Why Many Are Investing In Piggery

By

Celestine Amoke

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July 13, 2018

0

Piggery is a lucrative business in livestock production.  Pigs provide an important source of meat (pork) and are in hot demand especially in festive periods. 

There are several reasons why many are turning to pig farming to secure financial independence. One peculiar characteristic of pigs is that they bear many offspring at a time and multiply fast. 

A mature female pig (sow) can give birth to as many as 15 young ones (piglets) at a time and gives birth two times a year. That translates to a lot of money at any stage they are sold. No other livestock can multiply as fast as that. It is easy to feed because it eats all the things human beings eat. All the kitchen wastes that are usually thrown away can be converted to pig food.

Pigs have high resistance to common diseases, unlike other livestock. Again, pigs can easily adapt to any situation and are very easy to rear. It is the toast of celebrators and party organisers because a mature pig yields a lot of flesh, one big pig can serve hundreds.

A male adult pig is called a boar while the female adult pig is referred to as a sow. The baby pig is called a piglet or farrow while a group of pigs is known as a herd or drove

plot or half a plot of land is essential if one wants to operate on a small scale, or five acres and above, for large-scale piggery, preferably in a rural area. In any case, you can pasture them.

Breeds

There are varieties of breeds such as Hampshire, Berkshire and Large black. These are good breeds. There are still others such as Duroc, Large White, Land Race and Hampshire, which are scarce here.

In Nigeria, there are no pure breeds because of the absence of artificial insemination centres. As a result, what we have is hybrid. Nevertheless, what is important is that you buy healthy piglets from reputable farms. In other climes, people specialise. Some decide to be breeders while other become fatties. The breeders are only concerned with producing baby pigs while the fatties produce pigs for meat. Many here do both.

Housing

Construct sheds for pigs to provide them with shelter against adverse weather and to ensure proper sanitary conditions for their healthy growth.

The house should have low walls made of stones, bricks or concrete cement.  The floor should be cement concrete or iron slabs to make for easy cleaning, especially with water.  The floor should also slope towards the drains for easy cleaning. The roof could be made with corrugated iron sheets, asbestos or aluminium sheets.

There should be separate pens for farrows (piglets), feeders and drinkers, and rail guards to prevent the adult female pig (sow) from lying on the piglets.  A separate partition should be created for the piglets.

Similarly, a separate partition should be created where the piglets’ food is kept to prevent the sow from eating up the food meant for the piglets. Pigs like water a lot. You should construct a pool where they can swim and play.  If you do not have a plot of land or space to construct a pen and you are interested in the business, you can rent one. It could be an uncompleted building, or a fallow plot. Talk to the owner to use it for a fee.

Feeding

Pigs eat a lot and so adequate provision should be made for their food. They feed on both plant and animal products. They can also be fed on concentrate and supplementary feeds. Like human beings, pigs need balanced diets. For energy sources, they could be served maize, guinea corn and other cereals. And for protein, you could serve soya bean meal, cotton seed cake, groundnut cake, palm kernel cake and so on. For vitamins and minerals, you give them vitamin or mineral pre-mix as well as bone meal and oyster shell.

Supplementary feeds are cassava tubers and peels, citrus pulp, fruits and their by-products, and kitchen wastes. Feed should be ground before giving to the pigs and should be placed in feeding troughs.  An adequate supply of water should be provided in water troughs. Spoilt feed should not be given to pigs to avoid sickness.

Sanitary Measures

A high degree of hygiene is required to maintain a healthy herd. This includes regular removal of manure, washing of pens, disinfecting and cleaning of the facility to avoid offensive odours. There is also need for regular checks for signs of disease or injury and, where found, they should be treated immediately.

Visitors’ traffic to the pen should be restricted to reduce the risk of disease transfer from the visitors to the animals. Only clean feeds and water should be given to them to prevent contamination. The pigs should be de-wormed at eight weeks of age and vaccinated against diseases. Engage the services of a veterinary doctor.

Weaning

After the birth of the pigs, remove the mucous membrane from their nose. Cut the naval chord and dip into iodine solution to prevent infection.  Introduce heat to prevent them from chilling. After two or three days after birth, the piglets should be given the first dose of iron dextran and the second dose 2 to 3 weeks later to prevent anaemia.

Begin creep feed at about two weeks after farrowing. The pigs are weaned at 42 days or six weeks of age and transferred to growing or fattener’s house.  Here they are to be fed with weaners mash and changed later to fatteners mash after a few weeks. They should also be transferred to the growers’ house where they are fed with specially formulated rations until market or reproductive age.

Marketing

Where are the markets? Conduct research where you are to sell.  You can sell to butchers in the open market, eateries, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, etc.  You can print flyers advertising your produce to individuals, corporate bodies and event planners. You can even go on the Internet to market your product.

Profitability

A mature pig can be sold for N30,000 to N50,000. Assume that you have 10 mature pigs (boars or sows) you will be fetching returns in the range of N300,000 to N500,000.  Sales twice a year would fetch you between N600,000 and N1,000,000.

Start small with about three to five piglets to minimise risks and as you progress you increase the stock. Nevertheless, no matter how small you start, dream big and it shall come to pass. Go for exotic breeds to increase your profit potentials.

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