Filed under: May 2017, Uncategorized | Tags: Artificial Insemination for pork, boar, Hog Breeding, hogs, Pig breeding, piglets, pigs, Small Farming
May 25, 2017
Our red sow was bred last time using artificial insemination. I was a bit skeptical at first but my son and his friend convinced me that it would work good. We had recently sold our boar and had not replaced him yet. Jake and Brian, told me what to do, where to order the boar “seed” and reassured me saying they would take care of making it happen. That was about 4 months ago. Today, 10 little piglets are nursing on a very good mother.
Now, for the “inside and very funny”…rest of the story.
The UPS driver rolled into our drive with a package. I asked him if it was corn seed or boar seed. He thought a minute and handed me the package with two fingers and said, “I don’t think it’s corn.” I took the package to our basement, in keeping with the directions included with the boar seed. There were also plastic “corkscrews” inside the package. I knew right then, that this was going to be an interesting project.
Our little red sow, is not little by any means. She weighs over five hundred pounds and measures over six feet long. She is over waist high when she stands up. She is tame…and that turned out to be a good thing. The first attempt to see if the sow was ready for a male visitor, lead to some unpleasant grunts and squeals from her. We tried for a whole day, over several hours to no avail.
Brian shows up with a can of “boar spray” ( no crap..it smells like a male pig!) He sprayed a little near the flirtatious sow and shazam… she was in a standing heat and ready to breed. The corkscrew thing that came with the boar seed was inserted and actually screwed into place. The semen came in a soft plastic bottle and was squirted into the corkscrew tube. Deed done, but to make the sow relax, Brian sat on the sow backwards to imitate the weight of the boar.
That was a sight…tall sow, short man…he looked more like a one legged kangaroo hopping around the pen saying kind words and squeezing the bottle! Remember, he was seated backwards, so this too made for a funny thing to watch. I was grateful to Brian then and now… A.I works, but I believe that I will continue to keep a boar! I’m just not good at hopping one legged and backwards to boot!
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RicelandMeadows 
What? No wine and candles?
Comment by Aunt June May 26, 2017 @ 8:10 amOh i wosh you had pictures that sounds hilarious!!
Comment by stidhamranch May 26, 2017 @ 4:07 pmYou guys are funny!
Comment by ricelandmeadows May 26, 2017 @ 4:26 pmSid, I had to act serious while we were doing the breeding, but the little boy inside of me was truly rolling on the floor laughing. I had to bite my lip twice!