Day 3 in the 16th AGRISHOW 2023.

The vision Agribusiness Farm ltd is honored to announce 16th National agriculture show to be held from 20th to 29th July 2023 at Mulindi / Gasabo Show Ground.

The third day in 16th  AGRISHOW was the exhibition day. The day on which the different people with different ideas come to visit our stand for clarification.  Some with questions others with inadequate understandings about pig farming. As we did yesterday, we are also going answer the questions that were asked by the visitors.

Let’s first show you the most frequent questions:

  • Tell us about heat detection at your farm.
  • Tell us about the best criteria for mating.

Time to also display answers:

  1. We at the Vision Agribusiness Farm we normally use the standard means of heat detection and handling. By these means we choose to follow the following details:

 Standing heat

The display of standing heat (“estrus”) is a physical expression of the female’s release of oxytocin, increased levels of estrogen, state of ovulation and receptivity to mating. Oxytocin is a naturally occurring hormone which when released causes strong pulsing contractions of the uterus which aid in transport of the semen. The wavelike pulsations also cause strong rigidity of the muscles, a response commonly known as “standing heat.” This standing response allows the female to withstand the boar’s weight during breeding.

 

The expression and duration of estrus is affected by many factors, including age/parity, season/temperature, genetic composition, body condition, nutrition and previous exposure to a boar. The display of estrus typically lasts no more than 48 hours in gilts, and 38 to 64 hours in sows, although there is variation between farms and individual females. The “locked up” periods of standing heat last 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the level of stimulation received, the energy reserves of the female, and the time elapsed since the last standing heat and the subsequent refractory period. Ovulation will occur from 36 to 42 hours after the onset of estrus- sooner in gilts than sows.

 

Signs of Heat

There are various conditions that the female can display which indicate the onset and/or presence of heat. Not all conditions are present in all females. Gilts may display characteristics differently than sows. Some characteristics may be more indicative of proestrus conditions, the period immediately before estrus: redness and swelling of the vulva, off-feed, rooting or mounting penmates, vocalization, etc. More prominent signs will be more present during estrus.

    • Swollen, reddened vulva (proestrus)
    • Vocalization/barking
    • Mounting penmates
    • Heightened activity level/restlessness
    • Perked or twitching ears
    • Sticky, viscous secretion of the vulva
    • Rigid back and legs; “locked up”

 

2.  Talking about the best criteria for mating, at Vision Agribusiness Farm we actually put emphasis on two main factors that are:

  • The weight of the sow
  • The age of the sow
  1. The weight of the sow matters because before we decide on the mating of a given sow. We first make sure that the sow at least has 70kg. This set weight is to ensure that the sow be capable of carrying the entire uterus with the whole weight of the fetuses inside. This weight is enough for a sow to be able to carry the normal weight of the uterus. That’s why we always take care about the weight of the sow.
  2. The significance of the sow’s age. The sow’s age because it helps to decide on the maturity of the sow, hence facilitates the decision of mating period. At Vision Agribusiness Farm, the sows that we set for mating must have at least seven months since their birthday even thought there may be some cases in which one may show sights of heat after five months after the birth  but we do not consider that occurrence, we  keep considering the normal schedule and wait for them to reach at least six and a half months.