Castration and alternatives in pig: advantages and disadvantages

Terézia Hegerová

doi:10.15414/afz.2021.24.01.60-63

Abstract

Castration and alternatives in pig: advantages and disadvantages

Highlights

The pork producers castrate male piglets to reduce boar taint – formed by the compounds androstenone and skatole, which cause an undesirable odor in the meat and for controlling sexual and aggressive behavior
Surgical castration is usually performed without anesthesia or analgesia
Male piglets castrations can be performed by: ––In the case of piglets less than seven days old, castration shall only be carried out by a veterinarian doctor or a person who has required knowledge in animal welfare and who has skills in the implementation of these techniques with adequate facilities and hygiene conditions (Bee et al, 2015). ––For piglets over 7 days of age, castration may only be performed under anesthesia and long-term analgesia under the supervision of a veterinarian (Bee et al, 2015)

Summary

Introduction

The pork producers castrate male piglets to reduce boar taint – formed by the compounds androstenone and skatole, which cause an undesirable odor in the meat and for controlling sexual and aggressive behavior. Surgical castration is usually performed without anesthesia or analgesia. Newborn piglets begin to perceive within minutes to hours after birth (Mellor et al, 2004; Mellor et al, 2003). For these reasons many European countries committed to stop surgical castration by 2018, provided that suitable alternative solutions would be found. There are still many surgically castrated piglets in EU (75% from all piglets) At this time none of the available alternatives are fully satisfying. ––For piglets over 7 days of age, castration may only be performed under anesthesia and long-term analgesia under the supervision of a veterinarian (Bee et al, 2015) Male piglets castrations can be performed by: ––In the case of piglets less than seven days old, castration shall only be carried out by a veterinarian doctor or a person who has required knowledge in animal welfare and who has skills in the implementation of these techniques with adequate facilities and hygiene conditions (Bee et al, 2015). ––For piglets over 7 days of age, castration may only be performed under anesthesia and long-term analgesia under the supervision of a veterinarian (Bee et al, 2015)

Immunocastration

Entire male pigs

Castration with anesthesia and/or analgesia

Conclusions