Pig mating and rules for its conduct
Pig mating is a responsible process. Before you start breeding this type of animals, you need to learn more about their physiology, signs of hunting, mating rules. With a successful mating, one sow can bring 15-20 piglets. This fertility makes the process of breeding and rearing pigs especially beneficial.
Pig mating and hunting
Selection of breeding animals
Up to 4 months, piglets of different sexes are kept together, then they are carefully examined and sorted. Individuals with good indicators of weight gain, large, healthy and calm are suitable for further breeding. An overly active boar does not cover the pig well. A restless female does not care enough for her offspring.
When selecting, pay special attention to the condition of the genital organs of the boar. They also check for defects in the constitution of pigs of both sexes. Male piglets that have not been selected are castrated. Females are separated from males and intensively fattened. In the future, additional selections are carried out, depending on the quantity and quality of the offspring. The following signs of piglets are taken into account when selecting their parents:
- the age at which the piglets reach a weight of 95 kg;
- weight gain per day on average throughout the entire feeding period should be equal to 25-95 kg;
- the amount of feed that goes to gain a mass of 1 kg;
- the weight of the pig at the time of slaughter;
- the length of the lying carcass after complete cooling;
- thickness and uniformity of pork fat in the ridge area;
- the amount of meat on the carcass;
- average thickness of the abdominal wall;
- the thickness of the pork fat on the sides.
Assessment parameters may vary depending on the breed. For example, for White Steppe pigs, a large amount of pure fat is permissible in the carcass. Vietnamese pigs in the fat should have layers of meat (bacon-type breed). The average slaughter weight of animals may also differ. It is very important to determine the number of teats the sow has. There are 10-16 of them, females are selected for the tribe, who have at least 12 nipples.
Matching a pair of pigs
A couple of a pig and a boar are selected, depending on the purpose of the mating. Animals are mated differently in small households and on industrial farms. The following types of crossing are distinguished:
- Purebred. Pig mating is carried out strictly within the same breed.
- Related. It is used in cases when it is necessary to fix this or that quality in the breed. A sow or boar is crossed with their offspring.
- Pig mating along the lines. It is carried out on highly specialized farms, animals from the same breed line are crossed, including relatives.
- Crossbreeding. It is carried out to infuse new blood, improve the breed, increase productivity.
- Absorption crossing. The mating is carried out between low-productive and high-productive breeds to improve the quality of animals. Results are obtained after multiple mating between different generations.
- Reproductive mating. Used when breeding new breeds.For example, Vietnamese pigs are crossed with white or black steppe pigs.
- Introductory crossing. It is used to instill specific qualities in a particular breed. The uterus of the variety that needs to be improved is mated with an improver boar.
- Industrial mating. Distinguish between two-breed, variable and three-breed crossing of this type. In the first case, mating is carried out between a male and a female of different breeds, in the second, the female is crossed with several thoroughbred boars, in the third, sows, which were obtained as a result of two-breed crossing, are bred with males of a third of the breed.
Many types of crossing can only be carried out in specialized farms. At home, purebred or interbreed mating of pigs should be practiced. It is undesirable to interbreed relatives, as their offspring are weak. It is best to take a boar from another farm or a remote region.
When to breed pigs
The main condition for successful mating is the presence of sexual heat in the sow. During this period, eggs mature, which can be fertilized with boar sperm. The first hunt for a female piglet occurs at the age of 5-6 months. At the same time, puberty is observed in young boars. But at such an early age, it is impossible to mate animals: their genitals are still developing. Pregnancy in the female may not occur, or the offspring will be born in small numbers and very weak.
When is the best time for a pig? The optimal age is 10-12 months. Females are sometimes allowed to breed at 9 months, males - not earlier than a year. The weight of the female should be 110-160 kg, males - 120-170 kg. Too fat individuals mate poorly, their fertilization rate is low, and piglets often die.
Definition of hunting
To carry out a successful mating, you need to correctly identify the signs of hunting in pigs. Here's how you can know that it's time to arrange a "wedding" for the pigs:
- The female begins to eat poorly, picks up food.
- The pig becomes restless, all the time rubbing against the fence, trying to ruin it.
- The pig is constantly grunting and squealing.
- The pig has frequent urination (every 30-40 minutes).
- At some moments, she freezes in place, begins to bend her back.
- If you press the pig on the backside, it will not move, it will begin to arch the lower back more.
- Often, while hunting, females jump on other pigs, regardless of gender.
- If you drive past the boar, the pigs become excited.
- When the female is taken out of the stall, she will intensively search for a pen with a boar, break through to him.
- The external genitals become red, swollen, and a clear fluid is released from them.
It is important to know that in sows who have given birth many times, changes in the external genital organs are barely noticeable: swelling and redness of the genital gap is almost invisible, therefore, one should focus exclusively on her behavior. The terms of the onset of hunting in a pig after weaning of piglets may also be useful:
- When piglets are absent in 10 days, the first heat begins in 5-30 days (on average 10 days).
- With an absence of 2 weeks, heat comes in 4-20 days.
- With an absence of 7 weeks - after 2-10 days.
The frequency of hunting in pigs is 21-28 days, regardless of the season, estrus lasts for 1-2 days. Pregnancy lasts 110-140 days (on average 114 days), therefore it is recommended to mate at the end of winter so that the piglets are born in the spring and are stronger. The second mating is carried out at the end of summer, so that the offspring have time to get stronger by the winter cold.
Mating technique
In order for the mating of pigs to be successful, it is necessary to properly prepare the boar and the uterus. You cannot overfeed breeding animals. The diet should consist of concentrated feed with a high content of vitamins, minerals, fiber. If you give a male too much liquid food, the quality of his sperm decreases. Obese individuals also become poor producers.
An effective mating of a breeding boar and a pig will occur if you adhere to a number of rules:
- The mating is carried out immediately after the heat has been detected in pigs.
- It is better that the process takes place on the territory of the boar. The male will feel more confident, will not be distracted by the study of a new place.
- Do not interfere with the animals, push them towards each other, it is advisable to leave the pigs alone, otherwise you can discourage them from mating.
- Normal sexual intercourse lasts 15-20 minutes, at which time nothing should bother the animals.
- After the first coating, a control is carried out, after 12-20 hours.
- You can leave pigs in one pen for a day.
- To increase the likelihood of conception, one sow is crossed with 2-3 different boars.
On large industrial farms, boar semen is analyzed. At home, this is not possible, but you need to know the basic parameters. The sperm of the male should be light yellow in color, of medium density and with a specific odor. To get a better idea of the process, you can watch how the mating in pigs goes on video.
Evaluation of mating success and other nuances of insemination
You can evaluate how successful the mating of pigs was after 18-24 days. If hunting has not begun during this period, then the female is pregnant. The piglets will be born in about 3.5-4 months. Already from the second month, obvious signs of pregnancy appear: the uterus becomes a vislobrum, moves less, and her appetite is increased. There are also false pregnancies. Then a new estrus does not occur, the abdomen increases, but after a short time it decreases again. Hunting in pigs can begin 2-3 months after unsuccessful mating.
When signs of a new hunt appear in a pig, a control mating is carried out, preferably with another boar. If fertilization does not occur after the second time, the pig is discarded and the breeding qualities of the boar are reviewed (success with other females). Among the reasons due to which there is infertility in piglets, the following are distinguished:
- obesity of sows and boars;
- diseases of the genital area;
- improper diet, limited walking;
- bad semen in a boar;
- closely related crossing;
- spontaneous mating of a female with a large number of males;
- incorrect definition of sexual prey in pigs.
On industrial farms, natural mating has not been carried out for a long time, but artificial insemination is used. To induce and synchronize estrus in a large number of sows, they are given hormonal pills or injections. Tablets are also used in order to knock down the hunt in pigs not intended for breeding, to calm raging females. This can be done only under the strict supervision of a veterinarian: he will decide how much, what drug and in what form can be given to pigs. Doses need to be adjusted from time to time.