[Gpdd] [HEALTH]<Sows in heat>

Janneke Staaks jannekestaaks at hotmail.com
Fri Nov 16 17:56:13 EST 2007


Hi All,
My apologies if i explain this a bit too explicitly.
Sows do go into heat (i'm also a member of a forum which has a lot of breeders).
They are in heat every 14 to 18 days (usually every 16 days). If she's in heat that means that she is willing to have intercourse and she's only fertile during this time. They are usually in heat in a period that ranges from 24 to 48 hours, but usually they are only willing to do 'it' in a period from 6 to 11 hours. This is because the ovulation happens around 10 hours after the start of the 'being-in-heat' (sorry, translations problems) About a day before a sow goes into heat a membrane opens which closes the uterus when a sow is not in heat. This membrame normally prevents the boars fluids to go into the uterus. When a sow is in heat, her genitals swell up (very visible with my suus, it's kinda gross) It is not visible with all sows, but you can usually feel this (i don't, but it's usefull when you're a breeder).
 
Some sows go into heat spontanuously when they are in the presence of a boar. So a sow can always get pregnant!
 
My susies character also changes when she's in heat, she is much sweeter than normal and more willing to cuddle. Ah well, us humans differ in behavior too when we have pms (her slave is also more willing to cuddle when she has pms ;-) ) so why shouldn't our pigs?
Btw the stuff described above is not very strict, my sisters poor guiny can go into heat for days, but she probably has ovarian cysts. Btw, my sister contacted a vet in the netherlands who is very knowledgable and has tried the hormone injection. She told her that she tried it with 50 pigs and it only worked for one of them. Besides, the hormone is very expensive and it needs to be repeated every month. 
 
Almost 50 percent of all older sows have ovarian cysts. Most of them can become old with them and are not significantly bothered by them (think about it; would you actually remove your ovaries when you have pms?). Only if the cysts are bothering the sow (for example, too big, or drinking too much) something needs to be done. You can either drain the cysts (as described earlier by the lovely penny ;-) ) or remove the ovaries altogether.
 
Hope it helps! Btw, someone asked about tips a few days ago about how to pair up pigs. I cannot find your email so i'm posting it this way. I used this website when i paired up Igor and Suus: http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm#Introductions . I read several pages and i found this one the most usefull.
 
Grtz
Janneke
 
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