WINNIPEG — Australian researchers are finding hogs like a little nuzzling nose to nose before they mate, but too much foreplay gets, well, a little boar-ing.
Paul Hemsworth, a scientist specializing in the sexual behavior of farm animals, told farmers here last week that providing a stimulating social environment is key to improving the reproductive performance of their herds.
That includes giving hogs a friendly pat on the back once in a while, said Hemsworth, principal scientist at the Victorian Institute of Animal Science.
Hemsworth said 20 percent of the variability between hog production units he studied was related to how fearful the hogs were of humans. In a series of studies, researchers found:
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- Allowing gilts to see and smell boars while conducting the “back pressure test” — a common method of determining whether the female is sexually receptive — improved the efficiency of that test to 90 percent. Conducting the test with no boar contact resulted in a 59 percent detection rate.
“That sort of data indicates how important smell and sight are in stimulating the female standing response,” Hemsworth said.
Allowing gilts and boars “tactile” contact such as sniffing noses through pens increased the effectiveness of the test to 100 percent.
- There can be too much stimulation.
Gilts that are housed adjacent to the boars become more difficult to identify when they are in estrus. “The sexual receptiveness of gilts may decline when they are in constant contact with the boar,” he said.
Hemsworth said herd managers commonly leave sows and gilts with the boars during mating too long, which can result in high levels of social stress.
“If a female is going to stand for the boar, she really needs only about 30 seconds, … if they don’t stand within one minute, they are unlikely to stand at all.”
Hemsworth said hog herd managers can improve their herd’s reproductive performance by something as simple as providing a clean, dry and spacious area for the pair to mate.
- Negative behavior in the form of slaps, frequent use of electric prods, and rough language, was found to result in lower reproductive rates and reduced overall health.
