How to Select and Scientifically Feed Breeding Male Wild Boars

Selection of breeding male wild boars. When selecting breeding male wild boars, the appearance requirements are: coat color grayish-black or reddish-brown, coarse and sparse hair, small ear tips, long pointed snout, small head and abdomen, thin and tall legs, straight back without a dip, and sharp teeth. At the same time, they are required to show obvious sexual characteristics, a deep and broad forequarters, vigorous sexual function, and symmetrically developed testicles. At over 18 months of age, they should be tolerant of coarse feed, eat quickly, have a large feed intake, and not be picky eaters; such male wild boars have strong mating performance. In addition, semen can be collected from the vulva of a female wild boar immediately after mating for sperm quality testing, and sperm motility must be above 0.6. Generally, purebred male wild boars that conform to wild boar characteristics should be selected as breeding boars. If the offspring produced by special wild boars crossed from wild boars and domestic pigs are kept for breeding, the bred offspring will show atavism, that is, some of the produced pigs will look partly like domestic pigs rather than wild boars. Therefore, two-way cross special male wild boars are not suitable for breeding. If conditions are limited and a special wild boar must be used as a breeding boar, then a three-way cross special wild boar with more than 70% wild boar bloodline should be selected as the breeding boar, and inbreeding must also be prevented in terms of blood relationship; in this way, the offspring will have strong disease resistance and grow rapidly.

Prevent male wild boars from becoming too fat. Male wild boars were originally wild animals, with leaves and wild grass as their main food, and they retain this characteristic under artificial rearing; 60%-70% of the feed should be green forage such as green grass and green vegetables. However, some farmers use their experience of raising domestic pigs and feed male wild boars with complete-price feed, which not only greatly increases costs, but also, because the early growth of backup breeding pigs was not restricted and the nutrient level in the daily ration was too high, causes male wild boars to become too fat and too heavy, making it difficult for male wild boars to mount or making sows unable to bear the boar's mounting, leading to mating difficulties or failure to mate normally. Therefore, male wild boars should be properly restricted in feeding, with green forage as the main food, while strengthening exercise.

Supply balanced nutrition. Male wild boars need relatively more crude protein and vitamins. If their content in the daily ration is insufficient or imbalanced, it will affect the male wild boar's constitution and semen quality, resulting in scant and thin semen, incomplete sperm development, poor motility, reduced conception rate, and even loss of mating ability. If minerals such as calcium, manganese, zinc, and selenium are lacking, it can also cause gonadal degeneration and dulled libido. Therefore, the nutrients required by breeding boars should be supplied in a balanced way. Feed rich in high-quality protein, such as fish meal, soybean meal, shrimp, and silkworm pupae, should be supplied abundantly year-round; during the mating period, 1-2 eggs or 1 cup of milk can be added, and more green forage rich in vitamins should be fed; usually, attention should be paid to supplementing bone meal, minerals, or shell powder.

Strengthen exercise to improve physical constitution. Some farmers overuse male wild boars, or do not force male wild boars to exercise, causing their physical constitution to decline and resulting in aversion to mating or refusal to mate. For such male wild boars, exercise should be strengthened, letting them exercise for 1-2 hours every day over a distance of 1.5-3 km; this is an indispensable measure for strengthening the boar's constitution, ensuring its vigorous libido, and improving sperm motility.