Theory to sow mounting when in heat.

[Little Piglets]

*Fair warning, it might be a tad gross in a section, so please don't be offended.*
















I've been observing my sows, and noticed WHEN they rumble while in heat, and try and mount or at the very least give pursuit to another, they themselves are actually ready/willing to be mounted. I've observed during this time their vents are ruptured, and their area is "lubricated" (Gross, I know, sorry. Just connecting dots. Really fascinated by the dynamics involved).


On the other side of things, when you have a dominant boar with a submissive one, IF they catch a scent of a female (worse in heat) AND the submissive boar starts rumbling, the dominant one immediately, or almost immediately gives chase and tries mounting him.


My theory is, IF a sow is ready to be mounted, and was in the wild (or cage), and a boar either wasn't nearby, or was busy doing something else, emulating a possible rival/submissive boar herself (the sow events I've seen are 100% faithful to boar behavior, even down to a deeper rumbling) in theory SHOULD get the attention of the nearest boar, cause it to chase (her) and immediately mount; in his case, he's being dominant, her case, she's getting the deed done and over with.


I dunno, does that make sense to anyone else?

 

[Wiebke]

*Fair warning, it might be a tad gross in a section, so please don't be offended.*
















I've been observing my sows, and noticed WHEN they rumble while in heat, and try and mount or at the very least give pursuit to another, they themselves are actually ready/willing to be mounted. I've observed during this time their vents are ruptured, and their area is "lubricated" (Gross, I know, sorry. Just connecting dots. Really fascinated by the dynamics involved).


On the other side of things, when you have a dominant boar with a submissive one, IF they catch a scent of a female (worse in heat) AND the submissive boar starts rumbling, the dominant one immediately, or almost immediately gives chase and tries mounting him.


My theory is, IF a sow is ready to be mounted, and was in the wild (or cage), and a boar either wasn't nearby, or was busy doing something else, emulating a possible rival/submissive boar herself (the sow events I've seen are 100% faithful to boar behavior, even down to a deeper rumbling) in theory SHOULD get the attention of the nearest boar, cause it to chase (her) and immediately mount; in his case, he's being dominant, her case, she's getting the deed done and over with.


I dunno, does that make sense to anyone else?

Hi!

Sows are in season for about 15-17 hours, but they are ready to mate only in the last 2-4 hours. During that time the flaps that will normally cover the exit to the reproductive tract will unseal and lubricate to facilitate the mating.
If they live with other sows in a group (as they are wired to do), then they will rather mount other sows if the experience a strong season in the hours before they are ready to mate with a boar. In a larger group you can often work out the hierarchy by which sow will mount which when in season - it is generally the sow ranked just below. If that is not possible, it is going to be sow above or a submissive boar.
By far not all seasons are wild ones; in fact most seasons go without notice. In that case a sow will stay close to a boar when she is coming into season and will mate with him by the end of it, but it is overall a very discrete affair.
The pheromones she is excreting are telling a boar when she is coming closer to being in season or is starting to be in season - hence the frequent bum sniffing. Strong sow pheromones can set off other sows that are close enough to their season to come into it spontaneously, as can the presence of boar hormones in a room that doesn't normally contain boars.
Sows that share a season will happily mount each other. In a larger group you will find that over time the sows tend to have their seasons in two groups - one larger group and then a smaller one at the nadir of the larger group. This can make for some rather crazy time when the pheromones can be so strong that even we humans can smell them.
Sows in season before they are ready to made have a specific whine with which they interact with boars. It basically says 'I am not quite ready - yet!' The boars tend to hear only the first part and they get rather excited. You can also observe that despite all their playing the prude with boars they will actually not move far away as they would do if they were really serious.

I hope that this helps you?

PS: Here is a guide with sows experiencing a strong season: When Sows Experience A Strong Season (videos)

 

[Little Piglets]

I was referring more to the actual fact of them mimicking a boar outright, RIGHT when they appear to want to be mounted. One of my younger sows was recently in heat, and was rumbling and chasing the mom (mom is definitely at the top of the pecking order though). I pulled her out of the cage and while petting her, nudged her fur on rear/spine area on the back, against the grain, similar to how a boar would nudge the fur with his nose. She went flat and her bum went up in the air.

To me, it seems like imitating a boar is done to get a boar's attention. I get the "strong season" point, but it doesn't explain acting like a boar. However, if only one boar is/was around in a large female herd, and wasn't being particularly mindful, imitating a potential "rival" would cause him to at least investigate, and immediately try and dominate the "threat".

 

[Wiebke]

I was referring more to the actual fact of them mimicking a boar outright, RIGHT when they appear to want to be mounted. One of my younger sows was recently in heat, and was rumbling and chasing the mom (mom is definitely at the top of the pecking order though). I pulled her out of the cage and while petting her, nudged her fur on rear/spine area on the back, against the grain, similar to how a boar would nudge the fur with his nose. She went flat and her bum went up in the air.

To me, it seems like imitating a boar is done to get a boar's attention. I get the "strong season" point, but it doesn't explain acting like a boar. However, if only one boar is/was around in a large female herd, and wasn't being particularly mindful, imitating a potential "rival" would cause him to at least investigate, and immediately try and dominate the "threat".

The problem with your theory is that while the boar is interested, he won't necessarily go and mount the sow in season. I have made this observation multiple times. You get the oversexed dominant teenagers, but adult boars often just stand by and the very laid back and gentle will even let themselves be mounted by a sow without returning the favour.

It is also an observation of mine that hormones can on occasion take over in sows just the same as in boars. The mounting is not deliberate attention catching, it is something that the sows can't help at this moment in time. They are often very embarrassed and sometimes very confused by them not having any control over it. Their mates are usually pretty understanding before it becomes too much.
I have also seen how one of my groups was reassuring the little surprise baby in my avatar the first time it happened to her and she clearly didn't have a handle on whatwas happening. Not only did the bossiest sows stand still (repeatedly) to be mounting, even the dominant and virile husboar gave her plenty of piggy kisses and nuzzling - but didn't chase and mount her until the time was ready; and then he did it as gently as he could with lots of encouraging affection.

 

[Little Piglets]

I'm still not convinced. Everything I've seen points to it being a deliberate attempt IF they aren't getting mounted in the narrow window of opportunity, as the behavior immediately ceases IF they are successfully mounted. IF a boar is with them and they are out of heat-sync, they don't seem to do it. If they are syncing up with their heat cycles, and the boar is actively pursuing only one of them non-stop, it'd make sense to get him to do a quick and forceful "dominance" mount as a rival coming into the mix would cause that.