# Age to breed



## Reed77 (Mar 20, 2011)

At what age should you breed a gilt for the first time? When are they sexually mature (boar & gilt)?


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## HeritagePigs (Aug 11, 2009)

Well, you can't breed them before they are sexually mature... 
The gilt needs to be able to physically carry the litter through to farrowing. This means a strong back, neck, legs, etc. Usually she is ready by her second or later cycle but it's most important she is in good shape. Six months to a year depending on breed.


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## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

I agree with Brian, Some people wait till the gilts 3rd cycle, Gives the gilt that much more time to mature and grow. We did that with our blue butt sow and it really worked in her favor, She is almost as big as our 4yr old berk sow but only at a 1.5 yr old


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

We start seeing sexual play around four months and often first heat at six months but pregnancies generally start at eight months with first litter at about a year. Occasionally we get a Lolita who has her first litter a couple of months earlier than that. They can work out fine. Our oldest sow was a Lolita and she's been going strong for seven years. Nice big litters right from the start and onward.


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## HeritagePigs (Aug 11, 2009)

"Lolita"? Really? Can't come up with a better description that doesn't carry such a connotation?


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## theporkstork (Dec 31, 2005)

I worked on a farrow to finish swine research farm for most of my working career and we would breed our first litter gilts going by skeletal maturity as well as sexual maturity. Some gilts are ready to breed by 6 months old, but our average age to breed was at 8 months. The question you have to ask yourself is: will this gilt be mature enough in her frame to be able to deliver her litter without assistance, thinking of her pelvic size. Also, the gilts that we didn't breed until around 8 months old had larger litters and more body capacity to produce a larger amount of milk to wean a heavy litter. These older gilts would be able to maintain their body condition better during lactation and would recycle better, usually 5 days after weaning and breed back and settle. Our system called for our females to produce 5 litters in 2 years so the more mature, bigger framed females always made the more productive sows.


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## Feathers-N-Fur (Dec 17, 2007)

Great answers but no one answered about the boar. A boar "might" do the job at 6 months, have seen it happen, but it is better to plan on him being mature enough at 9 months.


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