;) how old must a ewe or sow be to mate with? I did a little reading an that a ewe a well as a sow first heat is around (3) month . Can anyone advise me if its safe or should I wait until either one of them is old. These little buggards are really hot. ;)

3 months? It sounds like your the one that is "hot" and the notion of initiating sex with a 3 month old sounds offensive. Once again this is out of my expertise -and maybe I'm wr -wro -wron -errr mistaken -I'm sure some of our resident experts will be in to advise -but imho this is tettering on the edge of extremely objectionable.

I agree South, I think 3 months is pushing it, I would think that anything less than full grown, (size and maturity) would not be acceptable, and sows nor ewews are full grown in 3 months

Thank I am new at this . Hurting one of them is not my cup of tea, so thanks.
It's just what I read, and that is at that age they can be bred an give birth at the time when kids are due. Once again sorry an thanks for your advise.

I have heard that with horses they are not fully mature until around 3 years. Dont know about sows or ewes, but I thought it woulod take about a year or more. Typically if an animal has a long lifespan then they mature a lot slower.

Domestic animals mature faster than their wild cousins, due to selective breeding and inbreeding. Ie. wolves=2years, dogs= some as early as 6months to 1 year. Cats= as young as 5 months. Wild cats=usually 2 years. Bears=3 years, etc. it is possible that you read wrong, as I have heard that pigs and ewes can live up to 25 years, though I can be mistaken.

3 Months is way too early. They are still babies then. I did a little research and found the following info for sexual maturity of various species. Cow 18 months, sow 11 months, mare 24 months, goat 18 months, sheep 18 months. Having sex with these animals before they are mature is nothing more than rape and/or pedophilia. Sows and ewes are much better for sex after they have had babies at least once anyway. My 2 cents.

as a farmer my sows are mated with a boar when they are 8months and 1 week old so that they farrow when they are 1 year old.
As a side note pigs grow very very fast and i no sows that have gotton pregante at 3 months old but this is to young to play with i think as a boar penis is very thin but long.
A second side not a commercal pig far kills pigs for meat as 24-28 weeks old here in the uk

I third, Three months no mater what animal is just wrong plain n simple. 1 Years is the rule of thumb for maturity of smaller farm animals as an absalute min befor even thinking of sexual contact

no posting experiences under the age of 18, and just because you did it doesn't mean it is right to do it to an animal!
edited by pick_7

This post has been edited by pick_7 on Jun 23 2005, 07:21 PM

Sow's first heat is about 7 months.Cow's 12-15 months.

Manco is right & I have mated with my sows on their first heat. They were big enough & suffered no side effects. Sows are great as they heat cycle every 3 weeks.