BOAR PRESENCE REDUCES FIGHTING IN MIXED SLAUGHTER-WEIGHT PIGS

Mixing pigs prior to slaughter results in skin blemishes and loss of meat quality. Two hundred pigs each weighing 104 kg were used in two trials. They were crosses of Hampshire, Duroc and Yorkshire which had been fed to slaughter weight on ad libitum concentrate rations. Groups of 50 head of barrows and gilts from five different feeding pens were mixed in a shipping pen prior to transport. Half the animals were mixed with sexually mature boars, and the other half were controls. Boar presence greatly reduced both the incidence and the intensity of fighting. Pigs from the boar groups had reduced skin blemishes. These results indicate that boars may be used as a simple method to reduce fighting.