The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Maesgwyn on November 19, 2011, 05:33:34 pm
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My saddle back is due to come into season in two days due to being removed from her mother, is there any boar owners in West Carmarthen or can someone suggest a breed of pig to x with or should I just wait until spring and give her a rest?
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Deerpark have Saddleback semen, if you wanted to try AI. I can vouch for the offspring!
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no idea how to do AI but sounds the best choice for where I live
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If you explain that you've not done it before they'll send you full instructions ;)
The key to it is detecting the pigs' season accurately.
Check them twice daily for signs (puffy vulva, a bit more highly strung than normal, standing to back pressure) as soon as they show signs of standing when you apply pressure to the back end that's when to phone ;) They send it out next day delivery - if it looks like she's coming to heat on the Friday, but not standing it's worth ordering so you have it for the Sunday - it will keep for a couple of days. They send 3 doses, which you should aim to give 12 hours apart (we do morning feed and evening feed, so not always a full 12 hours ;))
They have 3 Berkshire different boars (I think) apparently the Lassetter and Orlando lines give really good looking piglets - duh ! Just realised this is under the Saddleback one ::) so not sure of the boars they have for that.
Oh, but check your gilt's paperwork incase she was the product of AI - you probably don't want to use her dad to inseminate her.
Once you get your bottles keep them in the polystyrene box in an ambiet temperature of around 17C (not in the fridge) You'll need lubricant (available at most farm supplies shops - KY jelly would do at a push) before you get down to the job of inserting the catheter - rub her belly and push at it firmly with your hand (this mimicks what the boar would do with his snout and encourages her to release more eggs ;))
Deerpark usually send spiral catheters which are good, but can sometimes make gilts bleed - sponge tippped ones aren't as inclined to cause this (Deerpark may have sponge ones, might be worth asking)
We AI'd a gilt who started bleeding, we stopped and abandoned the proceedure - but the advice I was given afterwards was that I should have continued with the AI as it shouldn't have caused problems.
It sounds scary, but it's not really - and at around £30 it's not too expensive for a 'trail run'
Hope that helps
Karen :wave:
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I found the description of how to do AI on this site very useful, too:
http://pigsinfrance.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=47&Itemid=75 (http://pigsinfrance.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=47&Itemid=75)
I didn't get it right the first time, too hasty to get on with it, didn't get 'the lock', emptied the bottle too fast - and had put the box in the fridge on arrival as I didn't need it straight away and so had killed all the little wrigglers anyway. ::)
You can follow my initial ineptitude here:
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=15058.msg145418#msg145418 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=15058.msg145418#msg145418) - with a bit of luck, reading my mistakes will help you to make less! There are lots of really helpful tips from other forum members on that thread too.
Second time (three weeks later) I did ok (although as you can see, I was still rather unsure I had done it right:
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=15523.msg150801#msg150801 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=15523.msg150801#msg150801))
and three months, three weeks and three days later we got 5 lovely piglets. I had only insemenated her once as, not wanting to be too hasty I left it a bit late and she only let me do it once! :D ::) I'm sure there'd have been more piglets if I'd insemenated three times (as one is supposed to.)
Deerpark have one Saddleback boar at the moment, Blewett Prefect 86. The results of his semen on an OSB gilt can be seen here:
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=18495.msg173826#msg173826 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=18495.msg173826#msg173826)
and, moonlighting as sheep-pigs here:
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=18961.msg178163#msg178163 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=18961.msg178163#msg178163)
I really must take some up-to-date pics; they're 20-23kg (at 8 weeks) now!
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Maesgwyn - Deer Park also have a cracking Peter Lad boar semen store too (Berkshire), so might be worth trying that route for the Berkshire gilt too :thumbsup:
Mandy
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Hi :wave:
I have used the Lassitter; Orlando and Nama Abel Berkshire semen. The Orlando produced some crackers as did the Lassiter on my Excelsa sow.
Going to try the Peter Lad on one of my Berkshire "Lady" sows in the spring.
I have a Saddleback sow and am looking for a boar here in France - no luck yet so will probably have to AI.