Generally, carcass-quality parameters did not differ between entire, surgically castrated and immunocastrated
male pigs3,4. Minor differences were found for dressing percentage (lower for immunocastrates) and lean meat
content (highest in entire male pigs and lowest in surgically castrated pigs). Fuchs et al.5 observed leaner bellies
from immunocastrated than surgically castrated pigs, although in another study no differences between
immunocastrated and surgically castrated pigs were found6
.
Studies investigating meat quality parameters in immunocastrated pigs also showed conflicting results. Aluwé et
al.
7 observed lower ultimate pH and higher cooking loss in meat from entire male pigs compared to
immunocastrated. However, for the majority of meat quality parameters, there were no significant differences
between immunocastrated and surgically castrated pigs7
.
Generally, it can be concluded that carcass and meat characteristics are comparable between immunocastrated