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There are verious livestock farming that are very lucrative if the right principles are applied. One of such is Pig farming, also known as Piggery.
Piggery is one farming that is a gold mine but majority of people are not aware of this. Some people even do not eat pigs in Nigeria, but it is the most consumed libestock worldwide followed by poultry.
The pigs are of different breed that determine their size and fat distribution in the body. There are breeds that can give birth to 15 pigglet at a time. Imagine having to produce over a 100 pigs in a year. Your smiling to the banks will be endless because they just keep reproducing.
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Baby pigs is known as shoat, farrow or piglet. The male pig is referred to as the boar while the female is known as sows. As a group they are called a herd or drove.
WHAT PIG FARMING ENTAILS
Pig farming, as a branch of animal husbandry, is the process of breeding/ rearing and raising domestic pigs for personal or commercial purposes in a piggery or pig farm. Pigs are largely a native of the African continent and they belong to the genus Sus, within the family of even-toed ungulates.
Most of the domestic pigs raised are descendants of their ancestors, the Eurasian wild boar and some other species not in their genus, such as the warthog and the babirusa.
1. Secure A Breeding Location
It depends on how you plan to feed your pigs, a plot of land may just be okay for small scale start, even a half plot ifvyou intend to expand. But if you can acquire a large farm land from 1-5 acres, that will be better so that your pigs can graze in the open and retire to the pen later where they’d continue feeding and playing. Land is your biggest investment in this business. Once you have it, you’re half way done.
A rural area is preferable innsetting up a pig farm. Customers can come to your farm to make purchase as well as you taking your products to the markets.
2. Build A Standard Pen
A Big pen is important if you don’t want your pigs to injure themselves in a tight place. A good and spacious pen is also important to keep the pigs healthy, always free from diseases and contamination due to overcrowding. Proper drainage is needed too to avoid water becoming stagnant and stale in your pen which could attract insects and other harmful pets to harm your pigs innthe pen.
To avoid your pigs getting overly dirty in their pen, you need to build a water pool where they can sometimes play, swim as pigs likes swimming, and cool themselves. It is important to their well being. Changing the water regularly, refilling the pool as frequently as possible will ensure their cleanness all the time. If you are keeping them outdoor, shelter should be provided for them. The construction should have a wall watered system and constant water supply.
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3. Buy Healthy Piglets For Starts
You need to get it right from the foundation, hence to ensure healthy farm, you need to make sure the piglets you are about to start your farm with are health. Buy from trusted source with a good record and make sure the ones you are buying have a history of vaccination.
Buy as much as you wants to start with, sat four frmales and a male. But don’t start with too many. It is better to start with small number and increase gradually as you study the pigs along. This way, you will be able to learn the rope and you grow and anything go wrong at the initial stage, your risk will be minimal as this is critical.
Talk To Veterinary Doctors – The services of vet doctors for regular check up and vaccination as well as feeding and nutrition advice on a regular basis. Pigs generally eats what human being eat and doe not present much worries when it comes to feeding.
4. Employ Workers
Have some employee to help you manage the farm. For example 4 – 5 persons if your pigs are up to 100. If you are starting on a smaller scale, you may need lesser number of worker 1 – 2 workers who will be assisting in the cleaning of the pigs and the pens, feeding the pigs and making sure they are well behaved and other things necessary for the farm.
5. Feeding Is Important For Pig Farming
Pigs eat a wide variety of foods like human beings, anything human can eat, they can eat and more. The pigs need like human being a balanced diet such as fibre, energy, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals to thrive. Feed will take the major chunk of your spending in the farm.
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Pigs must have constant access to clean fresh drinking water like every other animal. As well as tipping the trough to make a wallow, pigs will also stand in the water trough and wash their dirty faces in it, so it needs to be checked regularly, cleaned out and refilled. This 7s 8ne mm of the big tasks. Galvanised troughs are robust and easy to clean, and not too easy for the pigs to tip over. Automatic drinkers are available but aren’t half as much fun for the pigs generally.
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Benefits Of Pig Farming
1). The pig reproduction rate is very high, hence more produce high yield.
2). Source of income and employment. It can may in millions if well managed
3). Excessive global demand than supply, which is a ready market and offtakers
4). Pigs have low mortality rate. The rist is minimal as youmare sure to make money at every stage.
5). Cheaper to raise than many other farm animals.
6). They have a strong immune system.
7). The profit is maximised as they sell at great prices
8). Used for other meat products like saugaes which is in high demand
Thank you for reading.
