PIG FARMING By Mr Olorunlagba Yomi INTRODUCTION Pig

PIG FARMING By Mr. Olorunlagba Yomi

INTRODUCTION Pig farming in Nigeria is still in its infancy stage in that we are yet to have bid holders of herds of pigs in their farms and there is rising demand for pigs and their products in the market. The markets for pigs are all over the country and are yet to be adequately stocked with pig products. The market potentials of pig is yet to be fully exploited. Pigs are highly profolic animals with very high food conversion efficiency. Feeding the animals take about 75% of the cost of running the farm.

Cont… • Pigs eat a lot; therefore it is very important for the farmer to well prepare to feed them properly so as to encourage their rapid growth • The farmer’s ability to produce the feed is very important if he or she is intending to operate on commercial basis without running into major difficulty from inability to feed them properly.

BREEDING Breeding starts with the sow which is the female pig showing signs of heat through enlarged and reddish vulva often having some whitish mucus. The sow on heat can be restless and noisy very submissive to the male for mating and the male is called Boar. Sow that is maturing for mating at about 6 months of age is taken to the Boars pen for mating for the first time when on heat: the process of the boar servicing the sow should be watched to ensure that it is successful: that is when fertilization has taken place:

BREEDING CONTD • then the sow will be taken back to her pen for the development of the pregnancy. A pregnant pig is known as in-pig. The in-pig carries a pregnancy period of 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days giving us 115 days after the servicing. Two weeks before farrowing (process of delivering young ones called piglets) the sow should be treated against worms. The sow is taken to the farrowing pen about 3 days to the delivery date. A lot of care and attention should be given to in-pigs especially the ones farrowing for the first time on the day of delivery.

SOW

BOAR

REARING • This starts as soon as the piglets are farrowed (delivered). They should be made to suckle their mother immediately after birth so as to take in the initial milk which is very rich in colostrums that contains antibodies which will give the piglet’s resistance to diseases. The pens must be kept very clean to avoid their contacting any disease like MASTIS which attack udder.

FEEDING The pigs should be fed twice daily, morning and evening with appropriate balanced diet. Good drinking water should be made available to them 24 hours of the day. Piglets are being weaned in about 8 weeks. The feed is specially compounded for piglets. The feed is specially made for piglets to provide them with appropriate nutrient they need in addition to their mother’s milk and ensure their faster growth.

FEED SOURCES AND FEEDING Pigs need different kinds of feed that will give them the expected nutrients in their bodies. These feed items are: maize, soya beans meal, groundnut meal, palm kernel cake, fish meal, bone meal, methioine, lysine, salt and wheat offal.

PIG FEED S/N MATERIAL WEANER BOAR/SOAR QUANTITY PER KG 1 MAIZE 2 SOYABEAN 3 PALM KERNEL CAKE 4 RICE BRAN 5 SOW/PREMIX 6 METHIONINE 7 LYSINE 8 SALT 9 WHEAT OFFAL 10 BONE MEAL TOTAL 150 40 500 252. 5 0. 5 4 50 1000 KG 92. 5 80 500 250 2. 5 0. 5 4 70 1000 KG

SET-UP COST The set-up cost of a pig farm depends on the number of pigs the farmer may like to start with initially. Therefore the smallest the farm the less the set-up cost involved. The elements of cost are landed property with fence, borehole, water pump, hose and taps with pipes leading to their pens, initial stock of pigs, labour, general expenses, etc.

MARKETING • The markets for pigs are ever expanding in Nigeria and beyond. The demand for the products is continuing to increase which is an indication of the acceptability of the products to the consuming public. Pigs are eaten both in the southern and the northern parts of the country in large quantity, the meat is eaten much more in the south with the market spread all over the area. They are being sold mainly in kilograms both live pigs and their meat.

HOUSING SYSTEM • The housing structure of pigs should be simple, low cost solid pens that should be roofed in order to protect the animals from rainfall and sunshine. Pigs do not, like heat. The pens must have adequate ventilations to ensure there is enough air in them that will help in cooling the houses on continuous basis. • The male and female pigs should have their separate pens built for them and they must not be housed together except during mating when the soar should be taken to the boar: the stud boar should be the only one in the pen: with the sow for service.

SAMPLE OF A PEN

HOUSING SYSTEM CONTD • The house should be constructed in such a way as to allow easy movement within the pens in order to feed the animals and clean the pens with eased. The floor of the pens should be cemented in order to make it solid and should not be smooth to avoid being slippery: which may cause accident to the animals. • The walls should be short, and high enough to discourage them from jumping out of their pens. The walls should be plastered to prevent it from wounding the animals or scratching their bodies on it.

FARM MANAGEMENT • The success or failure of the farm depends on the management therefore the team should weigh their actions against the cost implications it is the management duty to look at the ways of sourcing fund, feed and other resources needed in the farm at the lowest cost without sacrificing the quality of the service.

RECORD KEEPING AND ACCOUNTING FOR THE FARM • Running a successful piggery required accurate record keeping and accounting for all the farm transactions so as to determine whether it is making profit or losses. A good number of companies run their businesses without keeping necessary and accurate records; this is why they hardly make profit and progress. The farm management should keep good records of expenses, transactions and materials relating to the farm which may form the basis of preparing the accounts at the end of the accounting period. It is the pig farmer’s records and accounts that will help him or her assess or evaluate properly their performance of the business: whether it is doing well or not.

RECORD KEEPING AND ACCOUNTING FOR THE FARM • • • The farmer should keep the record of: the foundation stock of pigs bought, the number, date, weight and age, expenses, feeding, veterinary services, salaries of the farm workers the stock of feed, materials, drugs, population of pigs (living and dead, sick ones, date of farrowing, number of piglets for each litter, number sold and the price of each

RECORD KEEPING AND ACCOUNTING FOR THE FARM CONTD • A farmer should have functional scales in the farm to weigh the pigs and their feed rations. • The records are very important in that it shows the history of the pigs and also serve as the basis of preparing the accounts. • The experts will help you achieve all this with the master plan. Some farmers are resorting to picking information here and there, even from sources that they may not know better than they in piggery. Avoid this method of running a pig farm.

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