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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