Re: OT how to castrate a hog

Posted by Hal/WA on October 06, 2005 at 21:14:27 from (148.65.0.200):

In Reply to: OT how to castrate a hog posted by jwbud 8 on October 06, 2005 at 19:08:15:

Just do it--make the incisions on the scrotum up and down, remove the testicles and carefully cut the cords by scraping them back and forth. The sharper your cutting tool, the easier it is. Good quality single edge razor blades work OK, but a scalpel is easier to handle. Some guys put on a disinfectant after the surgery. Oh, and make sure mama sow can't get to you. The little boar will squeal and mama will react, possibly very dangerously if she is nearby. I think I would have 2 fair sized guys to hold the patient down--it is easier if the boar pigs are a bit younger and smaller.

Years ago, a friend and I were given 4 half grown boars from a guy that just couldn't afford to feed them anymore. Foolishly, we didn't castrate them right away, but kept them until Fall. Then everyone we talked to said the meat would not be good unless we castrated the boars and waited for a couple of months to butcher them.

Now these hogs were BIG! The largest probably weighed about 450 and the smallest over 300lbs. By this time the boars were very tame, but obviously very strong. It was not going to be an easy job, any way we did it. We decided to get the boars drunk on cheap vodka to anesthesize them, then tie them up and do the cutting. The first 2 weren't too bad, more or less passed out, but that 450lb fellow was a real struggle. It took us all day to cut the 4 boars, and I said I would never do things that way again. Anyway, the meat was just fine after a couple more months. The pork chops were about 3 times as big as they should have been. We didn't come out very well cost-wise because we kept them so long, even if we got the hogs free.

So don't make the mistake my friend and I did....it is a job that needs to be done and sure won't get any easier as time passes. Good luck!

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