Question for A.I. ing a hog

OK you hog farmers, how many days after a first time gilt starts to show being in heat does she stand? Ours has been in about 3 days but won't stand with pressure applied to her back. She still wants to move around so I know she isn't ready yet. Am I trying too soon or what. Keith

(quoted from post at 22:49:41 02/06/15) OK you hog farmers, how many days after a first time gilt starts to show being in heat does she stand? Ours has been in about 3 days but won't stand with pressure applied to her back. She still wants to move around so I know she isn't ready yet. Am I trying too soon or what. Keith

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Gilts are hard to get to stand without a boar being present. Do you have any boar scent spray? Sometimes that will help. Spray some of that at their snouts, then make like a boar. Start out by rubbing your knee into their shoulder. When the gilt starts to lean into you try a little weight on there backs to see if they will stand. BTW, how do you know they are in heat?

By the swelling and redness. We always had a boar when I was young and at home, but this AI stuff is new to me.

Gilts are hard to get to stand for an experienced person. Keep trying, they may stand for you. Next time you raise replacements for your sows keep one boar to keep across the fence from them. They will come into strong heat for the boar and make it easier to breed them.

When I raised replacement gilts I would give them an injection of PG 600 before they reach maturity. About 5 1/5 months of age is about right. PG 600 is a hormone that will bring young gilts into heat. You will have to breed them on the second cycle after you inject them. This way they all come into heat at the same time, and are breed in the same week. That way your furrowing isn't scattered through a three or four week period. This is really important if you are selling feeder pigs. You'll have larger groups in the same weight range.

When I AI gilts I do it as they are eating. They don't like to stand without a boar. But they will usually stay still while they are eating. I usually go by the visual signs and the time that they should be in heat. I also AI extra. I will AI when they should be in heat and then again 12 hours later, and one more time 12 hours after that. I usually sit on their back as I'm passing the rod, but can't get them to let me do this if they aren't eating.
If you have farrowing crates, putting them in a crate for the whole operation helps.

This is the only one we have. I usually buy a hog at the stock sale and take them straight to the slaughter house, but I bought her on Christmas day as she was standing belly deep in mud and water. She ws pretty poor then, but we've gotten her fattened up to a good weight (not too fat) & my grand daughtere who is in FFA and has AI'd 3 sows at school wanted to raise a litter with her. Sooo Grandpa in all his stupidity kept her and ordered Duroc seamen to mix with her Blue Butt linage so we should have some decent butcher hogs if she takes. I did, after messaging you this evening,put 1 bottle of seamen in her and will do it again tomorrow. we put a pannel up along side of her & she wasn't too bad, just kept trying to back up. I just hope she isn't too far & going out. It seems to me if I remember right that a sow will stay in for 3 days, but I'm not sure that is right. The idea of keeping a boar out of the litter is what I had planned to do & possibly trade it for one that isn't related. Then I can let him do the deed & I won't have to LOL. Keith

Yep, I had the same trouble, asked the same questions to the guys that sold me the bacon in the makin' and they gave the same advice as you've been given and I had excellent results as far as farrowing, after they were born, not so much.

Nate

(quoted from post at 02:45:02 02/07/15) Yep, I had the same trouble, asked the same questions to the guys that sold me the bacon in the makin' and they gave the same advice as you've been given and I had excellent results as far as farrowing, after they were born, not so much.

Nate

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Ah yes, furrowing. I always farrowed in pens with a creep area in a corner for the piglets. Here are just a couple of things I learned. Number one is you may end up with a sow that is a pig eater. What I would do is replace some of the soybean meal, in the sows ration, with meat and bone scrap. This will help suppress the sows urge to eat her pigs. Then there are runts. There is no place in a litter for a knobby headed runt. They will be pushed around by the stronger pigs in the litter, then weaken and start squeaking. This will upset the sow, and she will end up squashing a bunch of good pigs in her excitement. If you do have any runts take them out right away and kill them. You'll save a lot of pigs by doing this. Also keep your sows as white as possible. Meaning use white colored breeds for your sow heard. Yorkshire are supposed to be good mother, but I found them to be too protective of there litters and hard to handle. The breed I liked to use was the Landrace. A Landrace Hampshire cross was a good place to start. Then for good carcass quality breed them with a good Duroc. But when it's time to breed for replacements breed them with a Chester White. When I finally gave up on A.I breeding I got hooked up with a producer who breed everything with A.I. He sold boars and gilts and had three blood lines to rotate to. One he called the red line, the second was blue line and the third was called the white line. If you started with his white line gilts he would sell you a blue line boar to go with them. Then after you raised your replacements you would buy a red line boar for them. You could keep that rotation going for a long time. The pigs from this system were really high quality.

Thanks guys for the information. You know,it's really nice to have so many people on here with such varried backgrounds and experience. I've done safety in construction for so long I've forgotten a lot of the things I once knew about other stuff. Now I'm retired, I have time to get back to my former life. All I have to do is ask on here and someone will have an answer for me. Thanks again. Keith

(quoted from post at 12:46:19 02/07/15) Thanks guys for the information. You know,it's really nice to have so many people on here with such varried backgrounds and experience. I've done safety in construction for so long I've forgotten a lot of the things I once knew about other stuff. Now I'm retired, I have time to get back to my former life. All I have to do is ask on here and someone will have an answer for me. Thanks again. Keith

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Good luck with your new adventure. Raising pigs can be very interesting. Make sure you post pictures of the little pigs after they are born.

Keith good luck on the A-I breeding. I tried it for a while and found it to be time consuming. I went back to a boor. I usually had York/Hampshire cross sows and then would use a Duroc boor. They where pretty good hog. The meat had a much better flavor than the current meat.

I have often thought of raise some for butcher hogs but it is getting hard to get them processed around here anymore. The one that still does hogs is not the best to deal with. The last time I took one I do not think I got my meat back.

So you and the Grand Daughter have fun.

Thanks JD. that's thegood thing about grandkids, of course this one lives with us along with her mom and brother and have for the last 10 years. Her dad died about 4 years ago so G.P. is trying to teach her a little bit, (hard to do with a 16 year old LOL). She's the main reason we have the 3 horses too. Her and her brother feed and take darned good care of all the animals & she plans to be a Vo Ag teacher. Keith