11 Great Pig Farming Tips

Dear fellow pig farmers,

If your farm is in any of the categories below, then it’s time to make some adjustment for profitability.

1. If you have more pigs than you can feed properly then they will soon lead you to losses. Make some adjustments, increase the feeds or reduce the number to meet the available feeds.

2. If you are feeding your pigs on good nutritious feeds, but they are not gaining weight (i.e. Commercial breeds gain up to 100kg or above in 6 months from birth.) Then perhaps it’s time to look for a trusted breeder to get you commercial breeds for profitability. "It is said even if you give all the nutrition in the world to a goat, it can never be as fat as an elephant because it only has growth characteristics of a goat."

3. If you have been allowing everyone into your farm it’s time to lock its gate and major on e-commerce or have a sales point away from the pig units to simply avoid losing your farm to infections such as African Swine Fever (Lift up the biosecurity alert to Red).

4. If you recently lost your stock to African swine fever outbreak then you need to come back and clean that place properly with soap, Jik or any other detergent, it is time to come back to the fight, though you lost the battle, but the war is still on. Therefore Arm yourself with good genetics, feeds and triple your biosecurity measures. Become a David and kill Goliath.

5. If you don't have structures yet for the animals, then its time you thought of how to get them to protect these animals from harm for profitable farming. Otherwise your animals are exposed to many dangers.

6. If you have no knowledge on piggery but have passion then, get knowledge first, invest in knowledge first before you can invest in any genetics. Passion is good, but knowledge is excellent.

7. If you have been inbreeding, it’s time to stop and crossbreed, but not over crossbreed again.

8. If you are a new farmer, be humble and seek for guidance from trusted sources on genetics, feeds & nutrition, health, Biosecurity and general animal environment safety before you waste resources that can help you have the best from the beginning.

9. If you have been having local breeds I guess you should start gradually bidding farewell to them as you take on commercial genetics, feed, health and management practices for profitability.

10. If you have been treating animals without feeding them or giving them clean warm and dry accommodation and clean water thinking they were sick yet they were hungry, then its time you move too, if it’s hard, reduce the number to that you can afford to give your best in order to become profitable.

11. If you are used to buying breeding piglets, gilts or boars cheaply then it’s time to leave cheap pigs which do not bring in the returns yet waste feeds and accept the slightly higher prices of Good genetics which have 6 months maturity period on good management.

Finally, to all the different farm sizes small, medium and big let's keep pushing to have the best piggery farming industry in Africa at large. Our market is huge to accommodate us all anywhere you are in Africa. Be your fellow farmer's keeper.

We wish you the very best at your farms!!

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