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Conference paper - Peer-reviewed, 2021

Raising male pigs as an alternative to surgical castration.

Zamaratskaia, Galia; Getya, Andriy

Abstract

Castration of male piglets is performed in many European countries to reduce boar taint. However, a more animal friendly alternatives are available. The present work aims to characterize current alternatives to reduce boar taint with special emphasis on nutrition factors. There have been numerous attempts to find an alternative diets for entire male pigs, which would fulfil nutritional requirements and reduce skatole and eventually androstenone levels without compromising animal welfare. The level of boar taint can be reduced by including non-digestible carbohydrates (to reduce skatole) and by including adsorbent materials (to reduce androstenone) into the pig’s diet. Further research to optimize diet and evaluate the effect of dietary supplements on pig’s health and welfare are required.

Keywords

swine; castration; nutrition; animal welfare; consumers

Published in

Book title: Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium Modern Trends in Livestock Production
ISBN: 978-86-82431-77-0
Publisher: Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade-Zemun, Serbia

Conference


The 13th International Symposium Modern Trends in Livestock Production, October 6 – 8, 2021, Belgrade, Serbia