Key Benefits:
A special well cleaned and friendly room must be provided for semen collection.
The phantom sow needs to be the right size and safe for mounting with no distractions.
At Surin Farm we have a portion of one barn set aside just for the boars and for sperm collection and storage. Within this area we have a space set up for the boar to give sperm. When moved to this area the boar knows what is expected of him. We also have a "viewing" area with a smaller dummy sow that is used for training young boars. From this area the young boars can watch the older boar and learn from him.
The area for AI
- The dummy sow should be located in a designated semen collection room or pen that measures 2 x 3 m up to 3 x 3 m
- The dummy should be the only object in the room.
- The training should begin and end with a regular routine. A boar is trained according to a routine, he learns and knows what to expect and he anticipates a positive experience. He associates collection with the pleasure of ejaculation and will likely elicit an automatic response of stimulation when entering the collection area.
- Pens with solid panel construction block visual distraction and help the boar to maintain his focus on collection.
- The safety of our staff is very important - the boar area is constructed so that the staff can exit in any direction.
- Once in the semen collection area, the boar should be subjected to no distractions.
- Current production standards recommend that AI procedures should include providing boar exposure before, during and even after AI to improve the uptake, transport, and retention of semen.
- Collection dummy: While its shape must be similar to a sow, it has to be slightly lower than the eye-level of the boar and be accessible from both sides. We have a second smaller dummy that is used for training with the young boars.
- The structure of the dummy has to be solid and fixed to the ground to resist the weight of the boar and the movements during his excitation phase.
- Boars reach puberty at the age of five to eight months
- The boar grunts and increases salivary secretion; he smells, bites and puts pressure on the dummy to provoke the immobility reflex of the female. The lack of this type of behavior may lead to infertility, a reason why the observation and evaluation of sexual behavior during training is a key factor to detect animals that need special attention
- The boar should never associate the collection area with negative and uncomfortable experiences such as accidental falls or painful treatments such as tusk removal or injections.