How to Choose a Boar for Breeding on Your Farm
Choosing the right boar for a breeding operation takes significant effort and research. You need to ensure you have the right quality boar for the job to get the best results and improve the herd quality.
A breeding boar needs good leg conformation, properly shaped testicles, documented good health, and to be at the right age. The boar’s original herd should be of excellent health and genetics. The producer should use a highly selective program to produce the best boars.
You should read on if you are interested in learning more about how to select a boar for breeding on your farm. I will cover the important factors in the selection process, how many boars you need per sow, and why choosing the right boar is essential.
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How Can You Tell a Good Boar?
Several key characteristics are needed when choosing the ideal boar for your breeding operation. These features will ensure you get the best results when breeding your herd. If the boar you are eying is missing any of these traits, it is best to look elsewhere.
Solid leg conformation
Strong gait
Confidence when walking
Properly shaped testicles
Trim sheath near the belly
No sign of injury, old or new, near the genitals
Proper age
Has documented proof of good health
Has documented proof of negative status for specific diseases
You can watch this video to find out more about selecting a boar for the breeding process:
What Are the Factors to Consider When Selecting the Breeding Boar?
Selecting the right breeding boar is essential to your hog operation. If anything is wrong with the boar you choose, it could be detrimental to your entire business. Many things could be wrong with your new boar, from illness to poor body structure.
You need to consider physical characteristics, genetics, the health of his original herd, environmental factors, and the selection process the breeder has in place. Each element is critical in your decision, as it can significantly impact your herd.
Let’s take a look at the factors that are important in the selection of the breeding boar.
Good Leg Form
When choosing a breeding boar, one of the first factors to consider is his leg conformation. The legs and feet are essential in breeding due to the strain they go through during mating. Without strong limbs, he will not be able to breed successfully.
Avoid a boar with any strange appearance in the legs, including the legs being tucked too far in or the knees being angled in. He should have a confident, strong gait on all four legs with no apparent problems.
Properly Shaped Testicles
Another critical factor is his testicles. If there is anything wrong with them, he may not be able to mate successfully, and you will have to cull him. Before you purchase your boar, you will need to perform a thorough examination.
There should be absolutely no withering of the boar’s testicles. They should be evenly matched in size, with one slightly higher than the other in the scrotum. It is generally accepted that larger testicles indicate a more significant opportunity for fertility.
You will also want to see a trim sheath near the belly, as longer sheaths make the boar prone to infection. If there is any sign of injury to the genital area, whether old or current, do not proceed with the purchase.
The Right Age
Boars should be purchased between six and seven months of age and for at least two months before the start of the breeding season. This two-month period will allow for isolation from the rest of the herd for health testing and performance evaluation.
Age is important because if you begin mating your boar too early, his ability to breed may become severely impacted. Additionally, his working life can be shortened heavily by starting too early.
You will also find that boars from large litters that reach puberty at young ages will, in turn, produce daughters that reach maturity at young ages.
Health Status
You will need to have a guarantee of the health status of the herd you are getting your boar from. This guarantee includes documentation of veterinary visits, vaccinations, and diagnostic reports. Your veterinarian will need to be in close contact with their veterinarian.
The introduction of a diseased animal is the biggest threat to your herd. That is another reason why verifying the health of the boar you select is so essential. A disease outbreak could severely damage your herd’s well-being, causing you economic hardship.
In addition to having your veterinarian verify the new boar’s health, you should follow a period of isolation to monitor for any unknown, hidden diseases and conditions. This practice will prevent unnecessary problems down the road.
If the breeder cannot produce records or the herd seems sickly, it is best to find another option for purchasing your boar. The animal’s health is critical, especially when considering the impact it can have on your entire herd.
Genetic Value
The longer you can use your boar for breeding, the more cost-effective the purchase. With each dose of semen you get from your boar, his cost effectively decreases. However, as the boar ages, his semen loses genetic value, making him less of an asset.
When choosing your boar, there are two options for genetic sourcing. Some stud farms are dedicated to single-genetic source production, while others use multi-genetic choices. You will have to base your decision on the breeder’s genetic program in this situation.
There are three levels of companies from which a boar can be sourced: large international companies, national companies, and reputable individual breeders. You will find different breeding objectives, calculations, and numbers of animals tested at each type of breeder.
You will have to decide if you want a single-sourced boar or if you are on board with purchasing a multi-genetic option. The producer should be able to provide you with all the documentation you need regardless of which option you choose to go with.
Environmental Factors
Environmental aspects such as housing, feeding, weather, and management can all impact the genetic expression of performance traits. Litter size and weaning weight are also significant environmental factors in determining a boar’s reproductive future.
Boars from smaller litters tend to have larger testicles. The presumption is that they receive more nutrients, allowing them to develop better than those reared in larger litters.
Those boars with higher birth weights also had higher concentrations of sperm per ejaculation, making them more fertile than those of lower birth weights.
Studies have also found that boars that reach sexual maturity in the winter tend to have higher fertility rates.
Conformation and Physical Soundness
While you will be purchasing your boar at the young age of six or seven months old, you will want to ensure he has a strong conformation and good physical soundness. There should be no signs of weakness at this young age, as this can only lead to problems later on.
His toes and pasterns should not be long, weak, or misshapen. Again, his testes should be in good shape, with the proper size and positioning. While larger does indicate more fertility, it does not mean higher libido.
Purchasing From Breeders Who Have a Careful Selection Program
It is also important to purchase from a breeder who has a careful selection program of their own. Their program should be supported by meticulously kept records that detail everything. They should be selecting boars that will produce fast-growing pigs with desirable carcasses.
Like dog breeding, they should know the ancestry of their boars to know which breeding couples produce the highest quality specimens. These records will allow them to tell you which boars have the best genetic traits you may seek.
Seronegative for Certain Conditions
A reputable breeder will also have detailed records of their stock tested for various diseases.
At a minimum, you should receive verification that your intended boar is seronegative for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, brucellosis, and pseudorabies. As I mentioned, it is important to isolate your new boar to ensure he has none of these conditions.
Physical Contact
Research has found that until a boar is 30 weeks old, he needs physical contact with other hogs. Following puberty, a young boar will need to be housed near female hogs to allow for the development of courting and serving behavior.
You will want to ensure that any boar you are considering has not been isolated during this crucial period. He will not have the social skills necessary to make him a successful breeder, and you will have problems with him.
After your brief period of isolation, you will want to set your new boar up so that he is living communally with the rest of the pigs. Keeping him isolated for too long will not benefit his breeding capabilities.
Observation of Sexual Behavior
It can also be helpful to get an observation of the sexual behavior of young boars. Alternatively, if the boar has been jump tested and an evaluation is done on his semen, that is also helpful information to determine whether you will make the purchase.
How Many Boars Do You Need Per Sow?
Typically, there is one boar for every twenty sows on large farms. In small herds, this ratio can change to one boar for every fifteen to eighteen sows. However, this is just a guideline, and each individual herd will have its own needs.
Where double and triple matings are performed, boar requirements are based on the number of sows mated weekly instead of the total number in the herd. Additionally, you will have to factor in the boar’s replacement age.
If you use artificial insemination, you will use even fewer boars. So, as you can see, how you inseminate plus herd specifics determines the number of boars you need for your operation.
Why is Boar Selection Important?
Boar selection is critical to the long-term performance of the herd. Because of this, it should be based on the animal’s genetic merit and not just his physical appearance.
Selecting superior boars from sources outside the farm can result in extreme genetic improvements in the swine herd. These superior boars can then be used to produce enhanced replacement gilts for the herd.
Additionally, selecting a healthy boar is key to protecting the integrity of the swine herd. Introducing a sick or diseased animal to the herd can destroy the entire operation.
Understanding the animal’s history is critically important before making a purchasing decision. A reputable producer should have documentation demonstrating the excellent health of the animal and have no problem with verification from your veterinarian.
Additionally, breeding is physically taxing on a boar, so if you do not choose one with good physical characteristics, you run the chance of him not being able to mate successfully. His working years may be shortened, making him a poor investment.
The primary goal of boar selection is to improve the swine herd. You are looking for an optimal specimen to increase your pigs’ positive genetic traits to make them more marketable.
If you are not careful in the selection process, you could choose a boar that negatively impacts these genetic traits. The result would be a reduction in the quality of your herd.
Final Thoughts
It’s crucial to choose the right boar for breeding on your farm. Several important factors must be considered when making the decision, or you could damage your breeding operation.
When selecting your breeding boar, you must verify his health, physical conformities, genetics, and environment. The goal is to introduce a superior stock to your herd to improve its genetic qualities, and the only way to do this is through a highly selective process.
Boar selection is the most crucial aspect of the breeding process because it can impact the overall quality of your swine herd. The optimal choice will improve the herd’s genetic traits, creating a more marketable product.
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