MANAGEMENT ▶▶▶
Pork from entires, without the taint, please
When raising entire pigs, it is critical to avoid the occurrence of pork that carries boar taint. There are various ways this can be controlled, for example by taking the genetics route, by concentrating on the right nutrition and also by creating systems that pick out tainted carcasses at the slaughterline.
BY PHILIPPE CALDIER, CORRESPONDENT T
Country Spain UK
Netherlands Germany Portugal France Ireland
Belgium Denmark
14
he production and valorisation of meat from entire male pigs was the topic of a presentation by Patrick Chevillon on 5 October at the most recent edition of the Sommet de l’Elevage, in Clermont-Ferrand,
France. Chevillon is head of meat quality and slaughterhous- es at the French Pork and Pig Institute (IFIP). This article is a summary of his presentation. According to IFIP, of a total of 255 million pigs slaughtered in Europe per year, 45 million are entire males. Of the slaugh- tered pigs, 50% are females, 30% castrated pigs, 18% entire males and 2% Improvac vaccinated. Table 1 further details the distribution of the entire males’ share by country. Spain leads with 22 million entire males slaughtered per year, followed by smaller figures for other EU countries. In France, the overall trend for entire males has been showing a slight yet constant increase since 2017. This applies to 14% of slaughtered carcasses, that is, 28% of males produced in France.
Table 1 – Distribution of the entire male finisher pigs by countries and farms (2020).
x Million entire males 22
5.4 4.9 4
2.9 2.8 1.6 1
0.6
Farms with entire males (%) 86
100 60 15
100 28
100 20 7
▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 10, 2021
Minimising boar taint through management When the pigs are still on the farms, various strategies can help minimise the risk of occurrence of boar taint: • The use of lean genetics, which are not very sexually mature; • An adapted ad libitum diet in energy; • Protein; • Feed enriched in fibre, with possibly some suitable raw materials in feed at the end of finishing; • Clean pigs; and • Precautions during transport and slaughter, for instance by limiting stress, fights, unhygienic conditions or endless waiting. Androstenone and skatole are key markers of boar taint. An- drostenone is produced by the testicles and is stored in the salivary glands and fat. It increases at puberty and its pres- ence is a few days in living animals. Skatole, on the other hand, is produced by the intestinal bacterial flora from tryp- tophan. Deposited in fatty tissue, it is degraded in the liver and is present for a relatively short time in a boar’s body (ten to 12 hours). The odour of skatole is more marked in summer in dirty animals, and it may also be present in females.
Minimising boar taint through genetics Genetics is the key factor to reducing boar taint. On average, skatole is three times more likely to be found in Hampshire than in the Yorkshire breed; similarly, it is three times more likely that androstenone will be found in Duroc than in the Piétrain breed. There are a lot of genetics initiatives being used, not only in Europe, to reduce odour risks (see Box). Many questions, however, persist in genetics and boar taint risk in entire males: What impact does the choice of sow have? What is the impact of lines currently used in Duroc (9% of doses sold in artificial insemination centres in 2020)? How can fatter pigs be selected without boar taint risk?
Minimising boar taint through nutrition The increase in ileal digestibility of the feed has no influence on the content of androstenone from fat. On the other hand, there is undoubtedly an unfavourable effect on skatole with a lack of fibre. Trials by the Danish Pig Research Centre SEGES have shown a reduction of boar taint with some fibres: • A reduction of 60% with 15% chicory across four days; • A reduction of 56% with 10% beet pulp across 14 days;
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