Now here is a question - must i make use of a boar or perhaps a 'straw' (that's a sachet or bottle of diluted pig semen) to obtain my sows pregnant? This really is equally pertinent an issue for those who have 1200 sows a treadmill, and also the reasoning is fairly similar given either scenario - so allows begin by evaluating the 2.
Boars need feeding and housing semen packs simply need ordering, delivering and storing. I only say simply: you should know to buy the semen over time for this to become as fresh as you possibly can whenever your sows will be ready to be inseminated you have to have the ability to have it in the mail carrier or courier to storage as rapidly as you possibly can and you have to have the ability to store it at (as near out of the box possible) a continuing 17 levels Celsius throughout it's stability (that is in regards to a week from collection given a lengthy-existence diluent and also the right storage conditions).
So using the semen packs you are not needing to purchase feed, you are not needing to muck out pens, and also you aren't running the chance of being bitten, chased, gored or eaten by them either. A semen pack won't need veterinary attention and will not smell either! It's simpler to deal with, and also the insemination strategy is easily learnt - a 'knack' as opposed to a great skill.
A boar, however, will easily notice whenever a sow reaches her most receptive (and encourage her to that particular point), deliver semen in large doses (200 - 300ml at any given time) into the best place within the sow, and provide you with a regular product throughout his helpful lifetime in your unit.
But it'll continually be his genes, with pig genetics evolving every year the semen pack in the AI (artificial insemination) stud will be the main thing on breeding, providing you with ever better pigs per sow each year, every year. The semen pack allows you to employ several breed or bloodline, and provides you accessibility best commercial sires available - they're an inexpensive method of enhancing your output, which using the very tight financial margins active in the pig market is essential. Essentially, when the youthful boar you've bought or bred (or stored back out of your fattening pens) is able to work, a genetically superior boar is going to be open to you in the AI stud.
Using 'teaser' boars you'll be able to identify whenever a sow is able to be offered, after which use AI to obtain her pregnant, serving 2 or 3 occasions throughout her 24 - 36 hour standing oestrus (a boar is only going to have the ability to manage 2 or 3 occasions per week). This is an easily learnt technique, and answers are excellent: most commercial farms are now using AI, keeping merely a couple of boars to inspire and identify standing warms (whenever a sow reaches her most fertile she'll stand still given a pressure around the small of her back, whether that pressure is used with a boar, a stockman or some mechanical device) - after which keeping the women talking and interested although the stockman inseminates them (the teaser boars' primary role is creating pheromones and grunting in the perfect way).
But let's say you've one got a couple of sows to conceive? Could it be worth keeping a sizable, potentially aggressive (and definitely strong and wilful) animal just to be work a few occasions annually? You may can hire one out of for any couple of days (certainly the best choice if you have an uncommon breed) - however with this comes issues with disease transmission, issues with housing the customer, along with the technical issues of handling him and supervisory service. Among the greatest issues with natural service (especially inside having a single boar - less so in categories of pigs with multiple boars outdoors) is ensuring the boar has deposited his semen within the right area of the pig, and thus is better supervised within an appropriate facility.
To sum up then, as well as in response to our opening question: make use of a 'straw'! Present day technology allows pig owners to make use of the very best modern genetics, attracted from a number of breeds and bloodlines without needing to take care of (and purchase) a boar for each ten women around the farm. The smallholder or pet-keeper can engage in AI too, reducing his costs and getting a range of sires.
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