How to know if a pig has gone on a spree, how many days and at what age
The mating process of pigs plays a key role in the reproduction of the herd. The farmer needs to correctly determine the day for mating animals, choose the right boar, provide good housing conditions and monitor the diet.
What is hunting
A pig's hunt is the time when its body is in a state of readiness for mating. During this period, changes in visual characteristics and behavior are observed. Even a novice pig breeder will be able to determine when it is best to mate, but this will require careful monitoring of the livestock.
When does it start
Puberty and readiness of the body for mating occurs in animals in the first year of life. As a rule, pigs are found over the age of six months. Despite the possibility of fertilization at an early age, their body is not fully developed, and offspring become underdeveloped and are formed in small numbers.
Also, giving birth at an early age increases the risk of deterioration in the condition of females and subsequent inhibited development.
Professional farmers mate at 9-10 months of age to avoid complications. It is important to determine the favorable moment and not to overexpose the animal, otherwise after 14 months there may be a risk of reduced fertilization. In such a situation, it is best to re-start raising young piglets.
Frequency and duration
In females that have reached puberty, the hunting period occurs on a regular basis and lasts 18-24 days. If insemination does not occur, then it is allowed to re-mate after 3 weeks. The exception is situations when the female has not gained enough weight to bear and give birth to piglets. In such females, the hunting period occurs irregularly, and it is not recommended to do it with a boar.
It is impossible to understand in advance how many days the female will walk. Some pigs can walk even during pregnancy. If this happens, another male is added to it. After that, there is a possibility that the female will farrow twice at short intervals and there will be no risk that she will go overboard.
Definition, signs of hunting, how to distinguish them
To find out when the animals are ready for mating, you need to check for the corresponding signs. They differ depending on gender.In females, the period of readiness for reproduction of offspring is characterized by the following list of indicators:
- little reporting of the nipples and the visible part of the genitals;
- refusal to eat or a significant decrease in feed intake;
- violent behavior of the animal;
- periodic discharge of a mucous consistency;
- regular sniffing.
Males behave differently during the hunt. The readiness of the body of boars is determined by the following criteria:
- Frequent urination with a regularity of about 30 minutes;
- regular grunting;
- active and bold behavior;
- friction against the walls of the cage, attempts to escape from it;
- imitation of the mating process.
All the subtleties of the mating process
To breed healthy and strong offspring, you need to understand the nuances of the mating procedure. Not every fertilization of animals gives the expected result.
Attempts with a negative result may arise due to diseases of pigs, unfavorable living conditions, and poor quality of seed material.
Matching a pair
You need to mate sexually mature, hardy individuals with high physiological indicators. An important criterion for choosing a pair for mating is the productivity of the boar, which can be assessed by the past offspring or by testing the seed material in a clinical setting. The state of the female's body plays an equally important role, so she must be a developed individual, not have congenital defects and correspond to the parameters of the breed.
To bring out the most hardy and strong young growth, a boar of a different direction of productivity and an excellent breed mates with the female. For example, you can have a bacon boar with a female meat and greasy orientation. When using livestock from another farm, you must first consult with a specialist.
Basic mating methods
Fertilizing pigs is allowed by natural or artificial methods. In the natural method, the female is selected to a specially selected male, or they resort to free mating, when the boar mates freely with pigs in the same pen. As a rule, natural mating is used when there is a close-up of reproduction.
An artificial method is more effective for home use. It makes it possible to carefully select boars and inject the sperm obtained from them into the female vagina. This increases the chance of a positive fertilization and eliminates uncontrolled reproduction, which leads to the loss of the original quality of the seed.
Features of artificial mating
The method of artificial insemination is used in large farms where high productivity and control of the number of offspring are required. The procedure for artificial insemination of animals is as follows:
- the female in a state of hunting is fixed in a special machine mechanism;
- the doctor inserts the seminal material into the female's vagina using an instrumental method;
- to increase the likelihood of fertilization, a glucose-salt mixture is additionally introduced.
Some tips
When mating animals, difficulties can occur that it will be difficult for a novice farmer to deal with on their own. To avoid problems, it is recommended that you read the standard advice.
Pigs of different hybrids
When breeding hybrids, you need to find out what breeds are required for this purpose. Individuals must have a good breeding history and meet a number of criteria.
Pigs of different sizes
When mating individuals differing in size, first of all, attention is paid to the characteristics of the male. If it is overly massive, then its weight will injure the back of the female.Before mating, you need to study the physiological capabilities of animals and, if necessary, use special devices to level the difference in size.
If the male is passive
Violation of keeping conditions often leads to male passivity. To eliminate passivity, you need to revise the diet and take care of its balance, as well as reduce the number of mating.
What to do if the hunt doesn't start
In situations where individuals do not have hunting, it is allowed to call it on their own. Common reasons for the lack of readiness for mating are a large number of individuals in one place, unbalanced nutrition, diseases of the genitals. The first action to call the hunt is to improve the conditions of detention and consult a doctor.
If no diseases are detected in animals, then it is allowed to stimulate the hunting process by replanting young boars to mature females. Frequent walking will also be beneficial, since excess weight reduces libido. Another way to induce hunting is to use special pathogen sprays that are sprayed in the pen with pigs.
How to knock down a pig's sex drive
If you do not need to mate pigs, you can bring down the state of hunting using folk methods. The following actions help to remove the readiness for insemination:
- Placing a copper plate at the bottom of a container with drinking water. This calms the pigs and reduces activity.
- Adding Swinsynchron to food within 2-3 weeks from the moment signs of hunting appear.
- Mixing feed with mash throughout the hunt, so the pigs will sleep more often.
Folk methods bring temporary results and are harmless to livestock. In order to resume mating in the future, it will only be necessary to exclude the effect of the methods used on the pigs' organism.
