Can sows who have been pregnant have pelvic bone fuse after some time?

Question
Hello,

I have heard that even sows who have already been pregnant and succesfully delivered a litter can still have their pelvic bones fuse if not getting pregnant again. Is that so, and how long between pregrnancy before this happens?

My sows delivered their last litter a year ago, can either one still get pregnant safely????

also, is it safe for a sow to be pregnant for the first time at 1 years of age? I did put my little sow with a boar when she was 10 month old, except that nothing has happened so far, she is now 1 exactly, is it too late  now?

thanks for letting me know.

kind regards,

Claire.

Answer
There's a great deal of misconception and misunderstanding about when a sow should be bred and the issue of "pelvic bones fusing". The pelvic bones do not fuse together. In fact they don't even touch one another.

Bones by themselves cannot move. What causes and allows the joints that connect the bones to move are ligaments and muscles. Without the ligaments the joints can't move. The pelvic bones of a sow can be easily felt by putting your finger right at the 'vent' or opening where the babies will come out. Normally they are fixed and are about 1/8th of an inch apart. They are stiff and unmoveable.

A few days prior to delivery those bones begin to spread apart as the ligaments pull them in preparation for delivery. They become flexible and moveable and are approximately 1/2 in apart. At that time you can almost get your finger between them and you can feel them move just a bit when touched. They almost feel as though they're floating, but they are connected to the ligaments. Those bones must be able to spread enough to allow a baby to pass through.

If a sow has never been bred those ligaments will stiffen over a period of time. They lose their elasticity, preventing the bones from being able to spread to accomodate a birth. They do not fuse together. That's a term widely used, but in truth that is not what is happening.

The age at which this happens is not certain. For that reason breeders err on the side of caution and use the first birthday as a safety line for when they should be bred. Most breeders believe that the sow should at least be pregnant by her first birthday. In reality there are many sows that have delivered their first litters at two or more years old and done so successfully.

A guinea pig comes into estrus (heat) before they're weaned. They can become pregnant as young as two weeks of age. That's why you need to remove the boar before the babies are born. I have had two very young sows that delivered when they themselves were less than three months of age. Being pregnant for 10 weeks and doing the math you can see they were bred at approx. two weeks of age.

One of them was a litter of my own and the father was in the cage with them. The other was a young sow I purchased from someone at four weeks old and none of us had any idea she was pregant. That little sow gave birth to four healthy babies, the other had just one. Neither of them suffered any problems whatsoever, nor did they have their growth stunted by the pregnancies. So the answer to your question is this:  your sow is a perfect age for a first litter and she should do just fine.

Obviously we don't recommend breeding at very young ages, but the rationale is this:  If God made them so they can, then they are able. Breeding at one year is perfectly safe. Don't worry about her. If you want her to be bred then leave her with the boar. Unlike rabbits they don't breed the instant they are put together. It sometimes takes weeks for conception to occur. So rest easy, everything will be just fine.