Comparison of boars and castrates for bacon production. 1. Growth data, and carcass and joint composition

Abstract

ABSTRACTAn experiment was performed to determine whether quality differences between boars and castrates when used for bacon production are true castration effects or due to the greater leanness of boars. Sixty-four commercial hybrid male pigs, half of which were castrated at 10 days of age, were given different levels of feeding so that at 87 kg live weight there was a 2-mm difference in P2 fat thickness between two groups of 16 boars and two groups of 16 castrates. The leanest group of castrates and the fattest group of boars had similar fat thickness and carcass composition. This design allowed the separation of castration and feeding treatment (carcass composition) effects. Skin thickness and weight (boars greater) and kidney weight (boars heavier) were much more influenced by castration than feeding treatment. Other effects that were more influenced by castration, although less strongly, were killing-out proportion (boars lower because of testes), leg and loin length (boars shorter), joint weight distribution (boars lighter in flank) and lean weight distribution (boars slightly less lean in leg, and more in foreloin and belly). Lean to bone ratio in the side was influenced less by castration than by feeding treatment but boars had more intermuscular fat in relation to subcutaneous fat than castrates. The lean content of the leg was closely related to that of the side, and there were different relationships in boars and castrates.