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Advanced Member
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Last Login: 2 days ago @ 6:38:37 AM
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| Well if J from the other side of the river comes down with Herefords for P2 in Nov.....I was wondering what are the pros vs cons of keep the boar with Ruby, Garnet and the other Hereford gilt 24/7? How old does a boar need to be before you can use him to breed? Or does it go by weight, like breeding a 1st time gilt?
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 9/18/2011 8:56:05 AM
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We've never been around boars so we can't tell you about the personality. With pigs they become ready for breeding at 8 months old. Then they'll carry piglets for 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. They won't come back into heat when nursing, but after weaning will come back into heat. So the sows essentually if living with a boar 24/7(don't have them in with the piglets. When you have piglets we were told to only have the mother with them for awhile) the sows would always be with babies. So it would be harder to keep condition on them. Lily lost weight nursing and we were told that it will take a bit to get the lost condition back. Even most breeders who like to have two litters a year out of each sow say that after the August weaning they will give the sows a break to recover for next year then breed in October. But with the boar living with them 24/7 you wouldn't have to worry about missing a heat and you wouldn't have to learn to AI. So it's what your would rather deal with. But with the buck goats it's easier to have them with companions all the time because they're easier to handel, and boars do get big and P2 might not be able to handle one when it dosen't want to do something.
There are two types of people:Those who can walk away from the farm and those who cannot. Those who can walk away should not walk but run to a much easier lifestyle.
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 2/8/2012 5:59:45 AM
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We have never used AI for our sows, but have kept boars off and on when we needed them. A boar can get huge and hard to handle. We got rid of our last boar because DH said he was getting too big for me to work with and because he was pushing our sows away from their feed. We have fence feeders and this guy would run from one feeder to the next and eat up the feed as fast as I could put it out. Boars can also be a problem to keep inside the fence, if they are pastured. An electric fence helps, but believe me they know the minute it is not working. Then of course there is the cost of buying and feeding the boar. I don't know how much semen costs, so can't make a comparison there. Those are just some of the cons. I believe the previous poster answered many of the pros, so I won't do a repeat except to say that a boar will try again and again when a sow is in heat, so I guess there would be a better chance of conception.
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Advanced Member
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Last Login: 9/23/2010 4:13:39 PM
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Our boars used to try and kill the younger piglets back when we had them, so we always kept ours off too. In fact in thinking about livestock I cannot think of one type of livestock that does well with males/females living together.
Come to think of it, in my life it has worked that way too. Maybe if the wife and I lived in seperate homes we would not be getting a divorce. 
******
Tell a welfare recipient they must work and they call their congressman. Tell a farmer he can no longer work and he commits suicide. No wonder 1/2% of the population feeds the other 99-1/2%!!
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New Member
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Last Login: 3/11/2011 8:06:15 PM
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One boar will do just fine with your sows. Just make sure he is smaller than they are (they will be dominant).
Treat him with respect and kindness, let him trust you, and he will be easy to be around.
Brian Wright
Large Black and Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs
Raised humanely on pasture
Homegrown Acres
Heritage Hog Blog
HomegrownAcres@gmail.com
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