Interested to see some suggestions as I'm looking to breed a few sows to the same type of boar for the same purpose. News Flash and Gain Control are a couple yorks on my short list. Anyone know how those daughters perform? X-ray vision is another older, more proven boar that looks like he may fit th...

Can she see the barrow? Are they nose to nose? If not, I'd try letting them see each other and be nose to nose through the fence if possible.

Thanks for the response. I did a homework assignment at ISU on matrix and after looking at that, I was thinking it would work like that. Just wanted some other input before trying it. I suppose you could even go to 9 or 10 days of matrix to tighten the window a little more. Thanks again.

I've used matrix before on several groups of gilts and had very good success with it. Just wondering about using it in a slightly different manner. If you fed it for 7 days rather than 14, could you synch a group of gilts over a 10-14 day period (rather than the typical 4-7 day period with the 14 da...

We had one litter last spring on a nice Double Down sow. You really have to take him to muscle and width. The whole litter ended up narrow, hard, and pretty flat. I think Brinning had similar results. On the right sow, I think he could work well, especially if you were trying to make some keeper gil...

Used him to generate some replacement females. I'd protect him on rib shape, body, and bone. He should give you some muscle shape and he can stamp a cool front end in one.

We have a Full Strut sow that just weaned her second litter. Had a big litter both times and milks like a cow! Looking forward to using that boar to make some more replacements

When I talked to Polich, he said take the boar to sows with more width and muscle shape. On our IAG pigs, I would say muscle seems to follow the sow, so I wouldn't expect him to throw lots of width. Hip and rear leg are pretty good on most of ours. Got a couple that get a tick rounder hipped, so may...

We've had two It's All Good litters. First litter was out of a bred gilt from Hi Point, she was bigger and plainer made and those pigs didn't have enough muscle. They were built right though. Talked to Polich before using IAG again and he said take him to something moderate with muscle shape that's ...

We have a couple mid Dec. litters in the nursery. In general, look and build is really good- tall shouldered, good necked, level hipped, skeleton is put together right. At this stage, I'm just wondering if they'll get enough width and muscle down the road. I think the gilts will be really nice, but ...

You can't save all of them, especially the more sows you farrow. The best thing I've found for gasping pigs or pigs that are hardly breathing when they come out, is to rub on their ribs back and forth. I've saved some this way, but I've also lost some. 16 is a good way to start! Hope you can get all...

Diaper rash cream works quite well, and it's pretty cheap. Apply it to the scabs every day or two, don't be afraid to be generous with the cream. It'll soften everything up and help it heal. Depends on how bad it is, but usually it's cleared up in a week or two.

We had a litter of Stir Crazys that were pretty nice. Big hipped and really shapely, I'd protect him on shoulder height a little and maybe body. Also had a litter of Above the Rest pigs. Had two really nice barrows that were big topped, massive type hogs that were still really good built. Both place...

Brice Conover and the Schmaling Brothers are both good berk breeders in central Iowa. Feldy (Niehaus - Feldman Genetics) on this forum breeds spots in northeast Iowa.

She's getting 3 to 3.25 lbs. of feed twice a day, so 6 to 6.5 lbs per day. She's eaten about that much per day for the last couple weeks. I tried jello in the feed, but it didn't seem to make any difference. I'll see if I can get my hands on some double dip.

Anyone else have other suggestions?