[Button End Beasts]

Hi everyone,


Haven't been on here for ages. Hope everyone's doing well.


Forward thinking here but we may be forced to get off the land we are on so trying to figure out what to do with our pigs. We have a 3.5 year old boar. He's a pretty big boy and is sporting a splendid pairs of tusks. I guess he is getting near the end of his working life but was wondering at what age do people "retire" their boars? Also what the heck do I do with him? The meat won't be edible (I presume) but seems an awful waste to chuck it. I heard a rumour that they can be sold for salami. Is that true? Anyone know who or where?


It will be a shame to get rid of the boy and he has been very popular with the ladies, mostly out on tour. Never had a boar before so not really sure what to do with this one. Thanks for any help!


Beki

[shygirl]

cheales meat would take him.

[Berkshire Boy]

I've got a working boar that is 9 this year. I also had one this year that was 6 but started firing blanks so he went to the abattoir, he wasn't suitable to eat but I preferred that end for him rather than going off to somewhere like cheales.

[Porterlauren]

No chance i'd send any pig of mine to cheale meats.

[john and helen]

i won't put up a link to cheales..just google it…..

[Button End Beasts]

Oh dear, I see what you mean about Cheales. 


Berkshire boy, you think Rocky has a few more years in him then? Would you worry about his tusks and size? He's a gentle giant but I have heard quite a few horror stories of bad gauges or slashes from tusks.

[Berkshire Boy]

I would definitely say he has a few more years in him. It would be a good idea to get his tusks cut though, they can cause a lot of damage. There is a video on Youtube on trimming tusks, looks fairly simple but haven't tried myself yet but plan to soon.

[Button End Beasts]

Yessssss, I have seen a YouTube vid of a Kune boars tusks getting trimmed. I don't much fancy it to be honest, trying to restrain a 500lb pig. Do vets do this?


Stupid question here but saying goodbye to rocky is something I will inevitably have to do at some point in my life......so if I take him to an abattoir, then what? Would they dispose of his carcass for me?

[Marches Farmer]

Our senior boar had to have his tusks trimmed before showing at the Royal Three Counties last year.  Two vets and a sedative which knocked him out for two hours!  Mind you, it permitted us to do a grand job on washing his face, feet and ears while he was out.

[Berkshire Boy]

It all depends on your relationship with the boar, some people just get them to lay down and rub their belly while the tusks are cut. Mine are fairly laid back so hoping it won't be too stressful.
Yes the abattoir will dispose of the body,  they charge but its not much. I just felt it was a better end for him as it's a good abattoir that treats them well.

[Button End Beasts]

To be honest, rocky has been out as a stud more than he has been here with us. So I think if we keep him for a while more I would see if the vet could de-tusk him. But I look forward to hearing all about how you get on Berkshire Boy!

[HappyHippy]

To be honest, rocky has been out as a stud more than he has been here with us. So I think if we keep him for a while more I would see if the vet could de-tusk him. But I look forward to hearing all about how you get on Berkshire Boy!

Detusking isn't difficult - it's the restraining that's the hard part 

We have a very placid kunekune boar, however he might not be as placid getting a snitch round his nose and herded into a crush or small space. I decided that the easiest way for us (and least stressful for him) was to sedate him with stresnil and go in when he was asleep.

*** A WARNING*** Re: stresnil & boars - it can be the case that once sedated their penis protrudes from the sheath, they should be isolated and on a good straw bed to prevent any damage.

Once asleep we put a rope snare around his top jaw and lifted it up out of the way, wrap some de-horning wire round something to help you hold it and 'saw' the tusk off - keep the wire close to the bottom jaw and be careful that you avoid cutting into the lip area. It gets hot and it smells a bit, but it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to do both 

I've seen some interesting things done with sawn off tusks  I plan on making some silver mounts for mine (Big Red's) and hanging them on a chain round my neck (they're only little ones !)

i won't put up a link to cheales..just google it…..

True, there were some really bad welfare issues. BUT the owner helped to get the staff in question prosecuted and has really upped his game in recent times. They're keen to be seen as reputable operators.
However, having said all that, I couldn't load my pigs onto a waggon and send them all the way down south with a clear conscious, I have to know than my animals have a good death without suffering or stress. The journey would be too stressful, but if you're close enough, you can drop the animals off yourself I believe.

HTH
Karen

[MKay]

If you load them in a trailer and ask a man with a gun to despatch whilst they are having a feed- you get the kindest end possible. Call your local farm vet or the police or rspca, they will all have a number to call in case of RTA involving boar or deer. Then take them down to your local incineration unit, again ask your vet, its where all the clinical waste goes after post mortem.

[john and helen]

thats good to hear karen 
its a shame the owner wasn't on top of his game in the 1st place, especially when animal slaughter is always under the odd chance of some kind of inspection , whether official or by an animals support group

i would hate to think i put so much quality time in rearing an animal to be abused by some weakling who can only pick on something that won't fight back

[HappyHippy]

i put so much quality time in rearing an animal to be abused by some weakling who can only pick on something that won't fight back

Me too. We're really happy with our abattoir, OH has stayed with our pigs throughout the whole slaughter process (on more than one occasion) and knows all the staff now. We know they look after the animals.

I think abattoirs that deal with a lot of commercial livestock don't really understand how 'petted' our smallholder animals are and how a different approach is needed. In the beginning our abattoir were ready with boards and sticks because commercial pigs tend to freak and scatter when they come off the lorry, the staff hadn't seen many pigs that were as well socialised (spoilt  ) as ours and happily followed the bucket of rattling pig nuts. So sometimes you need to explain it to them.
But I'm not excusing or condoning ANY kind of abuse, that kind of person shouldn't be around animals, full stop.