because it can be really nasty. It stinks up the house when you cook it and it tastes awful. For me, that's a bit too much of a gamble, so I castrate the males.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

oregon woodsmok said:


> Some boars have it, some don't. The problem is when you butcher a 300 pound boar and get hundreds of pounds of inedible meat. Because it can be really nasty. It stinks up the house when you cook it and it tastes awful. For me, that's a bit too much of a gamble, so I castrate the males.


If you have a small boar that has taint, clearly you need to avoid that blood line.


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