[cowpat]

hello all.
I have seven osb weaners. 4 gilts and 3 boars.at what age should I look at finishing the boars so as not to get boar taint?.any advice gratefully received.
cheers.

[Greenerlife]

I have kept boys until 28 weeks with no taint.  I understand that a lot of people keep them longer and still don't get any. 

[Tudful Tamworths]

I've kept them to the same age without any problems. However, you might want to separate the sexes if keeping beyond five/six months.

[hughesy]

We've kept boars until 8 months or so and never had a problem.

[MAK]

I know this has been covered before with good advice and some even saying that "taint" can not be tasted by all.
When we home killed a boar (plus 28 weeks) the chap who does all the home kills in our area first stunned the animal then quickly castrated the boar before it was bled out. The theory being that it is the testicles and sudden release of hormones released at death that produce the taint. The meat from that culn noir boar did not taste of taint to us.
However I am unsure if your abbatoir will stun then castrate the animal before it dies.

[devonlad]

we usually kill at 6 months and never had an issue. I've heard its more likely if you have mixed sexes- I guess the juices get flowing a bit more !?

[ScotsGirl]

I agree separation is necessary but we keep OSB and have kept to 8 months and they tasted fantastic!

[Sudanpan]

There are LOADS of previous posts/threads about boar taint on here.
We've had boars until 7 months old and no issue with taint. However we have never had both sexes on our land at the same time so can't comment on that scenario.

[Tudful Tamworths]

My comment about separating the sexes was to avoid an unplanned pregnancy. I wasn't suggesting that there was more risk of boar taint with a mixed group.


Mine are nearly always in mixed groups, but I do tend to separate at five months.


As I said, I've not had a problem with traditional breeds. The only time I experienced it was with a group of Pietrain x Landrace pigs which I kept to about six or seven months.

[cowpat]

Thanks for all the replys .while on the subject at what age would the pigs reach sexual maturity?.

[hughesy]

Pigs are capable of reproducing at 6 months. If you're concerned about unwanted matings separate them at 5 months.

[Greenerlife]

My last lot of boys were trying it out on each other at 6 months.  It's then that you know that it's time for them to go! 

[Foobar]

I just dropped off my two 27 week old Berkshire boars at the abattoir this morning ... and the guy said "oh no, are they boars?" ... to which I replied "yeah, it won't make any difference" ... "oh yes it will" he said.
 
We shall see ... 

[devonlad]

Following an earlier comment I made about increased risk of boar taint with mixed sex rearing have found the article Raising intact male pigs for meat: Detecting and preventing
boar taint, ( it is Anerican so maybe their boars are different    )
struggled to copy the link but the paragraph in question (from a very technical article is below

Management
The presence of sexually receptive females stimulates a rapid rise in
plasma androstenone and testosterone concentrations in boars.
Boars mixed with gilts during rearing may have elevated concentrations
of fat androstenone. At 80 kg (176 lb) of live weight, androstenone
content in backfat is not affected by the social conditions during
rearing. Between 80 and 95 kg (176 and 209 lb), the proportion of
boars with an increase in androstenone content is greater in boars
reared with females. Mixed-sex rearing in some instances also increases
the intensity of odor in boar fat. Therefore, split-sex rearing
should be practiced if pigs are intended for slaughter at heavier market
weight.

[Berkshire Boy]

Foobar your abattoir guy is talking rubbish. I've killed non working boars at 10 months plus and no problems.