Episode 4 - Pig Insemination - Artificial insemination on pastured hogs 

Were you successful?

Awesome! Getting ready to breed this weekend too!

Yes, google sheets in an invaluable tool here as well.

Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it.

Hirwa Matene glad you enjoyed it.

Deanna Jones thanks. We are trying to do a new video every friday

Rob, I really like having control over my genetics, now that I am over three generations in, I like the confirmation I am getting from my selective breeding. Also, AI allows me to make the farm a closed loop. I am totally eliminating the opportunity to introduce sickness and disease to my herd from bringing new pigs on the farm. Thanks for watching!

It is my understanding that AI for cattle is more complicated and involves cryo-freezing the semen, etc. I don't know enough about it to make any more comment then that. That is why I like pork....

That's how it was with the cow I grew up with - a technician with a bucket of liquid nitrogen in the back of his ute, and assorted tubes for the different breeds. But the easy way to tell when a cow is in heat is traditionally when other cows will mount her, so it's tricky to tell with only one cow - mine has been making the hills ring for the last several days, so calling is not accurate enough. In past years we've hired a bull, but the stud we hired him from just got sold out of the district, so I'm looking at buying a bull. For one cow. But if I get one that is young and unproven and sell him when his first daughter is needing a bull, I should get a better price selling than what I pay buying.

Any AI supplier. I get mine from Shipleys Swine Genetics in OH

buy a pig you be surprised what they can do :)

@@thepigguy5582, a boar is threaded just like the AI tube. It’s called corkscrew.

Most pig feed in the U.S. is made by feed manufacturers. Most of it is grain based. You need to make sure that the amount of protein and the amount of feed you are giving the animal matches the intended purpose.

Stephen. sottie Afolabi usually your semen provider offers them. The company I use sells a package (5 or 6 rods) for $4. That is really the only thing you need. If you need lubrication, just get any human personal lubricant.

superma74 I go at least a year because I only breed in the fall but I have heard people breed as early as 6 months. That seems to young to me.

Development, size, weight and age are all factors. I've bred a lot of gilts at 6 months in pastured systems, but I used about 200lbs as a good benchmark. Early breeding helps keep females in appropriate body condition for farrowing and is pretty standard. Feeding a gilt for a year and then breeding is a high level of investment, not all gilts will produce satisfactory litters. At 16 months of age (farrowing age when bred at one year old) the sow can have a lot of fat and is much bigger than a market hog, at least with heritage breeds. If bred at 6 months and then culled after weaning a poor litter(probably 10-11 months), the sow will not be as big and the cut size/fat cover/processing costs are lower. With that being said, I've bred sows at one year old as well. Just gotta do whatever works for you. Very good video.

Great info. I only shoot for a spring farrowing since I don't have a large farrowing building. How old do you breed your sows before you cull them?

In my experience It's worth keeping a sow until she doesn't give you good litters anymore. Usually weaning less than 8 piglets is a good benchmark for culling a sow. Sometimes a first time gilt will have slightly smaller litters (weaning 6 as a first time gilt is OK for me).....if shes a good mother it's worth breeding her back. If She can't wean 8 in a second litter then it's time to go. However, that is when breeding and farrowing twice a year. If you're once a year just keep an eye on body condition, overweight sows don't release as many eggs per ovulation. I can't remember the exact reason why. Sows that are veterans of your system can teach female offspring the ropes and will give you good, predictable replacement females. They also teach younger females to trust you. In a once a year system, as long as the sows aren't getting too heavy, they could last a long time.

grassfeeding thanks for the advice. I have one sow that is 5 years old. She had one ween her last litter. She will be retired. I have another that is 3 years and she gives me around 13 weened on average.

netslave we chose to AI simply because we saw how easy it was and we could purchase semen at a reasonable price. Plus we didn't want to have the issues with the boar trying to get access to the sows every time they went into heat. Thanks for watching!

would you ever consider getting one, if say you found a good bred, or is it really not worth getting one? oh yeah #fastestyoutuberesponseever lol, thanks

netslave probably not. I have ordered semen from over 7 different boars to get the confirmation I want in my piglets. It's like shopping at the grocery store. Responses come quicker after dark!

Stephen. sottie Afolabi I don't recommend using any drugs to alter heat cycle. The heat cycle is every 21 days and the semen has a 10 shelf life. If they have been together long, you should notice their heat cycles will start to line up together. Personally, I wouldn't want 6 sows farrowing at the same time. Mine are usually several days apart. That allows me to tend to each one.

Red Tool House - Homestead thanks

A few questions sir will the sows start to go in heat around same time if grouped together cause I've seen other videos of farms breeding over 150 per week or do they just have so many that they count the 21 days too?Also the Catheters do they screw in clock wise or counter clock wise and are they one time use? So if your a breeder would it be beneficial to breed year round and if I was to keep some boars on hand what is the ratio from boar to sow? 10-15 sows per boar? So don't change their diet when they go into pregnancy to reduce fat?

John P maybe. I do humans the old fashion way!

Yes, unless it is an English breed...

Rofl

"Everything tastes better with bacon." - Pythagoras