The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: princesspiggy on February 22, 2011, 08:42:09 pm
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Our 1st lot of AI didnt work, i think i was a day late. i think the timing was rite 2nd time around, (one of our rams got out and was literally on her!!! OMG!) so im hoping it has worked cos she was definitely in season. shes due on thursday for her season and has been unusually in a very foul mood this week so im hoping thats a good sign she has taken??? We are doing delilah tomorrow anyway. I thought a pigs cycle was 3 weeks, but mine seem to be 18 days.
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Good luck, we were scared to death of the idea despite godd old Tony York's best advice to stear clear of all things boarlike................we now own 3! ;D
Regards
Jason
www.hairyhogs.co.uk (http://www.hairyhogs.co.uk)
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i quite like the idea of keeping a boar, its just the extra feeding costs , but wel see how many attempts at ai its gona take. im thinking the offspring of a less used bloodline might be more useful than that of a well used boar ( i checked rbst website and there was alot of same boar bloodline on there), unless the weaners alll go for meat then it wouldnt matter so much, but it would be nice at some point to have good breeding stock for sale. :wave:
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Our 1st lot of AI didnt work, i think i was a day late. i think the timing was rite 2nd time around, (one of our rams got out and was literally on her!!! OMG!) so im hoping it has worked cos she was definitely in season. shes due on thursday for her season and has been unusually in a very foul mood this week so im hoping thats a good sign she has taken??? We are doing delilah tomorrow anyway. I thought a pigs cycle was 3 weeks, but mine seem to be 18 days.
I thought we were talking about pigs not sheep ??? A pig cycles evey 21 days.... Do you have a ram in with your sows and is he jumping all over them. :sheep::pig:
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Mmmmm ram x pig that would make an interesting cross. Would you serve the leg with apple sauce or mint sauce?
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both
apple and mint jelly for the win!!!
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MMMMMMmmmmmmmmm Any one got a big tough ram willing to spend a holiday being Hilary's electric fence tester?
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i really don't think hilarys the pig for the experiment,
she's so scary im suprised you can find a boar brave enough!!!
she'd eat a ram surely???
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the ram jumped the fence to get to the sow!! i know u had to see it to believe it, but he actually got on her back too, he must be very desperate, hes still a bachelor!! no sign of a season today, still fingers crossed, and she still in bad mood!
(and actually our lhaso apso is partial to our pigs too) is it just my farm or just men in general? :o :sheep: :pig: :dog: :o
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I thought a pigs cycle was 3 weeks, but mine seem to be 18 days.
'Aunty's' (Petal) seasons were all over the place, and we missed with three lots of AI (£££) :-\ She nearly went for sausages, but managed to stick her to the boar with Tiki and her lovely family at Glensidefarm, who has (seemingly) saved her bacon. she's getting much bigger and is due at some point at the end of march! Coincidently, Pepper's two that we kept back who were from the AI are off on sunday to the big Pig Sty in the sky. I'm sad but I think I'll feel much like I did after the Turkeys went - an immense feeling of pride. I just hope that they are as, if not more, delicious!!! :P
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what is wrong with the real thing there is a boar for sale at inverness just now and the boar will sort your dog and ram out(aye tippical big dug gied at geing it but canna take it)
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what bloodlines is the boar? my girls are jacqueline and ruby (from yearle). id like a less used bloodline if i was looking for a boar.
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;D hes only a little dog, he can only reach her hock, i dont think she really notices, or shes playing hard to get. if a pony lies down long enough, he'l try that too. can be embarassing if we have visitors around. :-[
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royal standard it is listed on the tamworth breeders club with phone number
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how many bloodlines are there? every advert i see seems to royal standard, so is the AI im using. i was thinking if royal standard is so well used, there must be a lot of gilts around needing a different bloodline. mine are out of yorkshireman. what bloodlines does Bill Howes use, and where is he based? im quite tempted to get a nice little weaner-to-be-boar.
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bill is down in coventry the one for sale is one of bills
royall standard is setting the standard??
you can have royal standard and not be related(boys take the sires name girls take the mothers name)
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what is wrong with the real thing there is a boar for sale at inverness just now and the boar will sort your dog and ram out(aye tippical big dug gied at geing it but canna take it)
Nothing wrong with the real thing, but it does come with an overhead that AI doesn't.
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a yes but AI has more overheads unless it works first time
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AI is also less dangerous than a boar and doesn't have tusks that you need to trim, and you can change bloodlines a lot more easily than trying to sell and buy in.
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aye but are they in pig yet????
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Didn't pprincess say Thursday was her time. How much does AI cost? I've only ever used boars to mate with sows, so wouldn't know the costs of AI? Other than the negatives of boars.
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we only use boars as well never had a problem with any of them
and a fair few folk have hired our boars and comented how gentle they are
at present we have 3
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There are good arguments on both sides
AI is great if you get the dates right, or are happy to be more risky on missing a heat, a fertile boar will always get the dates right!
Well handled boars left with company (rather than take sow in - mate - take sow out again) are generally very placid - like Lillian we have active boars, 2 at present and have had at least five others, and all have been dopey, loveable creatures. Commercial boars are an entirely different matter !
AI does let you vary strain, and indeed breed if you have different sows, or if you like cross-breeding, and get topnotch seamen.
With AI you don't have the cost of keeping a boar all year.
Last time we used AI - cost was about £20 - £18 for seamen, and £2ish for catheter
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Ahh so AI isnt too expensive, cheaper than a pedigree proven boar (thinking £250-£500), though pedigree registered weaner boars would be nearer the £100 mark.
The boars I've worked with so far, have all been friendly, but I have seen the marks on other people to know not all are like that, I also know a Large white x boar who if he leaned on you, your quite likely to get crushed. I also go on to holdings where sometimes the boars haven't been tamed as much as needed and you do need to be careful, they have just been treated the same as the sows, and in some cases this isn't enough handling. Or in some cases they have been allowed to push or shove when younger and now have no respect, and a boar with not enough matings can be a grumpy boar, at least i have found this with the larger breeds, unlike my mother's KK boar.
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aye but are they in pig yet????
she hasnt come into season yet!! im sure she is pregnant cos her temperment has completely changed and is very short tempered and very vocal, 10 times more than normal. she took over the cows stable and was positively roaring at them to stay out. sounded like a bloody dinosaur! (not that i actually know!) time to put up the electric fence now i think cos they have been happily roaming since they were weaners. if she is grumpy now, i can imagine what she mite be like with piglets to protect!! ;D ;D hopefully anyway, dont want to jinx it.
is there any other sign of early pregnancy except no return to season?
i think the reason she didnt fall the first time is that i was too slow. they are cycling at 18 days while i was expecting 21. also they cycle together more or less. the ai on our other pig this week went really well, shes had 3 seasons since her uterine infection so hopefully she'l be ok. wev had no more escaping rams either!! ;D
if we can successfully sell the weaners/finishers then id like to get a boar, but no hurry yet.
a boar with not enough matings can be a grumpy boar, at least i have found this with the larger breeds, .
would 3 sows not be enough to keep a boar happy?