Starting a pig farm is one project that can bring satisfaction and joy to the farmers if it is done well. I quite remember the happiness I felt when I started mine two years ago. It was experimental, just wanted to start something because I had researched for about two years. Downloaded a lot of pig farming staff on YouTube. But my first mistake was that I took the project as a hobby. Pig farming is a serious business that needs time, attention and cash.
1. Pig Farming is
Serious Business
Yes, pig farming is a serious business and nobody starts a business
to lose. From the inception of the project, you should have it at the back of
your mind that you are investing to make returns. In this business, volumes
count if you want to see a meaningful return on your investment. So if you
really want to make meaningful returns, start with 20 to 50 sows so that you
can increase your herd’s size to 500 within a year. Last month when I supplied
55 pigs to a local mall, it got finished in one week. So if you want to enter
into a contract to supply them for six months, then you can imagine the total
number of pigs you should have. Pig farming has changed, so it is important
that we increase our capacity to rear more.
2.
Documentation is Critical
Most pig farmers do not keep any proper record. So how do you know
if you are making profit or loss? Do you even know how much you spent on your
animals per month? It is a very good idea to develop the habit of record
keeping from the onset, because it will give you an idea on how to
sell. The major areas that you should take record on in your farm are on the
following;
·
Food
·
Water
·
Medicines
·
Transport & Fuel
·
Salary
·
Utilities
So at the end of every month, do your calculations and divide by the
number of animals on the farm, it will give you an idea on how much you are
spending on one pig in a month. You can go an extra mile to prepare an income
statement for your farm at the end of the year.
3. Handle Your
Piglets Well
If you are operating a farrow-to-finish pig farming, then you ought
to handle your piglets well because that is one area most farmers overlook.
Most farmers lose about one third of their piglets due to numerous reasons, sow
eating all the piglets, sow sleeping on piglets and a lot of funny reasons.
During my first year as a pig farmer, I lost almost half of my piglets and it
affected my expansion project. If you have to construct or invest in farrowing
crates. Do so because it will save you a lot of piglets.
4. Find
Alternate Source of Cheap Quality Feed
Feeding takes up almost 70% of the cost of raising pigs to maturity.
To make any meaningful profit, it is important you find an alternate source of
feed that is of high quality but also cheap. Farmers should find a cheaper
source of carbohydrate and learn to mix their own feed. If you are a full time
farmer, then you can gather any of the following to give to your pigs. You can
also mix any of these with prepared feed. Presently, there is a guy selling 1
tonne of dried cassava chips at 100gh per tonne at Tema, if you want his
contact, just give me a call.
Feed your pigs with inexpensive good feed:
·
Cassava root can completely replace maize as energy
source for pigs. It should be sun dried or socking for 3 days to remove the
gynogenic glycosides.
·
Cassava leaves is a good source of protein
·
Dry cassava peel (Cassava husk or covers) is also
relatively high in fibre. Palm oil should be added to reduce it dustiness.
·
Sweet potato root can be chopped and sun-dried and used
as energy source for pigs and cooked to improve digestibility
·
Sweet potato leaves also provide a good protein source
for growing pigs.
·
Green banana contain lignin and tannins and should be chopped
and cooked and given as part of feed.
·
Banana leaves and plantain leaves can be fed directly to
pigs.
·
Groundnut cake and palm kernel cake are good source of
protein.
·
Papaya leaves are excellent source of vitamins.
·
Papaya fruits excellent source of vitamins. Boil the
green Papaya fruits before giving it to pigs but the red Papaya fruits can be
given to pigs directly.
·
Cocoyam leaves provide 25% of protein to growing pigs.
·
Sugarcane plants can be used as pig feed.
·
Sugarcane leaves can also be used as pig feed.
5. Don’t Ignore
Biosecurity
Most farmers joke with Biosecurity. It’s not that too expensive but
most farmers joke with it until a major disease affects and wipe out all their
herds before they start to ponder where the disease came from. So when
constructing your sty, don’t forget to create a small area in front of the sty
where you can place a disinfectant for workers or any other visitor to disinfect
their shoes before entering the pig farm.
6. Selling Your
Animals
That is another area farmers take for granted. If you have records
of your farm activities, then you should have a fair idea of the production
cost of your animals. No Middleman should come to your farm and look at your
animals and mention any outrageous price to you. At most to avoid any cheating,
weigh before you sell your animals.
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