Examining the alternatives to piglet castration There is a growing consensus that this process should be discontinued.
France: Many pig producers consider to stop castrating 10 pig producers’ organisations in Western France are considering to stop castrating piglets.
Which anaesthesia is best during piglet castration? Danish researchers will be studying different local anaesthesia methods in order to figure out what is the best...
Denmark: Anaesthetics prior to piglet castration The Danish pig industry will start castrating its piglets with the usage of anaesthetics as from 1 January 2019....
Germany: Anaesthetics mandatory at pig castration As from the beginning of 2019, German pig farmers are no longer allowed to castrate without anaesthetics. That...
Brazil about to move forward with pig welfare law The Brazilian government has launched an initiative that should lead to the obligation of group housing for...
Belgian retailer launches castration-free pork label The Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize has recently launched a new castration-free pork label.
Piglet castration may be avoided by gene editing The long road to avoid castration appears to have got another turn. 2 US companies have teamed up to jointly...
EU: Castration without anaesthesia still common Less than a year before its own deadline, the pig industry in the European Union is still widely castrating...
New boar feed could be the answer to castration A diet to prevent boar meat from smelling badly after heating – doesn’t that sound too good to be true?...
Retailer: no castration without anaesthetics German retailer Rewe Group has decided to stop selling pork from pigs castrated without anaesthetics as from the...
'Not castrating organic pigs not economically viable' No matter which scenario you follow, the production of organic non-castrated male pigs is less economically...
Easing piglet pain through its mother’s milk Veterinary researchers at Iowa State University have developed a novel means of delivering pain medication to...
Better welfare for Danish pigs – naturally The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries has in March 2014 entered into an agreement with the...
No easy alternatives to surgical castration of piglets Four alternatives to surgical castration of piglets were outlined by scientists from Aarhus University in a...
Pork Value Chain Symposium – castration, trade and more Leading swine producers, meat processors and veterinarians from Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America...
Pain management for piglet castration – what’s the problem? In the USA, the use of pain management protocols around castration is minimal. Why is that?
Wanted: Your experience with pig castration Health and welfare expert Dr Monique Pairis-Garcia is looking for your experiences with piglet castration.
Pig bubbles in Denmark – and how to burst them A few weeks ago we introduced the ‘bubbles’ in an attempt to analyse the huge perception difference of livestock...
Piglet castration with anaesthesia - what are the Dutch... It was announced earlier in the year that Dutch supermarkets said they would only sell meat from farms where...
Should we ban piglet castration in the EU? There are an increasing number of lobby groups in various EU countries advocating the banning of castration of...
Some comments on immunocastration Immunocastration is occasionally wheeled out as an acceptable alternative to physical or proper castration....
Boar taint is a risk too high If you don't castrate you run the risk of boar taint - 50% of uncastrated boars in Australasia exceeded the...
Gene editing offers avenues to end castration This leads to an interesting discussion in the European Union, as gene editing is not permitted.
Can gene editing solve the castration issue? Gene editing, a relatively new technology, is being introduced commercially. Recently, a the company...
Producing sex-sorted sperm with 99% accuracy Ask a pig producer about what he or she doesn’t like and often ‘castration’ is mentioned. A novel concept from...
Promising ideas, but where are the swine producers? During the recent International Conference on Pig Welfare in Denmark, a position paper addressing the ways...
Sugar: Solution for pain control in piglets? A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but can it also help to treat pain during, say, castration or...
Interview: "It all comes down to motivation" Being involved with roughly 70,000 sows, veterinarians Agustí Camprodon Ylla and Lali Coma Feliu have a message...
‘The Fourth P’ of pig production When producing pigs sustainably, many point to the interests of consumers, those of the industry and the effect...
Breeding against Oedema disease in Switzerland It’s a matter of genetics: Not all pigs are susceptible to oedema disease. What happens if a breeding programme...
First tangible steps to 'breed out' boar taint Could breeding provide solutions to the question -how to get rid of boar taint? Several breeders say 'yes', and...
Boars heading for 2018 – but the road is still long If one thing became clear at the conference 'Boars Heading For 2018' – it has to be that they are not 'heading'...
Focus on boar taint, part 2: Questions and answers Any novel method, like vaccination against boar taint, is bound to generate lots of questions among those who...
Focus on boar taint The way is open for EU swine producers to raise male pigs intact, with improved feed conversion and carcass...
Europe moves away from conventional castration The year 2009 might provide a lot of answers for those eager to find out what pig production will be like...
Europe moves away from conventional castration The year 2009 might provide a lot of answers for those eager to find out what pig production will be like...
Sex sorting technology could save time and money In an ongoing attempt to find alternatives for male piglet castration, several new initiatives have been...
Towards a more 'humane' castration for piglets Affluent consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about how pigs are reared; this means the practice of...
Swiss castration method Switzerland is one of Europe's leading countries with regard to the piglet castration discussion.