Breeding questions

[Mike Fronczak]

Last summer we bought 7 piglets. We finished 4 of them for the freezer, keeping 3 females to breed. They are now "of age" we have noticed them go through a heat cycle.
Any recommendations on places to buy supplies for AI ? And/or any tips ?
I've looked online & prices vary quite a bit.

 

[jhough42]

Have you ai'd anything before? Imo pigs are pretty easy. What's your purpose for the piglets? What breed are your gilts?

 

[Mike Fronczak]

Never AI anything we have a bull for Highlands. The gilts are mixed heritage breeds. My original plan was to only keep 2 (I figured one would get lonely/bored & cause issues) but freezer filled up. Piglets here are tough to find (& in high demand) in spring to summer over. My plan was to sell off some of the piglets as just that, then finish the rest out, I have had inquiries about roaster pigs already.

Have you ai'd anything before? Imo pigs are pretty easy. What's your purpose for the piglets? What breed are your gilts?

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[jhough42]

I don't know anything about where to get heritage semen, but my family have ai'd a lot of shelve. Where do you live? That will give me an idea of where to point you for local information. If you have a county extension office, they should have excellent resources and can probably connect you with someone local to help train you. I could go into lengthy and detailed explanations, but don't know what you already know.

I will say, start tracking their heats very closely if you will be doing shipped semen. You will need to order it to arrive in a very tight window of time and don't want to have it arrive too early or too late. You should track first sign of heat, number of hours to standing heat, then how many hours they stay in standing heat.

 

[jhough42]

Shelve should've been durocs.

 

[Mike Fronczak]

I'm in Hilton NY. Our cooperative extension service is a mess the county cut funding several years ago to almost nothing.

Shelve should've been durocs.

 

[jhough42]

Here are some good links from reputable sources:

http://www.pork.org/Resources/385/ArtificialInsemination.aspx#.UvQCK5_nbqA

Equipment source:
http://www.swinegenetics.com/ai_products_catalogs.php

Let me know if you have any questions about any of this!