February | 2019 | Curiousfarmer

First Litter, 2019

February 22, 2019

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2019 farrowing started well as Susie Q gave birth to 16 piglets yesterday, and after a cold night that dipped into the teens F, she still had 15 alive and nursing this morning.

I could see she was going to farrow yesterday morning so I put 2 straw bales and 1 hay bale loose where she could get to them and she spent a few hours building the giant nest you can see in the photo below. It works better if you let the sow build her own nest for some reason. All the women reading this are probably like, duh!

I wish all my sows were as good of mothers as she. And humbly, I tell you she wasn’t even chosen as a breeder. She was a runt that got accidentally bred, and after a first litter of only 4 piglets born, she’s had big litters since. I think this is her 4th litter.

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2019 Herd Boars

February 12, 2019

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The best two herd boars I think I’ve ever had are Father and Son. Zone, pictured above is out of an AI mating, Waldo Duroc, Red Zone. I had been having trouble with my boars not having much mating desire, but Zone is excellent. The only problem is he is also people aggressive, but I think I can continue to work with him if I’m careful.

He is being mated to Chester White sows out of an AI mating, Longevity. They will farrow this spring and I’ll evaluate them again. The Chester White gilts definitely had less piglets born and saved than my Landrace gilts in the past.

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End Zone is pictured above. He is a son of Zone. He is being mated to Rising Sun Duroc gilts for early summer litters. The Rising Sun gilts have very friendly personalities, but we’ll see how they do as mothers.

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