The welfare regulations
...if you can call it welfare, insists that castration is done at 2 to 10 days of age now here in Canada. Castration is widely practiced across the world but not in the UK.

There has been no pig castration practiced in the UK for about 20 years now, this story is old bollocks, so to speak.
So all males are "entire" when slaughtered and boar taint is a minimal issue. Boars are usually kept together so all they do is shag each other for amusement.

If anyone's interested the 3 largest processors in Germany have recently announced that they will accept boars with nuts on too, this is a good thing for the welfare lobbyists and male pigs too. They will rely on human sniffers to detect the taint until a machine can reliably detect the compounds that cause the smell.
"Tainted meat" (I've got to,run away... from the pain you drive into the heart of me) is perfectly edible, just not preferable.

Also my local hunt never wanted pig carcasses because too much pork gave the hounds the shits and someone had to clean up the kennels after a tidal wave of runny houndshit.

I've never eaten a bore, I imagine the taste would be...dull.
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Wed 30 May 2012, 16:03, 2 replies)

Boar is OK
I've had it in Brazil, oddly enough. Along with capibara, which is that giant dopey looking guinea pig thing. Tastes a bit like, er, boar.

There's a Belgian restaurant in London that does really good wild boar sausgaes and mash, (called Belgo). Hightly recommended if you want to go somewhere slightly different, with a lot of dodgy tasting but very strong beers on sale.
(username failed moderation, Wed 30 May 2012, 17:26, closed)

Oh I love wild boar meat
gamey but very good.
I almost set up a boar farm years back, there are some issues with boar being classified as dangerous wild animals so you have to create a sort of zoo like fence to contain them. Very expensive.
The investor pulled out when the fencing was priced up.
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Thu 31 May 2012, 3:20, closed)

I'm glad to hear that, Infidel,
This was late 1990 during a stint of working in the UK on a couple of farms (lots of very fond memories – seems appropriate to post UK stories and memories). The procedure was performed by a Vet (ironic), but I had to hold the piglets while it was being done. The memory of the event is obviously very vivid. Albeit dated, and slightly dramatically re-told for (hopefully) comic effect. It was a very barbaric, cruel process.

The farm (Park Farm) raised organic ducks, pigs, geese and beef and had a small butcher's shop. I had to take the pigs to the abattoir when they were about 16 - 20 weeks depending on the farmer's estimate of back fat. I collected them a few days later to take to the butcher shop. They used to leave the lungs hanging out of the carcass. The butcher called them "lights" and said they would sell well. Yuck!

At one point they wanted to change the boar, a lovely Gloucester Old Spot pig called Boris as he was starting to mount his own piglets. They couldn't find a buyer, couldn't give him away, and didn’t want to keep him in his own paddock, so they opted to put him down. Poor bastard. I thought they would have butchered him, at least for sausages, but the farmer reckoned the meat of an old boar was too strong. By his reckoning, even a 5% mix of his meat in the sausages was too strong, and the general public wouldn't like it.

We were going to dig a hole with a machine and bury him deep, but the farmer’s friends in the local hunt wanted his carcass to feed the hounds. I guess they would have discovered the doggy shits you speak of. Some time later they also took away an old horse that had died. God knows how they cut them up to feed the dogs. Chainsaw I suppose.

I have seen lots of boar sold in Italy, mainly smoked and served as salami. I remember in one shop they had haunches of boar hanging from the ceiling, still with the dark hairs on. It looked like something from an Asterix comic. At the time, Australia was exporting boars to Europe because of a shortage of wild habitat. Australia is rife with wild pigs; I've seen 3 carcasses on the side of the road in the last month alone, while working in Western Qld. Little black spotted buggers. "pigging" is a favoured pastime of some country folk - take one 4WD, a violent dog and a bloke with a gun, add wild pigs and there is a day's entertainment.

I enjoyed working over there – first time I’ve seen barned cattle in winter, and the intensive small farm methods. Similar ethos to here, just in a smaller area.

But, I'll never forget the piglet that ate it's own nuts.

Oh, and thanks for the spelling tip. Was written late at night on a smartphone.
( Ken Oath, Wed 30 May 2012, 22:40, closed)

Razorback
www.imdb.com/title/tt0087981/ - came out about 2 years after we'd moved to Mt Isa.
Scared the bejuggery out of me. Fucking Jaws-Pig killing folks & destroying remote houses in the middle of fuck-knows-where!
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Wed 30 May 2012, 23:19, closed)

Awesomely bad movie
I loved it.

I liked the scene where they put the animatronic head and arse behind opposite ends of a truck to make it look even bigger.
And the freaky Aussie redneck 'roo hunters. Really?
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Thu 31 May 2012, 2:40, closed)

An old boar would still stink that's very much true.
And as for spelling mishtooks, well it wouldn't be QOTW without picking up on them now would it :D

Glad you enjoyed your time in the UK though. I often wish I hadn't waited until I was in my 40s to try farming in another country.
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Thu 31 May 2012, 3:25, closed)