[Cobra]

Hi all,

I am aware of the normal finishing times to get pigs to slaughter. however i have a poor situation and have a question, a few of the weaner's i bought were such poor pigs, I knew they would need extra time and feed so i bit the bullet and cared for them and fed them. They have been difficult to Finnish in the extream, they just would not Finnish. At long last they are looking more like porkers but they are way past their normal finishing date.

Their boars so the question is how old is to old for the purpose of meat, I'm concerned about tainting in the meat etc; Ill be honest I'm even considering just running them into market and taking a loss rather than pay for slaughter and butcher only to find the meat isn't good enough. Any ideas?

Bought in Oct 23rd 2010 guess age at around 12 weeks at that time, I would have looked at slaughter for February but that just wasn't worth doing.

[Sylvia]

If they are entire boars I would get them away NOW!!! Book them in today and get them gone. I feel sure others will agree.

[gavo]

Question is:  What breed are they? Tams and OSB can go as late as 11 months other breeds would need to go now as they are around 9 months old. As they have only had other males as companions you may just get away with it.

[robert waddell]

have you weighed them?
they could be older than you think  if they were in poor condition when you bought them
we know somebody that bought similar pigs and they turned out alright (he has years of experiance)
cheal meats take cast boars (and they must be stinken) and sell the meat on
it is your decision in the end (even with all the hoo haa about castration you just dont get this boar taint with castrates)
as a point of interest will you go down the same road again ie buy not so good pigs, uncastrated males pure breeds/dolly mixtures or just give up    as a breeder it is usefull to know your opinion as without buyers we are screwed

[Daisys Mum]

I have sent off Saddlback boars at 9 months and Osb's at 6 months and there was no hint of boar taint in either of them, personally I like the boars as they seemed not to put on as much fat as the gilts but this could be better feeding on my part. all feed was weighed out and only fruit and veg was given as extras.

[Cobra]

Thanks for your replies and heres some answers.

They are not any particular breed, meats for me not selling.

We live and learn as they say. I have had poor pigs before but I have never witnessed pigs so hard to finish.

Will I give up? No Ill do it again and of course be more choosy on what I buy; i could understand if someone else said bugger that however. Its not the pigs fault is it ;-)

Thanks again peeps 

[HappyHippy]

I'm one of these super sensitive noses that detects boar taint   (hey, I can even tell if the kids have helped themselves to treats from the kitchen by smelling their breath  ) so for me boar taint is a problem. It doesn't seem to really affect the taste and hubby can't smell it at all, but for me it's just so off putting that I can't eat it.
I've tended to raise gilts for ourselves, but they are so much more of a pain than the boys. Who are so easy and chilled out  
If they're around the 85Kg I'd get them away now, either through the market as live animals (bearing in mind you might only get around £60 each for them) or take the chance and slaughter, cut and see how the meat is. The slaughter option would be my preferred one - the meat might be fine and you'll be able to cover some of the costs by selling it on.
At least you've learned from this Cobra - and that's the main thing 
HTH
Karen x

[Hilarysmum]

I have only ever known one case of boar taint (it wasnt mine) and freezing the meat definitely helped reduce the smell.  Meat tasted fine.  I have had worse tasting meat from a pig fed on fish meal.

A few years ago now a friend sent her 18 month old tamworth boar on.  He had been covering sows up until about 3/4 weeks before he went.  He was absolutely huge.  It took 2 men to carry the 1/4s out (they couldnt carry halves).  Cant remember the exact weight, but I can still remember the taste - gorgeous.  No sign of taint.  This is just my opinion, but after all the expense and work it may well be worth the slight risk. 

[Cobra]

They always make hoo har about traceability etc due to tags. The paperwork didn't indicate their age at market neither was it mentioned, so you guesstimate etc.

Is there a way you can find out when a pig was born from a tag? Just curiouse.

I'm still on the fence on this one but tempted to sort the slaughter out ASAP. As well as these taking their time to grow we've had one problem after another i spent the last two Weeks going out to feed them on my motorbike.

Then Ive had someone lurking about doing daft stuff including glass in the track, cut fences etc Two weeks ago they decided to keep opening the gate and letting said boars in with my two young sows that are just nearing finishing *(**^%^ ! So they are almost certainly now in pig. BUGGER ELL ! when it rains it pours.

Don't get me wrong, farrowing etc is a way forward, but poor pigs are almost certainly going to make poor pigs, even tough the boys look quite good now: so I'm thinking May be they need to goto market as well and if I made £50 I think Ill be lucky with prices at the moment:

So Im going to take an enormouse breath, be glad i turned these round, kept them well, healthy and looked after properly and start over with some privately bought and well chosen stock.

Ah rant over   now its out me system.. Anyone fancy a BBQ  

[TESS1963]

I have just sent three boars off and they came back lovely and lean and no trace of boar taint. The two that are ready to go in two weeks time at 24 weeks, I am beginning to have worries about, because they are riding each other and even ejaculating - sorry for too much detail. They have been kept on their own, but are in adjoing paddocks with a couple of my sows. Has anyone else noticed their boars working and if so have the meat come back with boar taint. I have these two booked for pork customers and am going to ask the butcher to clearly separate them into separate boxes and will cook a small piece from each, just in case. Really don't know what I am going to do if there is boar taint!!

Teresa

[robert waddell]

what age were the ones you sent away before and what weight were the carcasses

[Cobra]

UPDATE.

Well this has been a roller coaster ride to say the least, but the results may help people who are concerned about taint etc. Trials, tribulations, breakdowns and illness left us with little but to cancel three abattoir appointments in as many month's. Even on the day they went, I ended up loading on my own 4 boars over 100k a peace, and as soon as I got 20 yards I had a puncture on the trailer, I could of cried after all the grief and hassle of past attempts, I really never thought I would ever get rid of them I got the wheel off, with pigs on board, A friend took the wheel off to a garage, no mean feet at 7:30am  I managed to get to the slaughter house just half an hour late, which wasn't bad all considered

We have just got the meat back from 4 boars, if I had to guess, they would have been 9 months old at slaughter; they butchered out at 90 to 100Kg a piece  and Ive spent 4 hours packing and putting away.

No a hint of boar taint  and the meat is full of flavour  I'm glad to get this sorted and delighted with the result, I truly thought this meat was going to be awful, I'm so pleased, be a while till I need anymore  But Ill do it again. I have a couple of girls now, one of which is expecting, Ill farrow her down and sell on at market as weaner's: GOS for our next meat along with some lamb.

[little blue]

bless you Cobra, thats a load to deal with ..... got there in the end though!
Enjoy your meat, I hope its all as good.
 

[Hilarysmum]

I have to ask, have you any hair left after this ...? 

[Barrett]

Hi Cobra,  I have six of mine going off tomorrow and they were of poor stock also they are 9months now, some boar some gilts GOS they are not massive though I always slaughter at 9months as there is no fat or taint and it keeps the killing costs down and the butchering, I put one of my SB gilts in once and the killing costs was a lot because she was so big, I also give them cows milk 3 times a week or more if you can, also Cider vinegar makes the meat takes superb.