Start of the summer farrowing season yesterday. First litter out of this gilt and she did well. 13 live no stillborns. 2 gilts 11 boars. AI'd a dose of duroc and then my boar took over duties. Only got 2 of the berkshire/duroc cross the rest are pure berkshire. Anyone else raising some hogs?

I’m just getting into it. Have a Duroc and a Berkshire barrow to put in the freezer this winter. The old spot will be a breeder and hopefully have a litter next spring. I didn’t realize there could be more than one sire to a litter. Will have to take that into account when I get my AI supplies

I really do miss those days of my youth, thank you for sharing !

Look at all of those little pigs!

We got 2 Berkshires, 2 Tamworths , A Hampshire, and a Duroc. These are all spoken for. I raised two last year and this year four buddies wanted one apiece. I keep my own corn and crack it to keep costs down.

Is it hard to keep a gilt and get her bred? Is AI hard to do?

When my kids were in 4 H, a girl that was 12 gave a demo on it.

That said, we always bought pigs for $15-30 at auction in fall.
Grew out and killed in Spring.

Reminds of a similar sow that wanted to know who was going to feed her litter. LOL

No, it is quite easy to do. Plenty of videos and literature online to follow along with. Semen costs anywhere from 30-150 a dose (2-3 doses per breeding). I usually get a cheaper boar because these won't be show pigs. For just a couple sows AI is nice since you don't have to feed a boar all year.