[Mrs Snoodles]

  huge hello to everyone,
I am not new to pig keeping but new to breeding    I kept meat weaners for years and sold on halves but have only recently set up my breeding stock.   I have tried to research on the Internet, made queries at my vets (no answer yet) and brought a couple of books.  I can't seem to find any info re testing for pregnancy with a small scale set up (as opposed to commercial farms)  Does anyone have any advice?  Has anyone used the Urine test kit or ultrasound?  Is the visual system better than the sound one?

My gilts are due end Sept and they show some signs of bagging up (although that is kind of dependent on how optimistic I am at the time!) and have not come in season since being with boar. We have witnessed the boar mounting etc, so all in all it should be ok.  They are outside on grass and on a low protein diet yet seem to be gaining weight.

I realise that once I get started and follow a fairly strict routine, breeding every 6 months it should all be fairly straight forward  but it is just getting through it all the first time.   I guess when you've done it loads of times you get an eye for it but as for now!!?......

Any help is much appreciated, thanks Mrs Snoodles (a pig Moshi Monster btw....)

[HappyHippy]

Hiya 

I've made enquiries about the urine test from a company I found on-line, never heard anything back despite chasing several times 
There is an ultrasound/doppler available (infact if you look back through the forums for a post with Agri-tech in the subject you'll see loads of info about it) it works out at around £350. It won't tell you how many or how far along but will detect uterine sounds indicating pregnancy 
The visual ones are the business (but at over £1000 they'd have to be  ) My friend who works in a commercial piggery has one, it's so good his little boy was using it to see his heart.......if only that lottery win would hurry up 
If they've never come back into season and are begining to bag up, I think you're fairly safe to say they're in pig  Better get reading up and prepared 
HTH
Karen

[Fowgill Farm]

Hi mrs snoodles (love the name)
A good way of telling is to get your girl laid on her side and place the palm of your hand on her tummy towards the fold of her back leg, you should be able to feel piglets moving around especially upto 3wks to go, if you watch carefully you will also see ripples in the belly.
Cheeck out the GOS website getting started articles, i've written one on farrowing, bear in mind its what worked for me but you will be able to adapt it to your setup
HTh & good luck with your farrowing
Mandy  

[kitchen cottage]

I only have one pig and she stays with the boar until she would have had a second cycle, if she doesn't return its assumed she's in pig (and she always has been).
 
She doesn't always show but a couple of weeks before  you can  start to see a horizontal line between her stomach and her teats, before they bag up.  She only bags up a few days before she delivers but the horizontal line is there before that.  according to the interweb, if her clitoral hood is pointing up she's knocked up, but I'd never heard that before.
 
Good luck and don't let her get too fat.   

[Mrs Snoodles]

Many thanks for this pointers.  I had thought about a Polish £300 ultrasound but was a bit concerned about not actually getting to grips with it all properly and wasting my money.  A vet nurse had also warned me that it could just show a 'load of snowflakes'.  The commercial ones sound amazing but then again so is the price!
The girls are super friendly so I will initially try and feel their tummies and see if I can spot a line. 
Karen, Re...the urine test...was this from a Chinese company? 
The girls are looking bigger though and tbh if they weren't in pig I would now be worrying that they were oversized.  I have bred them at roughly a year old and at that size they just looked like stout healthy outdoor pigs.  Good looking, solid and strong.  They've been on 16 percent sow diet to keep the weight off and have a lot of space.   
Thanks for the farrowing article heads up Mandy. Hopefully I will have a similar set up to yours as we have access to indoor stables.  I am going to use a crate, first time round for all concerned. I figured it would be safer.  Thanks again fellow pig people

[HappyHippy]

Karen, Re...the urine test...was this from a Chinese company? 

Yes, it was  Pig Pregtector or summit like that  I think one or two other people have also tried but with no success 

[P6te]

Hi Mrs Snoodles

It was probably my post that Karen referred to, see here for details.  This is an offer for TAS members for the Agritech Doppler. If you are interested PM me and I can give you more information.

As you'll see I purchased one and am still learning to use it and only with time will I really be 100% sure of its use.  I have used it a couple of times on our sow who if I have interpreted the sound correctly (they say that you cannot get a false, positive result) is in pig.  I have also used it on a sow who only had a week to go and heard a VERY CLEAR and unmistakable sound confirming pregnancy.

Out of interest, where are you based?

Pete

[Fowgill Farm]

Mrs snoodles
Just my opinion but you don't need a farrowing crate if you know your pigs well, how would you like to have been caged whilst you gave birth!?   So long as you have rails or a creche for the piglets to escape to you can let your girl give birth as nature intended.
Generally crates are only used if your pig is a known nasty piece of work or in a commercial set up, i know others will agree to disagree on the use of crates with me but they're not something i approve of.
Its all about knowing your pigs and being around when they give birth.
HTH
Mandy 

[Mrs Snoodles]

thanks Pete. I'm based in Suffolk.   I have to say that I do like the idea of being able to know if all is running along as planned, especially as with some forward marketing I can start booking halves to repeat customers (had a few already : ) and start pushing weaners.  Demand, even to the few people I have spoken too about it all, seems to be quite strong.  3 finished pigs are already sold from the litters I hope to get soon.

Mandy, have to say, if I were dealing with my large blacks I wouldn't be that concerned about using a crate. However these pigs are Hampshires and are docile enough, always loaded beautifully, never any trouble.....but they do have an edge to them.  I just feel that especially for these gilts that we may be better off with a crate.  Tbh, I will move them to their indoor space and see how it goes.  See how they both settle.  I don't like crates but the few people I have spoken to here have advised me to play safe for now. 

[Fowgill Farm]

Ah Mrs S each to their own reasoning .
Robert & Lill keep hampshires and they'll be your best bet for advice on them, think they're at Lanark mart this morning but will no doubt put a word in later.
mandy 

[RaisinHall Tamworths]

We have Hampshires and we farrow ours in a stable  .  Got some due September and the sows will be moving into the maternity suite this weekend  .  Our sows are quiet and relaxed and get on with being mums no bother, hopefully yours will too  .
Have to say our Hampshires are harder work to handle than the Tamworths though 

[robert waddell]

yes we bring ours into a maternity unit as well      gilts can be a little bit  of not knowing what to do    but Hampshire's are no worse than any other breed       we have one sow that can open spring bars on the gates quicker than you can close them      even when it has been out for three and a half months  soon as she is in  just opens the gate      never used a farrowing crate      but all our pigs are well handled     even if a bit wild in the show ring