# When is a sow too old to breed?



## 3kidsomy (Jan 6, 2008)

I've looked but haven't found an answer. My sow is 4 and her last litter was her biggest and best yet, her body condition was great and stayed great the whole 8 weeks with 12 piglets, and the piglets grew like weeds, so i am thinking she isn't ready to stop yet. Are there signs i should look for or is there a set age or a set amount of litters? Thanks:happy:


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

At a conference at the World Pork Expo I saw a photo of a sow that had 23 litters for a genetics company. I don't remember her lifetime production, but she was productive. If she averaged 2.2 litters per year, whe was over 10 years old when she had her last litter.

Jim


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## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

If you keep her healthy and don't let her get too overweight between litters, she should produce at least another 2 to 4 years with no problem. She could even go longer than that.

When you start to notice that she's losing a lot of condition with a litter, or starts taking longer to breed back, you'll know it's time to replace her.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

When the litter size starts to drop she is reaching the point where she has run her course.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

If she's a good sow saying in fine condition and continuing to produce I would keep her going. No need for a set number of litters or age as a cut off.


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## 3kidsomy (Jan 6, 2008)

Great, i was hoping you guys would say that. The woman i got her from kept her in excellent condition, and i do too(sow would tell you she's starving). I couldn't have gotten a better first bred sow. I watched her conditioning closely when she was lactating and she did great, she is a great mom too, i hope it runs in the genes cause i kept 3 to breed.


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## Noel0021 (Nov 7, 2020)

My sow is approaching 3 she was overweight from her previous owner but after a year long diet she fell pregnant and is as big as a house this will be her second litter god knows how many she will have but ill find out soon i know it will be a lot


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

1st litters are typically smaller in numbers. As far as age, there is no base line, just the "you know when you know."
My personal experience with our hogs is after about 7 or so years of two litters per year, I start to know.


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## 101pigs (Sep 18, 2018)

3kidsomy said:


> Great, i was hoping you guys would say that. The woman i got her from kept her in excellent condition, and i do too(sow would tell you she's starving). I couldn't have gotten a better first bred sow. I watched her conditioning closely when she was lactating and she did great, she is a great mom too, i hope it runs in the genes cause i kept 3 to breed.


What breed is your Sow?


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

3kidsomy said:


> . I watched her conditioning closely when she was lactating and she did great, she is a great mom too, i hope it runs in the genes cause i kept 3 to breed.


Keeps the ones with good behavior, personality, genetics, etc. That will keep your line strong.
Sell or eat the others.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

The commercial guys get rid of sows when they start to get too big and litters taper off. The bigger the sow gets, the more it costs to feed her, so you have to balance the cost of feeding her against the number of piglets she produces.


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## 101pigs (Sep 18, 2018)

oregon woodsmok said:


> produces.


One big Pig factery close to me gets rid of the Sows when they are 5 years old. I have gotten some Sows form one big farm close by. I keep them till about 8 dependig on the number of pigs they have each litter.


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