Piggery Farming
Pig management is the control of a number of factors such as housing, feeding, breeding health and records, to allow pigs perform to the maximum of their genetic potential at a cheap cost.
Principles of Pig Production
- Appropriate housing
- Control of parasites and diseases
- Proper selection of animals
- Proper care of replacement stock
- Adequate feeding
- Efficient record keeping
- Proper environment management
Why you should undertake Pig Production
- Pigs are well adopted to both specialized and diversified farming
- They have quick return
- The investment in swine breeding stock and in equipment may be relatively small and it is possible to get in and out of a business in a short time
- Feeding swine on maize and other grains is usually a profitable method of marketing these grains that are bought at very low prices in the season when the harvest is very big
- Pig production is an efficient way of producing meat
- Swine can be raised on a small or large farm and in small or large numbers
- Pigs can be raised on pasture where they will not require expensive housing equipment
- Breeding stock and feeding stock are readily available
- Almost every village has a pig slaughter place that makes the sale of pork easy. In addition, the slaughter weight is ideal such that there is no risk of pork remaining unbought after slaughter
- The labor requirements in pig production are low as one person can manage a large swine-breeding herd
- With good selection of the breeding stock, pigs carry a big advantage over the other livestock due to the multiple fetuses they carry and therefore giving a big number of offspring. This makes multiplication of pigs easy
- Pigs suffer less from metabolic and nutritional diseases because they can feed on things ranging from grass to meat hence balancing all nutritional requirements
Common Pig Breeds to Acquire
- Hampshire Breed
This breed is black in color with a white belt around the shoulder forequarters. It is a medium size breed that originated from Southern England. It has a straight face, erect ears, good nursing ability and produces and excellent lean carcass.
- Large White Breed
This breed is white in color, has erect ears and a ditched face. It originated from Yorkshire, England. Although it is not quick in maturing, it is a good feed converter.
- Landrace Breed
This breed is white in color with a long and big body that has deep sides. It has a straight snout and loped ears which cover most of the face. This breed originated from Denmark and has been widely used for cross breeding especially with the large white to produce prolific breeding sows. The breed is mainly used in bacon.
- Duroc Breed
This breed is mahogany to red in color. It has good motherly ability. It is resistant to stress and is adaptable to various environmental conditions and is very useful in crossbreeding programs.
- Crossbreed
Crossbreeding is practiced because it combines the desirable traits in the parent breeds into one animal. The major traits that a pig produce should target to improve in a crossbreeding program include, fast growth rate, good feed efficiency, resistant to diseases and good litter size and mothering ability.
- Local pigs
Most of the local pigs that are kept in villages have arisen as a result of improper management of the exotic or crossbred pigs. It is only those that can survive the poor management practice that stay. The biggest advantage of these pigs is that they are able to survive on low quality feeds and are resistant to some diseases. However such pigs have low growth rate.
More ways to Manage Your Piggery
Pig production is like any other business – without clear objectives and production targets, it lacks purpose and can end up being less profitable than it might have been. To manage a piggery effectively, you must consider the piggery’s production and performance, identify ways to improve your herd, provide your herd with suitable housing, manage your herd’s feeding and monitor environmental issues.
Important things
Record Keeping
Importance of record keeping
- Provide early warning of developing problems
- Clues to basic weaknesses in the management program
- Information for budgeting
- Feasibility tests or studies
- Monitoring heard health
- Identify major costs
- Comparing with other producers
- Providing a basis for seasonal adjustments in management
Types and characteristics of good records
- Individual records
These include animal identification numbers, age, breeding date, health status, date of birth, growth rate and weight and weight at weaning. This type of record is mainly used in culling of non-productive animals and in selection of animals for future breeding purposes.
- Herd records
These are those where information is kept regarding feed consumption by different classes of pigs, new purchases, death losses per a given period, herd reproductive performance which gives a number of breeders and the number that has farrowed in the herd and still have suckling piglets.
In piggery, farmers first and foremost ensure that they have record on the expected date of farrowing, correct identification of the sow and boar with which it was bred. Also keep the feed and live weight record for measurement of food efficiency, cost to produce a kg gain in weight, mortality record and use health record cards to show vaccinations and treatments.
Other records which must be kept by the farmer as a routine include:
- Heats and services record where farmers must record the dates when the pig was on heat and the dates when the next heat is expected.
Financial records which include: feed costs, pig purchase and sales, health and treatment costs, labor costs, charges for electricity, taxation, fuel costs, machinery operation costs and transport costs for feed, animals etc.