Anyone do AI for pigs?

I have a left over female runt and I'm considering breeding her. I've heard people use runts on purpose because they throw smaller piglets.
Lastly year it was very hard to secure weeners and we didn't get them till July. This year may be harder with PED virus.

Thoughts on if I should:
Do AI
Rent a Boar
Buy & young Boar and then slaughter (& hope for no taint)

Try AI first.

The first time we did it it worked !

Find your suppliers, read their contract and delivery schedule then wait for your sow to show signs of coming into season.

Its best if you have two people, otherwise the sow tries to turn round all the time. One person concentrates on the head, scratching, sweet talk etc. the other person takes care of the the other end.



Read up about other people's experience.

Memorise the instructions, take your time and wait.

"Its best if you have two people, otherwise the sow tries to turn round all the time. One person concentrates on the head, scratching, sweet talk etc. the other person takes care of the the other end."

Sounds like she might not be in peak heat.

Ah, there you are Walter! What are your thoughts on my 3 options?

Thoughts in order of thunking:

1) I would not breed a runt. Runting is generally caused by some sort of genetic or congenital defect. I would eat her.

2) Runting is not likely to be passed on but if it is a genetic flaw then the genetic flaw has a good chance of showing up in the offspring or grand offspring. This is not a sure way to produce small pigs. It is important to understand the difference between true runt vs just progressively smaller animals. She might be either.

3) If bred to a normal boar she will likely throw normal size piglets which may be very hard on her. Thus go with a small breed if you can.

4) If you're dead set on breeding her then get the best genetics from a small breed into her that you can which will tend the offspring towards smaller and hopefully cover up any genetic defect if she has one. Might work. The easiest, safest way to get the best genetics is probably AI unless you have a local boar. I'm very cautious about Rent-a-Boar for biosecurity reasons but then I've got a lot more pigs to protect. Doing AI gives you a chance to practice AI which could be valuable. This avoids PEDv, hopefully, as long as it can't be transmitted in semen and isn't in the source boar. (Ick.) On the other thought of PEDv is that you'll be exposing her which then protects the piglets according to my understanding of this disease.

But I would eat her.

We've been AIing our sow for three years and as long as we have the timing right it has worked well. There are some good videos online showing how people AI their pigs. Watching heat cycles is the most important thing for AIing. It is a little tougher when they are all alone we've found but if you check her for swelling everyday when you feed you should be able to see the difference. If you already think you have a good idea when she is going to go into heat you can order the semen and have it ready. I think most places have stabilizers that give the semen a shelf life of 7 days. With the collection and shipping day that means you have a 5 day window. We normally get two doses so we can do her once she goes into standing and then and the back end. The shipping is usually the most expensive unless your getting a really rare top quality breed so the two doses is a good insurance plan. If you know someone with a boar you can take a towel and give him a good rubbing. Some people say that helps to get the sow to really stand.

The only time we had probables is when we miscalculate the heat cycle and she starts showing signs on friday. Then you wont beable to get the semen before monday.

We add two new sows this fall so we decided to add a boar to the mix to make sure we don't miss anymore heat cycles and to control our genetics a bit better..

Josh, where do you order the semen from?