• Provide a reasonable environment with even temperatures. Cleanliness in the facilities is essential.
• Maintain good body condition prior to breeding and during pregnancy by your nutrition and feeding program.
• Maintain sow health and immunity to disease through vaccination and biosecurity protocols.
• Have sufficient boar power available so that they need to be used only once every 24 hours or use AI.
• Make sure that the right type of stockperson is in charge of matings. The abilities in this stockperson have a direct effect on reproductive performance. 

• Vaccinate all gilts with Sowvac Complete E prior to arrival and booster again with Sowvac Complete E 3 weeks later so they can achieve excellent immunity. This will vaccinate them against erysipelas, porcine parvovirus and leptospirosis before they are bred.
• Ear tag all gilts and record them on a day-sheet or calendar as they come into heat.
• Breed gilts on their second heat cycle and when they reach 113 kg in live weight.
• Include a cull breeding boar into the gilt pool as an inducement for the gilts to come on heat. The pheromones (boar smell) produced by the older boar stimulate the gilts.
• Young breeding boars need to be in proximity of the gilts so that both are excited for breeding as heat is observed.
• A stocking density of 1.4 square metres (15 square feet) of floor space will allow gilts to exhibit strong estrus.
• Provide a minimum of 16-18 hours of light per day – light enough to be able to read a newspaper at floor level. If there is a difficulty in getting gilts to cycle, leave lights on for 24 hours a day for a period of 5 days before going back to 18 hours of light.
• Make sure a worming program has been in place prior to the gilts coming into the facilities. Start the fill with as high health gilts as possible.
• Feed an adequate breeding ration and ad lib feed 2-3 weeks prior to expected matings.
• Vaccinate each gilt with E.coli vaccine 4 weeks prior to farrowing and booster again 1 week prior to farrowing.

• Always introduce the gilt to the boar.
• Observe every service to completion in indoor situations.
• Don’t serve too early in the heat cycle.
• Make sure gilts are standing completely still and solid for their first mating.
• Serve in a pen that is dry, with a non-slip floor. The pen should be at least 2.5 metres (8 feet) on a side.
• Assist entry of the penis into the vagina if necessary by cupping with a clean or gloved hand. Do not handle the boar’s prepuce – squeezing it will empty the preputial sac and cause heavy bacterial contamination in the gilt.
• Ensure the penis is locked into the gilt cervix and then observe between the testicles for the pulsation of the urethra to indicate that insemination has taken place.
• Always use a fresh, unused boar for the first service.
• If boars are stiff or lame, you risk farrowing a small litter. Boars can be treated with an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic to minimize stiffness.
• Avoid using a boar for at least 14 days if he has had a temperature over 40 degrees Centigrade (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Fevers will kill the sperm cells already formed in the epididymis.
• Handle the boars and gilts quietly and patiently during service.
• Serve gilts am and pm every 24 hours.
• Don’t mix gilts after 2 days post-service. Minimize stress on the bred gilts for the first 18 after breeding.
• Feed gilts 2 kg maximum for 2 days post-service. Then a minimum of 2.8 kg to day 21 post-service.
• Feed a diet of at least 14.0 MJ digestible energy and 1% lysine.
• Success by artificial insemination is possible where good observance of heat, clean insemination technique and good nutrition are managed.

• Normal returns to service should be noted any day between day 18 and day 23 after date of breeding. Check gilts during this period for a swollen vulva, riding other gilts and interest (pricked ears) in a boar.
• If gilts return, they should be rebred with a different boar than their first service. Consider the management details that might have led to the return.
• Gilts that don’t conceive after three heat cycles should be culled and sent immediately to slaughter. They will never be highly productive.
• Abnormal returns to service need additional reviews to determine the likely cause: disease, physical injury, etc.

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