PIG FARMING, DURATION OF RETURN, SETUP, LIMITING FACTORS

PIG FARMING, DURATION OF RETURN, SETUP, LIMITING FACTORS
There is no denying the potential for Agriculture to create wealth , provide income and employment for economic growth and change the fortunes of an individual or society as a whole. Livestock farming for example, and in particular rearing of pigs is a hugely profitable venture that can be easily adapted by anyone wishing to go into this business venture.
Pig farming is so profitable and one particular reason why is because pigs multiply so fast. A mature female can give birth to between 8 and 18 piglets at a time. Gestation period (period between pregnancy and birth) is just four months and female pigs can give birth twice in a year.
There are a lot of reasons why entrepreneurs should consider the business of pig farming. Urbanization and economic growth is leading to the proliferation of fast food restaurants across the continent. In addition to the presence of restaurant brands like KFC, supermarkets like Shoprite are also introducing pork dominated foreign food to African consumers. Also, foreigners of all designations, be it tourists, expats, or investors and their families are all coming in their huge numbers to our continent for business and pleasure. This has resulted in more hotels and restaurants with a large customer base made up of foreigners now serving delicious pork delicacies to their customers. It is also worth a mention that Pork is the most widely consumed meat in the world.
This means there is a growing demand of pork products and more pig farmers will be needed to satisfy this ever growing demand.
Pig farming is attractive because it assists in many ways to improve the living conditions of poor and vulnerable small-scale farmers. Pork and other pig products are sources of high value animal protein, meaning more income is also earned from the sale of animals and their products. The skin can be a great leather source used in manufacturing furniture, football, shoes and many other items. Your willingness to diversify from food production to leather production can lead to an increased return on investments.
Pigs have a very high feed-to-meat conversion ratios. This makes them grow up to market level at a very fast rate. In fact, Pigs produce more meat for every kg of food consumed. more meat than goats, sheep and cattle.
Pigs are very easy to farm. They have a large number of taste buds which allows them to eat the food we humans eats and stuff that other animals eats too like grass and forage. They grow fast to slaughter age depending on feeding and management methods and its high reproductive rate in comparison with ruminants makes it a low risk investment with quick returns guaranteed.
DURATION OF RETURN
Like I stated earlier, a mature female pig (Sow) can give birth to about 18 piglets twice a year. The market price for a pig, depending on its weight, ranges from 40,000 naira to 60,000 naira. So, lets assume you start farming with 20 female pigs and they each give birth (burrow***) to 10 piglets in four months 20 x 10 = 200. If you are to sell each for 40,000 this will give a return of 200 x 40000 = 8000000. Considering the fact that it takes between 5 to 6 months for a pig to grow to slaughter age, and another 4 months gestation period, you will begin to reap huge return on investments in less than a year. That’s great. Pig farming is indeed a profitable venture.
A lot more profit can be made by improving housing structure to make the pigs more convenient to enable them grow better, selecting the best animals in the herd for breeding and allowing more flexibility with funds so you can push to expand production.
SETUP
To succeed in Pig farming requires the understanding of important factors like starting small but dreaming big and starting with the right breed.
Don’t underestimate the value in starting small as a whole lot of successful pig farmers started with a few number of pigs. 5 breeders is good for a start. No matter how small you begin you can become as big as you imagine.
Choosing the right breed can be the difference between success and failure in pig farming business. It doesn’t matter how excellent you are at pig farming, or how much you invest, the potential of the business to be profitable will be affected by the breed of pigs you begin with.
Becoming a pig farmer is not costly in money and equipment terms, however as the business continues to grow, more inputs will be needed.
Initial investments include buildings, fencing, water trough, feed, medicine, labor, as well as buying piglets. Once you have estimated cost and compared them with market price of pig products, you can estimate the profit for your enterprise. Before you begin to operate at a small scale level, you need to consider your initial investments and also pay regular attention to health and sanitation issues.
The cheapest form of pig husbandry is allowing them to roam freely without providing permanent shelter. The implication in terms of public health and disease control makes this production type impossible to promote. However there should be no confusion with accepting this form under certain economic and cultural backgrounds.
Setting up your pig farm involves firstly to secure a location. It is important to select a non-residential area when choosing the site for farming pigs to avoid unpleasant odour in the neighborhood. Nearness of the farmland to the city will ensure its easy to transport the pigs to the market. And it also makes it easier for people who prefer to visit your farmland for business when your farm is close to the city.
After securing a location, the next step is to build a pen. Pig pen are built to protect them from the rain, predators and odd temperatures. A spacious pen is important to keep the pigs healthy and free from diseases and injury. Good and proper drainage is also needed to avoid attracting insects and other harmful pests to harm your pigs.
Suitable breeds for pig farming include:
Tamworth Pig; They are golden red in color, their ears are large and erect, and the piglets often have 100% survival rate.
Yorkshire Pig; They are white in color, they have erect ears and their average litter size is 13 per birth.
Berkshire Pig; They are black and white with erect ears and they have white on all four legs, face and tail.
Make sure your pigs feed on heavy protein meals which could be sourced anywhere from soya beans to cooked meat to ensure they grow healthy. Feeds should be bought in large quantities with a greater part of the protein feed regularly given to the mature pigs. Ensure water is readily available because they consume a few gallons of water daily and it is important to change the water on a regular basis because of how frequently the pigs will get them dirty.
If you are starting small, you will need one or two workers to assist in cleaning the pigs and the pens, feeding and other necessary things. When your pigs get to 100 you can employ more workers to take care of the work load involved in caring for the farm.
LIMITING FACTORS
The problem of parasites and diseases are limitations to pig farming. Planning veterinary programs for pigs will help in enhancing profitability of the venture. High sanitation standard will also go a long way in reducing cost.
If genetic make-up of the animal is poor, the lack of breeding stock with superior genes, efficient disease control, good nutrition and management cannot make any impact in pig farming business.
Lack of capital and the high cost of quality feed is a big limitation in pig production in the continent. Poor management system can also lead to low productivity in pig production.
Technical know how and training are often not available in the rural communities and this knowledge gap is a major constraint to poverty alleviation. Investments in pig farming as well as promoting private investments of small scale farmers should be based on knowing the potential contribution of livestock farming to the living conditions of small scale farmers and overall rural development.
In conclusion, all forms of pig production require resources and minimal investments at least except for the no input production form where pigs roam freely with little or no attention. Access to finance and adequate feed and water forms the pillars foe successful small-scale pig production. Knowledge on constraints to pig production is important to educate pig production stakeholders in order to improve pig production and reduce animal protein deficit.
The high income potential of pig farming remains so because there are only few pig farmers available to supply a growing market compared to other livestock farming. Pig production is not yet as crowded as poultry or fish farming for example. So, with the right training, funding and resources, pig farming is a very lucrative venture to get into.