Work Experience at the Local Piggery

Brianna Henman
Jul 6, 2015
3 min read

Good Afternoon,

I have recently completed work experience at a local piggery for a week. Suprisingly I enjoyed myself much more than I originally anticipated. This experience provided me with amazing opportunities and I specifically enjoyed learning about artificial insemination in swine.

All natural mating at this piggery has been replaced with artificial insemination due to the many benefits. Artificial insemination allows the sows and gilts to be inseminated by semen from selected boars with the desirable characteristics. This produces offspring with greater characteristics compared to those that may have previously occured due to natural matings. Artificial insemination is also much more efficient as it is quick, easy and many females can be inseminated at the one time rather than just one by natural mating. However, the downfall of artificial insemination is that it decreases genetic diversity within the species as all the pigs have the same or similar characteristics to benefit the company. This decrease in genetic diversity may result in a sharp decrease in the population if a change in the envionment was to occur that no longer favoured the pigs that were born through artificial insemination.

The technique that I was shown and allowed to perform was relatively simple and fast. Firstly a boar was passed in front of the sows and gilts that were to be inseminated and allowed nose to nose contact to stimulate them and encourage them to come onto standing heat. Standing heat is recognisable in the females if they are standing stock still, their ears are 'popping' and they allow the veterinarian or stockperson to place their weight, through their hands, on the female pig's loins/back. Another sign is a pulsing, red and swollen vulva which signals the female pig is experiencing contractions of the uterus. Once it is confirmed the gilt or sow is in standing heat, the vulva is cleaned with paper towel and a saddle is placed on its back to mimic a boar mounting the female.

The sow or gilt is now ready to recieve the semen which should have been stored properly in a cooler. I collected the catheter and carefully removed the plastic from the head of the catheter. Before attaching the bottle containing the semen, I gently parted the lips of the vulva, angled the catheter slightly upwards towards the backbone and carefully pushed the head of the catheter into the inside of the vulva at a 45 degree angle. This angle allows the catheter to avoid the entrance to the bladder and slide into the reproductive tract. I was informed to keep pushing it in until a click is felt which signals that the head of the catheter has locked onto the cervix.

I then proceeded to remove the tip on the tube containing the semen and attach it to the end of the catheter. By slipping it through the strap at the back of the saddle so that the semen tube is sitting vertical, it encourages the uterine contractions to suck the semen into the reproductive tract. Gilts typically take longer to finish the tube as it is their first time being inseminated, however, the sows usually take 2-3 minutes to drain the semen. A small amout of backflow of semen through the vulva is common but if there is an increased amount it may signal that the catheter has not been placed correctly into the reproductive tract.

When the insemination of the semen had finished, I removed the catheter and disposed of it properly. I then removed the saddle and also made sure to use a new catheter for each sow or gilt to prevent the spread of disease. The ethical and safe approach that this company took with artificial insemination has seen this reproductive technique prove very successful at this piggery.