Hunting in pigs (desire to walk) is the period of ovulation during which the animal must be mated with a boar or artificially inseminated to produce offspring.
Occurs every three weeks and lasts up to three days. In some animals, heat can occur even during pregnancy, which allows them to be fertilized again.
In this material, we will look at how often pigs go into heat, how to find out when it starts, how long this period lasts, and how to synchronize this process among different pigs in the herd.
When does the first hunt begin?
The first heat can occur in a pig at the age of 5 months. However, during this period it is not worth mating with individuals of your own or another breed, since many animals during this period do not yet have sufficient body weight to safely bear offspring.
You can plan the first mating if the animal has already reached the age of 10-12 months.
An animal selected for insemination must fully comply with the parameters of its breed and not have any visible defects or severe diseases.
To make sure that the pig is completely healthy, it can be shown to a veterinarian before mating.
How to mate pigs
There are two types of pig mating - group and individual. In group breeding, one boar is assigned several females, whom he will fertilize. In case of individual treatment, a pair is selected for each animal, taking into account its individual characteristics.
With such reproduction, two approaches are used - homogeneous and heterogeneous. In the first, individuals with approximately the same physical characteristics, fertility and gene pool are selected. In the second approach, animals that demonstrate low performance are mated with the most productive ones.
In addition, attention is paid to age. Young sows are preferred to be mated with older boars, while older females are mated with males of any age.
Important! It is advisable that mating be carried out within the same breed.
Frequency of celebrations
In females that have reached sexual maturity, heat occurs regularly at intervals of 18-24 days. If insemination does not occur during the next hunt, you can repeat the mating of pigs after 21 days.
The only exceptions are those cases when the sow is of insufficient weight to bear and give birth to offspring; her heat may occur irregularly, and in this case it is not recommended to mate her.
Some pigs may go into heat even during pregnancy. In this case, the addition to the boar can be repeated. After this, you can expect two pigs to farrow in a row at short intervals.
Preparing a pig for mating
The female selected for breeding must be placed in a separate pen, but so that she can hear and see the rest of the pigs ( animals kept in complete isolation often suffer from sexual dysfunction ). The room should be comfortable, fairly quiet and clean. The pig's diet needs to be adjusted towards increasing the content of concentrates, as well as additives rich in animal protein (dairy products or meat and fish meal). At the same time, the overall rate of feed supply is slightly reduced. It is useful to give your pig ready-made vitamin and mineral complexes, fresh vegetables and herbs. It is important to monitor how much food remains in the feeder so as not to overfeed the female.
The future sow is placed in a separate pen, providing her with comfortable conditions and an adjusted diet.
At large livestock enterprises, pigs are mated all year round, but owners of household plots have to take into account seasonal and climatic factors. It is believed that the healthiest and strongest piglets are born in the spring. Therefore, the “master” pigs are usually covered at the beginning of winter. A sow may come into heat within a few days after farrowing, but in practice she is brought together again with a male after the two-month-old babies are weaned. Thus, offspring are produced twice a year: in spring and autumn. More frequent pregnancies are undesirable, as they greatly deplete the animal’s body.
What determines the puberty of a pig?
It is impossible to say with the accuracy of one day when puberty occurs and how long it takes for a pig to walk. It all depends on the specific breed, the presence of a spacious, warm pigsty and living conditions.
Females become sexually mature at approximately 4-6 months.
Diet is of great importance. Maturation is delayed if the pig eats little or does not receive enough vitamins and protein. But excess nutrition also delays the process. In obese pigs, puberty occurs later and reproductive potential is reduced.
Puberty is delayed by constant stress, cold or extreme heat, and living in a dirty or crowded pen. And also for conditions that cause physical discomfort: lameness, limb fractures, hoof cracks, dermatological diseases.
The process is slowed down if inbreeding is practiced at the farmstead - mating of pigs of the same breed. Interbreeding accelerates the puberty of the offspring.
Communication between pigs and the opposite sex even before mating also has a positive effect.
Puberty and age at first mating of pigs.
In this article we will talk about the topic of puberty and age of first mating of pigs .
As already mentioned, untimely or belated mating (insemination) of gilts leads to a sharp decrease in their productivity. The ability of young pigs to mate and bear fruit manifests itself upon reaching puberty, which occurs between the 4th and 9th months of life, and on average equals seven months. The onset of puberty in pigs is associated with hereditary prerequisites and environmental conditions:
- breeds,
- live weight,
- nutritional level during the growth period,
- time of birth,
- diseases,
- presence of helminths, etc.
How can you tell if a pig is in heat?
Signs of heat in pigs
You can understand that a pig has started to heat by several signs, including:
- swelling of the genital loop, as well as the nipples;
- frequent urination;
- the appearance of copious mucous discharge from the genitals;
- refusal of food not caused by gastrointestinal diseases;
- increased anxiety, aggressive behavior, throwing the drinker and feeder in the pen.
To accurately determine whether the female is in heat or not, you can approach her and lightly press her hand on her rear. If the pig shows anxiety and tries to move away from the person, it means that the hunting time has not yet come.
If the female stands motionless, and when you try to move her forward she resists, then you can already place her next to the boar, she is already ready for mating.
Pregnancy period
Signs
Pigs begin to walk at the age of five months, but experienced pig breeders prefer to choose fully mature females for breeding - at least ten months old and weighing more than one hundred kilograms. In mature pigs, the period of sexual heat begins.
It manifests itself:
- restless behavior;
- enlargement of the udder and nipples;
- swelling and redness of the female genitals.
After the first mating, conception may not occur - in this case, sexual hunting continues. If the pig becomes pregnant, then by control mating after 20-25 days you can check the “quality” of the first coating. A pregnant female will not let the male near her. If fertilization does not occur, attraction to the opposite sex will continue.
In the second half of pregnancy, females quickly gain weight. The expectant mother becomes less mobile. Her character also changes - many animals are calm while carrying piglets.
Duration
Pig pregnancy lasts 108-118 days.
The duration of pregnancy depends on many factors:
- Age of the female. The first and last pregnancies are more difficult to tolerate and therefore last longer.
- Number of cubs. In many domestic animals, oddly enough, the number of embryos is inversely proportional to the time of pregnancy. This may be due to the size of the piglets - during multiple pregnancies they do not grow too large.
- Breed. Large breeds of pigs bear offspring longer, and fatty breeds bear offspring less than meat breeds.
On average, calculations take into account the gestation period of 110-114 days, depending on the direction (meat, lard or bacon). A pig farrowing calendar was invented especially for this purpose; the table is shown in the figure below.
Possible number of piglets
Many novice breeders are concerned about the question of how many piglets are born to a pig. It is very difficult to accurately calculate the number of newborns. Often females who are young but have already had several pregnancies and births give birth to many cubs. Older animals, like first-time animals, are unlikely to greatly increase the number of livestock.
Sebaceous females give birth to many more cubs, on average three to four more. If a mature “meat” pig produces 8-9 piglets, then a “greasy” pig produces 11-13. In rare cases, sows can give birth to 16-17 babies.
The norm for the first birth is 6-8 babies.
How long does farrowing last?
After the first signs of heat appear, pigs go into estrus, which usually lasts 2-3 days. During this period, it is necessary to carry out artificial insemination or mating of a pig with a wild boar.
If insemination is successful, hunting will not be repeated in the next month. The gestation period lasts 114–117 days. If, 3 weeks after mating, the pig again shows signs of heat, it must be inseminated again.
How to identify a sow?
It should be noted that not all female pigs are suitable for giving birth to piglets. Before artificial insemination of a pig, all necessary veterinary examinations must be carried out.
If a pig still does not become pregnant after 3-4 inseminations, it needs to be shown to a veterinarian. If he confirms that this individual cannot produce offspring, he is sent for slaughter.
Artificial insemination reduces the risk of spreading infectious diseases.
Mating process
A boar and a sow are brought together. The process can take place both indoors and outdoors. The male courts the female for some time, after which sexual contact occurs. Animals begin the process both themselves and after stimulation.
Mating lasts from 15 minutes to half an hour, after which the animals are bred. To ensure success, the procedure is repeated 12 hours after the first mating. Some livestock farmers prefer not to breed pigs, but to keep them together.
Find out how long a pig's pregnancy lasts.
How to regulate your drinking time? Synchronization Methods
In order to rhythmically and systematically control reproduction processes in pig farming practice, they resort to the use of various hormonal drugs and their analogues.
This allows intensive and rational use of breeding stock and provision in advance for the necessary production operations and the timing of their implementation.
Synchronization of heat makes it possible to form certain groups of sows of one production phase, which means preparing premises, artificial insemination and appropriate movement of animals in a short time.
In gilts, oestrus synchronization can be accomplished using various methods.
The following are considered the most effective:
- After weaning piglets, sows are administered Follimag at a concentration of 500-600 IU in 2-3 ml of saline solution per animal. The drug is administered intramuscularly. When the animal comes into heat, 5 mcg of Surfagon is administered an hour before mating. The method can be used both during mating with a boar and before artificial insemination.
- Administration of Follimag and Suffragon only to those females who have not gone into heat 14 days after weaning their offspring. This method can be used if the main part of the herd went into heat within normal periods after weaning the piglets.
The presented methods for synchronizing heat in pigs can only be used after prior consultation with a veterinarian.
It is not recommended to take such measures on your own, as in some cases they can have a bad effect on the condition of the livestock.
The mechanism of action of these drugs on the body of pigs is that suisynchron blocks the secretion of pituitary gonadotropins, and therefore causes inhibition of follicle growth, the ovulation process and external signs of heat.
After the cessation of the effect of suisynchron, the gilts of the entire group simultaneously begin to estrus, which is stimulated by the additional introduction of FFA.
Mating of pigs at the age of 6-7 months is undesirable.
In boars, puberty occurs, as a rule, later than in gilts, although in boars, firstly, the expression of sexual function occurs long before the onset of puberty, for example, the cuddle reflex was noticed in the age group of 30 - 40 days, the mating reflex arose in the age group 110 days.
According to scientists, large white and Breit breed gilts do not ovulate until they are 6 months old, and no corpus luteum is found in the ovaries, although mild symptoms of estrus are visible.
A.V. Kvasnitsky believes that the hormonal and generative functions of the ovaries begin to take shape only by 6-7 months of age. Before this period, the pig does not experience a normal sexual cycle due to the fact that after the rupture of the follicles, their histological restructuring does not occur and the corpus luteum does not form.
In addition, by this age, the animal’s body has not yet reached full physical formation, in particular the reproductive apparatus, and, therefore, pigs are not ready for the normal reproduction of high-quality offspring.
That is why the mating of young pigs in the age group of six to seven months. In addition to the delay in the formation of the animal itself, it is accompanied by frequent idleness, low multiple births during farrowing (5-7 birds per nest) and weakness of the offspring (departure to weaning reaches 30-40%). According to scientists, young pigs with a low weight at mating (up to 100 kilograms) have poorly developed mammary glands, which subsequently determines their low milk productivity.
The productivity of young, not very mature pigs is much less than that of full-aged or young (ten months), and their few offspring with low weight at birth are determined by weak growth energy and unsatisfactory payment for feed.
Scientists' studies also show that young pigs bred at 8-9 months of age (live weight 90-95 kilograms) not only produce 20-30% fewer piglets in the nest compared to the main queens, but also the quality of these piglets worse than the offspring of full-aged queens.
Similar results were obtained in the experiments of Bulgarian scientists. With an increase in the age of replacement gilts from 7.5 to 9.5 months (weight 104 and 132 kilograms), the number of piglets in the nest increased: at birth from 9.1 to 10.5 heads and at weaning in the age group of 60 days from 7.1 to 9 piglets.
Therefore, although for effective use and acceleration of the turnover of the livestock of gilts and boars it is important to start mating at an early age, excessively early mating leads to the production of inferior offspring, which ultimately causes damage that is not compensated by the benefits of early mating.
Stages of the reproductive cycle
Understanding the reproductive cycle is as important as knowing when a pig walks.
It includes four stages:
- First, the stage of arousal begins - proestrus. It is this that reflects the main feature of estrus – a change in behavior. Even the calmest sow becomes aggressive and nervous. Proestrus lasts 4-5 days. In pigs that have given birth, the stage of excitation passes faster.
- At the peak of estrus, pigs begin to hunt - the estrus stage. At this stage, the animals mate.
- Then comes the stage of calm (metestrus) , when the genitals turn pale and decrease in size. There are practically no allocations.
- The last stage is dormancy (diestrus). It begins approximately on the 6-7th day of the sexual cycle and lasts about 2 weeks. The pigs' behavior is returning to normal. They behave calmly.
When should piglets be slaughtered?
The slaughter usually takes place on November 30, St. Andrew's Day, or around Christmas. The custom begins at 9-10 am. The pig is killed with a hook.
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What to do if the hunt doesn't start?
There are several reasons why a pig may not be in heat.
Among them:
- too many animals in one room;
- absence of a young boar in the pen (should be) or discrepancy between the barn and the number of heads;
- improper nutrition of the pig, due to which its body may lack the necessary vitamins and microelements;
- diseases of the genitourinary system.
If the boar cannot cover
If the breeder notices that a sexually mature animal is not in heat, the female must first come and show it to the veterinarian.
If a doctor discovers certain diseases in an animal, it must be treated.
If no diseases are detected during the examination, it is recommended to place young boars in the barn with females - this stimulates the onset of heat in pigs, as well as the method of inducing it with Oxytocin.
You also need to ensure that animals regularly walk in the fresh air, since excessive weight gain can also affect sexual activity.
Mastitis in sows is one of the common reasons for the absence or inexpressibility of signs of heat.
Mastitis
To stimulate hunting, you can also use special pathogens prepared from the urine of a mature boar. They must be sprayed in the pen where the female, who is not in heat, lives. This method is considered the most effective.
How to stop sexual estrus in a pig?
If the breeder does not plan to mate the pig when the heat comes, you can use traditional methods to reduce this condition.
Among them:
- Laying a copper plate on the bottom of a wooden trough with water. Allows you to reduce the female's attraction and calm her down.
- Adding Swinsychron to the feed . It must be used within 18-20 days. The drug should be added to food when the first signs of heat appear.
- Adding mash to pig feed . In this case, the animal will sleep more. This method must be used before the end of the hunting period.
The presented methods are safe for pigs; they only have a temporary effect on the female’s body. In order to have a successful mating during the next hunt, the breeder only needs to eliminate the influence of these factors on the animal’s body.
You should not use (inject) heat suppressants for pregnant pigs. In this case, the breeder just needs to wait 2-3 days until it goes away on its own.
conclusions
- Hunting in pigs can begin (come) already at the age of 5 months. However, for mating it is necessary to take animals over 10 months old that correspond to the species characteristics.
- It comes every three weeks. It lasts (frequency) on average 2-3 days.
- You can determine (distinguish, know) the onset of heat by the swelling of the pig's nipples and genital loop, the appearance of abundant mucous secretions, the pig's restlessness, as well as the animal's refusal of its usual food.
- Synchronization can be carried out by introducing Follimag and Suffragon to animals.
- If the animal has not started to heat , it is recommended to place young boars in the pigsty (cover the pig), improve the feeding of the animals, and also use pathogen sprays. The latter are most effective if artificial insemination of a pig is planned.
- reduce the animal’s desire to go for walks by adding mash or special preparations to the food. This can only be done on the recommendation of a veterinarian, so as not to harm the animal.
How long does a sow feed her piglets?
As a rule, a month or a month and a half. You need to look at the condition of the pig, if it loses a lot of weight, then remove it early. Feeds for 44 days.
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