[PPF]

Hi guys

Being new to keeping pigs I'm not sure on the choices I have when wanting to put a boar to my sow.

She's a Kune Kune and is eighteen months old.  Ideally I'd like to stay with a small breed.
I'm kind of hoping that I can transport my pig to the boar, but does it work like that?  I'd hate to be in charge of someone else's pig.

Can anyone give me further help please?  I'm based in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.

[HappyHippy]

Hiya 

I'm away up in Scotland so too far to be any practical help, but yes, the usual is to take your gilt/sow to the boar. 18 months is getting on slightly in pig terms, so don't leave it much longer before you mate her or you might find she struggles to conceive 
In terms of what to mate with - Kunekune would be the obvious choice, but Berkshire is also a good meat cross I'm told. We've used our Kune boar on our OSB sow, and the resulting piglets were super, but I wouldn't do it with a Kune sow because of the size difference and potential problems at delivery. Both breeds have a website, with a list of breeders - best thing is to check them and see who is closest. Make contact with a few people and see what they say.
Avoid putting her to a boar who is significantly bigger than her too, incase she gets hurt during service. She'll have to support him for as much as 30 minutes, so you don't want her back legs giving out under the weight. When we have pigs here for service I like to keep them til at least 4 weeks after service, this gives you time to check they're definately in pig and allows longer to make sure the embryo's are well implanted and reduces the risk of abortion when travelling home.

You want to make sure she's up to date with worming and if you're vaccinating for anything (erysipelas and parvo being the most obvious ones) make sure it's all done before she goes too 

The other thing to consider is why you are breeding ? If it's to give a supply of pork for your own freezer then fine, or if you have buyers lined up and prepared to wait 6 months for weaners, all good - but be aware of how many people there are selling pigs around you and what the demand is like in your area. You're lining up for a summer farrowing and having pigs ready for sale around September time - the demand for weaners does tend to slow in the last half of the year. Ask yourself, "if none of these piglets sold and I had to keep them all, could I manage and do I have the facilities to be able to house them ?" If the answer is no, don't put her to the boar.
Sorry, don't mean to preach  - but it's essential you really think ahead before breeding, for your sake as much as the pigs 
HTH
Karen

[Fowgill Farm]

Agree 100% with what HH has said.
try reading http://www.oldspots.org.uk/getting_started5.asp to breed or not to breed article its on the GOS website but give you some food for thought.
Good luck
mandy

[Button End Beasts]

HH, I'm not sure about the vaccination bit you refer to. Is it usual to vaccinate gilts/ sows before breeding or just in certain areas or certain cases? I ask as we have a boar in for my gilt and I wormed her but no vaccinations. Shall I do this quick?

[HappyHippy]

Hi Button End,

We vaccinate routinely for erysipelas here, mainly because we don't want to risk any of our stock getting it (because we take our pigs to shows etc) - it affects the joints and it's not recommended you breed from pigs who've been infected as it can be passed to the piglets, as well as affecting the pig. Erysipelas is treatable with antibiotics and pigs will make a good recovery if caught early enough, so for freezer weaners it's not as important - but for me, for breeding stock, it's worth it because I don't want to lose any of my breeding pigs from the herd.
If your boar has come from a good breeder or been on the show circut, I'd expect he'd already be vaccinated so your gilt should hopefully be fine  But if you want to treat her, it's 2 jabs, 4 weeks apart and then boosters every 6 months, your vet will be able to talk you through it 
The other diseases you can vaccinate against are parvo (causes mummified piglets, abortion etc) and pneumonia - again, a quick chat with your vet will sort it (maybe draw up a herd health plan if you haven't already ? Here's a link to the BPA template  http://www.britishpigs.org.uk/BPA%20FHP%20Template.pdf)
HTH
Karen 

[Button End Beasts]

Thanks for that Karen, very helpful. I'm not going to shows and I plan on keeping or selling most of the weaners for meat.... unless I get any really smashing piglets which meet breed standards.