Farrowing sows and gilts

I often read on Facebook and bulletin boards of people having trouble with sows or gilts having pigs.  This blog is about some of the experiences and things I do to prevent this problem and if you have the problem what you might do.  I have had my share of other breeds (Not the Chester White) with having difficult farrowings.  With the Chesters I can not remember the last time I had to pull a pig, in fact I do not even attend the farrowings, they can have them on their own.  Several things have lead up to this.  First if we have a sow have trouble farrowing, the sow is taken to town and all of her offspring are sold as well. There are no second chances and this has left us with a group of sows that do not have this problems.  Second we look at the boars, while we all like these wide chested boars with big shoulders and short necks, I think this has led to some of the problems that we are seeing in the industry right now.  I do not know the answer to this dilemma, as the current fad is these wide chested, big shoulder boars but perhaps do not use these on your gilts. In selecting gilts I am very particular, no upturn vulvas, no small vulvas, and a gilt that is long bodied and has a deep body were she can carry a big litter of pigs.  I also feel a gilt needs to look feminine in their appearance.  If you have trouble getting the AI rod up into the gilt, she might be too tight.  Also the condition of the sow or gilt is of upmost importance, don't get them too fat.  I had a vet tell me once you ought to see the sows backbone to be in the right shape to farrow, I think this is going a little too far myself.  Supplies you need on hand is oxytocin injectable, lube, pencillin injectable, LA 200, and gloves.  A sow will generally have milk anywhere from 24 to 1 hour before farrowing.  Generally they will have a nesting behavior before farrowing, that is they will rake around with their front feet and if hay or wood chips are available they will make a nest out or these.  Watch for a bloody discharge or discharge in general.  Once they start having pigs they should have them about every 15 minutes as a rule of thumb.  Sometimes they will have two at once, this is not unusual (one right after the other).  Pigs can come head first or tail first.  Generally the pigs are walking or moving theirselves out of the sow.  You should notice two different bunches of pigs, one from each uterine horn (I think this is the proper way to describe this) so she may have 6-7 pigs then take a break and have 6-7 more.    If you have to go up in the sow or gilt because you think a pig is stuck follow the following procedure.  First put on your gloves, make sure your fingernails are trimmed and short and lube up your glove and the sow.  Sometimes it doesn't hurt to place lube up into the sow take a syringe of lube and place this in the sow.  Gently go up into the sow or gilt and check for a pig, if none are present then give a small injection of oxytocin to help the sow along with labor.  Be careful pulling pigs not to tear the sows uterine wall and the less times you have to go up into the sow or the gilt the better, as swelling occurs and this makes it tougher for the sow or gilt to have pigs.  My first gilt killed her pigs.  I later learned this was because she was hurting and attributed the pigs with the pain.  If this happens tie the sow up, a front leg and perhaps tape her mouth shut like they do alligators.  Also keep the pigs away from the sow or gilt until she calms down.  I hope this helps and remember it is just my opinion on how to farrow sows.

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5:58:00 AM

by John K

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Landslide Chester White Boar

Landslide was the first place in class three at the 2010 Summer Type Conference bred by Dusty and Wade Conover.  Littermate gilt was the Reserve Champion at the same show.  Dam was the 2009 Summer Team Purebred “Foundation Female” donated by Jenna Wheeler and bought for $4000 by the Conovers.  Landslide’s granddam was Champion over all breeds at two shows in the Illinois Club Pig Circuit and second in class at the 2008 National Junior Show behind the Grand Champion

Landslide’s sire is “Power Fluid” at Armstrongs and is rank 2^nd in herd boars and is described as a powerful, great fronted, with lots of bone and foot size that will make great show gilts, barrows, and breeding stock all in one.

Landslide is fluid in his movement and has a great set of hind legs and is sound in his hip area. Notice in the picture Landslide is very level in his top with good groove and dimple in his tailhead and a high tail setting, a very pretty boar that will make great showpigs.  At 335 pounds Landslide had 0.89 backfat and a large 10.2 loin eye
Semen is $50 per dose. With a standard $60 shipping charge.  For semen contact John Koscelny at 918-520-6297 anytime.

 

Big Track Chester White Boar

Rake Genetics bought Big Track from us at the 2008 Summer Type Conference. He proved to be a wise investment for this firm siring a Hog College Gilt and many other great hogs. This boar also left this firm with a great set of females, and stamps his pigs with his bone, foot size, soundness and all the attributes that is needed in keeping Chester Whites - “The Right White - for the 21^st Century“.

When Tom called in the Fall of 2010 and offered the me the chance to acquire this boar, I was extremely happy. I sincerely believe this boar can make Chester Whites better, no he won’t sire you a small hog that some want at this time but will sire the hog that I have seen some of the great hog men in the business say we need. Jack Wall saw this boar in the Fall of 2010 and said this boar was “Awesome” and to breed him to everything possible. Tom Rake can’t say enough good about this boar and I think he left a lasting impression on him about a boar coming out of “Oklahoma” and being as functional as this boar. I think everyone needs to breed a sow or two to this boar to raise those gilts that will keep them in the hog business when this current fad of small hogs loses steam and we come back around to a functional hog. To quote Al Christian from the 2011 March/April Breeders Digest “Perhaps I’m old-fashioned but for me are some basics that should never go out of style - structural correctness, balance, foot size, and leanness/muscle to a sensible degree”.

Big Track will bring all of these to your herd, give him a try and keep the Chester White breed in demand. Semen is priced at $50 per dose with a standard $60 shipping charge.  Call John at 918-520-6297.

Book from Amazon on Swine AI Handbook for Swine Artificial Insemination

Making Showpigs Grow

Over the years I have learned many things on getting a hog to grow fast.  I always get a call or two from a desperate parent on how can I get my child's pig to grow.  First let say having good, fresh feed, fresh water (warm in the winter time) and buying from a reputable breeder who knows his bloodlines, will let you probably prevent you from having the slow growing problem.  But sometimes you get one of those slow growers. So here is a few things you might do to help with this problem.  Also if you have a question give me a call at 918-520-6297 and I will discuss with you what might help. 

Clean, fresh water and warm water in the winter time is of upmost importance.  Good quality, fresh feed (check the label and see when the feed is made or call the feed manufacturer with the number on the sack and ask) sometimes it not uncommon for some of this feed to have been setting in the feed store for 6 months.  Maybe the stock wasn't rotated or who knows what.  Also a lot is made of these high dollar feeds, but a good quality feed with the right protein for your pig is all that is sometimes needed. 

B vitamin injections help with appetite.  A good milk protein in an extreme case will help alot, milk protein such as Ensure is great and sometimes you can find out-of-date Ensure that is cheaper. Also if the pig just doesn't want to eat try Purina High Protein dog food, sometimes they will eat this when they will eat nothing else.  This  works well on sows that have just farrowed will not eat as well. 

Get the pigs up as often as possible and get their heads in the feed trough, pigs nurse on the sow every hour when they are babies and if keep this schedule up it is amazing how fast they grow.   I have got up in the middle of the night and got the pigs up to eat.  If the pigs are sick, medicate them, just watch the withdrawal times. 

If you use antibiotics make sure to use yogurt to get good bacteria back in their gut.  A lone pig might need a mate and you use the competitive nature of the pig to get them to eat more.  But with boars this can be a problem.  Starter feed topdressed on their regular feed will sometimes help as well.  Feeding in a trough as well as having a self feeder is a must. 

Keep pigs warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  Have the kids cool the pigs several times  on those hot afternoons and see if they don't go to the feeder.  Strawberry jello in the feed helps with feed consumption as well, pigs like the strawberry favor, also jello can help with the joints.   Again if you have a problem pig give me call at 918-520-6297 and maybe we can diagnose the problem over the phone.   We have won many rate-of-gain contests and I have several people who thought they wouldn't even make weight a month before the show, end up with the Champion pig at the show.  Hope this helps and a good book on nutrition from Amazon.com can help you understand nutrition better as well.

Here is a book from Amazon - Swine Nutrition, Second Edition
                                                

What Johns Swine Blog is about

This blog is created to share with everyone some of the things I have learned in the almost 40 years of raising purebred Chester White hogs. I will post in the title what is in the blog and you can take the information and decide if you think it is valid for you or not. I hope you get something out of the information.