Following weaning, the surge in energy that occurs as milk production stops trips off a different hormonal pathway centred around insulin and insulin-like growth factor that stimulates heat. The normal aim would be to re-serve the sow 3-7 days after weaning – a period usually regarded as the peak fertile time. Weaning is the process of transitioning piglets from nursing from its mother to eating independently. Ideally it should be carried out between the 3rd and 4th week after birth, depending on the weight of the pig. So you can probably imagine how stressful this process is not just for the pig owner, but for the pig itself.Sows and gilts have an average 21 day heat cycle, although this can range from 17 to 25 days. An average animal in heat today will be in heat again in three weeks.

How many days after weaning do sows come into heat?

After weaning, sows will come into heat again as quickly as 3 days but 4-7 days is more typical with an average return to heat of 5 days after weaning. Gilts are not so predictable and must be checked for heat daily until a standing heat is determined.

How often does a sow pig come in heat?

The female pig (sow) is ready to breed (reaches puberty) at 5 months of age and will show signs of being in heat. Some slow growing types and animals which are underfed will be older when they reach puberty. The sow will come into heat every 3 weeks throughout the year if she is not mated.

What can cause Anestrus?

Anestrus is the major component of postpartum infertility and is affected by several minor factors: season, breed, parity, dystocia, presence of a bull, uterine palpation and carryover effects from the previous pregnancy as well as two major factors: suckling and nutrition.

What is parity in pigs?

Parity. The number of litters a sow has carried (including current pregnancy), e.g. a second parity sow is in pig with or suckling her second litter.

How do you induce heat on sow?

Induction is a procedure used to advance estrus. Physical exposure using an intact or vasectomized boar provides the full range of stimuli. Hormonal injection in prepubertal gilts and sows with a combination also induces rapid follicle growth and estrus in 4 to 5 days.

What is weaning to service interval?

The weaning-to-first-service interval is defined as the days that pass from the weaning of a sow and the first service after this weaning. Its calculation is easy: for a group of sows, it consists in dividing the sum of the weaning-to-first-service intervals in this group of sows by the number of sows in the group.

When relative to weaning is the sow bred?

In study 1,the mean weaning-to-breeding interval was 7.6 days and the median was 5 days. Seventy percent of all breedings occurred on or before day 6 postweaning, while 12.6%of the sows were bred between days 7-10 postwean- ing.

How do gilts get in heat?

Hormonal injection in prepubertal gilts and sows with a combination of eCG and hCG induces rapid follicle growth and estrus in 4 to 5 days. In gilts, treatment a few weeks ahead of puberty or in those that have failed to respond to 3-4 weeks of boar exposure can also be effective.

When can you wean a pig from its mother?

You can wean anytime after 4 weeks, but keeping the piglets on their mom a bit longer than that, more like 8 weeks, gets them off to a better start. You should know that if you keep your piglets with the sow for longer periods of time, more than the 8 weeks, the sow may come back into heat before the pigs are weaned.

How often can a sow have piglets?

A sow can have piglets every 5-6 months, depending upon when you wean the litter of pigs she is nursing. The most common breeding/weaning schedule is every 6 months, which is weaning the piglets at 8 weeks then rebreeding. Some people choose to wean earlier, more like 4 weeks, which will get the sow to come into heat and breed back sooner.

How long does it take for a sow to go into heat?

It is very common for producers to give sows up to 7 days post weaning to show signs of estrus. After 7 days, the opportunity to catch a reliable heat is usually dependent on the sow’s ability to enter back into a normal estrous cycle.

Why do weaning groups of sows occur on the same day?

Thus, weaning groups of sows on the same day is a naturally occurring, effective means of estrus synchronization [8]. with the majority of females in “heat” on days 4 through 7 (Figure 9) [8-9].