Pig farming as a profitable business
Pig farming can be a profitable business, but breeding boars and pigs at home requires certain rules to be followed. In the presence of good pigsties and territory for collecting green fodder, it is quite possible to organize the breeding of even the most capricious breeds. Consider what a novice pig breeder should know.
Pig breeding at home
Pig farming as a business
Pig breeding can always be seen as a means of making a profit. And this is not just about a large farm. Even raising a small number of pigs, you can make good money. If we consider statistics, then pig breeding is one of the most profitable areas of agricultural activity.
It is beneficial to practice pig breeding at home for several reasons.
- The farmer does not have to buy meat products, the market prices for which cannot be called low. When considering this aspect, you need to take into account the fact that pigs are not herbivores, and you will have to spend money on feed. But even with the purchase of expensive feed, the cost of meat and lard obtained at home will be much lower than the market price.
- Growing pigs on their own, the pig breeder gets quality meat. Pork producers often over-supply antibiotics to animals to prevent infectious diseases. If dairy pigs are slaughtered, then the drugs accumulated in the body do not have time to come out naturally. Such pork is not a healthy food product. In addition, drugs that promote rapid weight gain are often used on farms.
- Domestic pig products can be put up for sale. This measure is profitable due to the fact that the pork carcass has practically no waste during cutting. Even ears with legs are on sale, from which an excellent jellied meat is obtained. And the net yield of meat after slaughter in some breeds is 80%. It is also worth noting that some breeds gain up to 350 kg in weight. Accordingly, you can calculate how much revenue is received from the sale of one pig. Alternatively, you can donate live weight pigs. However, the profit in this case is significantly reduced.
- You can do breeding work and put up piglets for sale. Plurality is a biological feature of pigs. One pig gives birth to about 10 piglets per farrow. And this is only an average. There are breeds of pigs that give 15 small pigs during farrowing, and animals give birth 2-3 times a year. It turns out that in one year you can get about 25 viable piglets.
- The last aspect to make money on is breeding boars. Many are willing to pay for the “rent” of a breeding boar for mating.The price depends on the breed of the wild boar. The better the breed, the more money you can get. But such earnings do not always bring high profits. The mating occurs from time to time, the rest of the time the animal does not bring profit.
Pig breeding at home, especially if you combine all the aspects on which you can earn money, brings a lot of profit. But it needs to be properly organized.
What beginner farmers need to know
Every novice pig breeder should know the basics of pig farming. For pigs to gain weight well, they need to provide a comfortable living environment and good nutrition.
Pigsty arrangement
A pig is a large animal. The body length of almost all breeds of meat orientation exceeds 150 cm. In addition, animals need to move. Accordingly, the pigsty should be spacious. One adult, according to the norms, should have an average of 7 square meters. m. Boars are given more space than pigs (8 sq. m). Set up the pigsty in such a way that it is easy to keep it clean. You will often have to clean up in the pigsty, because if the litter is untimely replaced, the humidity of the air increases, and the multiplication of microbes in such conditions occurs very quickly.
In the diet of pigs, in addition to compound feed, there are green feeds, so it is advisable to equip a walking area. One adult boar with a pregnant mumps should have 10 square meters. m. Each pregnant pig is assigned at least 1.5 square meters. m. But for the animals to independently obtain green food for themselves, it is advisable to allocate much more space. This is especially true for breeds that are suitable for grazing.
If the breed is not intended for grazing, this does not mean that the animals do not need sunlight. In addition to sunlight, pigs need mud baths, so in the warm season, at least several times a week, it is worth letting artiodactyls go for a walk.
Pig breeds
Unfortunately, the ecological situation does not have the best effect on all living organisms, and pigs are no exception. Some breeds with a good genotype are on the verge of extinction. But zootechnicians are working on breeding new types of pigs all over the world. Scientists from China, Belgium, Russia, and the Republic of Uzbekistan (RU) have achieved considerable success.
All pigs are divided into 3 groups: greasy, bacon, meat and greasy. It is easy to guess that greasy breeds, for example, are valued for lard. At the same time, high productivity is not always the main indicator. Sometimes the product is appreciated for its high taste. There are few greasy breeds, due to the fact that this product is in less demand than meat.
There are much more meat breeds than greasy ones. Some pigs have a special structure of meat, which makes it possible to call it marbled. It, of course, cannot be compared with marbled beef in the vein of fat, evenly distributed in the meat, but it makes it tender and juicy. The most popular are animals of a universal orientation. These pigs usually have high productivity indicators, but the meat yield after slaughter is no more than 60%.
Every pig breeder must navigate the breeds, so you should first read the literature on this topic. When studying each breed, attention is paid to the peculiarities of their maintenance and breeding. Some animals do not tolerate low temperatures, therefore they are suitable for growing in regions with warm climates. And in Russia, the temperate climate is far from everywhere. Some pigs have long and warm coats, so they do not tolerate heat well. Areas with a moderately cold climate are suitable for breeding them.
As of today, the following breeds of pigs are the most popular: large white, meishan, Belarusian black-and-white, brazier, Latvian white, piettern, Lithuanian white, Livonian, Breitovskaya.
Organization of feeding
It is important to organize feeding correctly. Pigs eat relatively little. In the diet of some breeds, 70% is green feed, and of the remaining 30%, only 10% is made up of compound feed. The remaining 20% are acorns, nuts, grains.
It is necessary to choose exclusively high-quality compound feed. The quality can partly be judged by the pricing policy. Cheap food is not of high quality. The composition of dry mixtures must contain mineral additives (meat and bone meal, chalk, etc.).
In addition to grains, vegetables should be present in the diet. Preference is given to potatoes, beets and carrots. From grain crops, pigs are given rye, wheat and barley. Also include legumes in the diet. Nutrition affects both weight gain and meat quality. And in this regard, the efficiency of using green fodder can hardly be overestimated. Long-term practice shows that in the presence of young nettle and alfalfa in the diet, pork has a more delicate taste.
When fattening for meat, they give more green fodder, and when fattening for fat, they increase the amount of root crops, corn, potatoes and barley.
Pig room preparation
Every pig breeder knows that before buying young animals, you need to properly prepare the pigsty. If we are talking about a new building, then they check how well the equipment is fixed, whether all norms have been observed when forming the machines. Particular attention is paid to ventilation.
Pigs are afraid of drafts, so you need to carefully approach the arrangement of the ventilation system. If we are talking about an old building, before buying young animals, they disinfect the entire premises, including equipment. Experienced farmers advise to build a pigsty from scratch, taking into account the needs of a particular type of pig. Before starting construction, you can see the appearance of the finished pigsties in the photo and video. However, before the construction of the building, a drawing is developed.
If necessary, equip the room with a heating system. If the breed is resistant to low temperatures, you can get by with the insulation of the room. It is possible to sheathe a pigsty with thermal insulation both from the outside and from the inside. It is desirable that the air temperature in the building in winter is 15-17 ° C.
Important points
If the floor in the room is made of wood, it needs to be redone. Pigs chew on this natural material with pleasure. Such a coating will last no more than a few months. In addition, it is not possible to maintain cleanliness in a room with a wooden floor.
Also pay attention to the presence of outlets for liquid waste. They are needed to simplify the care of animals. In the absence of taps, they are installed. To do this, make the floor at an inclination of 3-5 ° C. It is advisable to use a slotted floor structure. But the size of the slots is made so that artiodactyls do not stumble over them. An area for young animals and suckling pigs with a sow must be set aside. Boars are kept separately.
The pigsty must be well equipped. Drinking bowls and feeders, which can be made independently, are advisable to be attached to the walls of the machines.
Raising a large number of pigs at home
You can independently maintain a mini-farm. In this case, it will be necessary to turn the breeding and raising of pigs into the main occupation. To make this lesson profitable, you need to properly equip the farm. In this case, it is not possible to get by with one room. We will have to separately build a pigsty for adults who do not take part in breeding work, and a separate pigsty-reproducer. Depending on the number of boars involved in breeding work, you can build a separate house for them.
The production uses innovative technologies, which allows you to get maximum profits. It is advisable to introduce modern technologies on our own mini-farms. For example, farmers recommend using Canadian technology.
Canadian pig technology
Sometimes this pig breeding technology is called cold. For the sake of justice, it should be noted that not every farmer in the country uses it today, considering it not particularly suitable due to the climatic features of Russia.
Canadian technology involves keeping pigs in a tent hangar. The hangar floor is covered with organic materials (straw, sawdust, shavings, etc.). During the operation of the hangar, the litter does not change to a new one. New straw is placed on top of the old straw as needed. The main thing is that the top layer of the litter is dry. Organic materials are composted together with manure. Accordingly, the litter remains warm at all times. As practice shows, the temperature of such a floor does not drop below 15 ° C. At this temperature, artiodactyls feel comfortable. Initially, the thickness of the litter layer should be 20-25 cm.
Opponents of this growing technology refer to the fact that bacteria that can cause various diseases accumulate in the lower layers of the litter.
When kept cold, drinkers are equipped with an auto-heating function, and pigs are placed in pens in numerous groups.
Danish pig breeding technology is also noteworthy. But it is more acceptable for industrial production, and not for mini-farms, so we will not consider it in detail.
Tips for Beginner Pig Breeders
The organization of such a business requires a lot of preparation.
Before buying piglets and setting up a pig farm, they calculate how profitable this activity is in a particular region. If, for example, there is already a pig farm nearby, then it will be difficult to find a point of sale. In this case, it is advisable to breed artiodactyls exclusively for their own needs. Also, the development of business is influenced by the economy in the region.
So that pig breeding for beginners does not become a loss-making enterprise, all the necessary calculations are first made. Already at this stage it is necessary to decide whether it will be a large farm or not. It makes sense to plan a large farm only if it is possible to place large buildings and there are areas for collecting green fodder nearby. You also need to understand that the development of any business requires material investments.
Breed selection tips
Beforehand, you should familiarize yourself with the list of the most common breeds in a particular region. At the same time, we must not forget that selection does not stand still. Zootechnicians work every day to improve each breed, so the list should be supplemented with newly appeared ones that have managed to prove themselves from the good side. It is better to stop the choice on hybrid breeds.
When raising pigs, you should know the characteristics of the breed. It is important to slaughter in a timely manner. Many breeds with weight gain increase feed conversion, so it is sometimes beneficial to slaughter an animal without waiting for it to gain maximum weight.
Young animals must be vaccinated. The administration of drugs should be carried out by a specialist. All medicines are used in accordance with the instructions.
Conclusion
The profitability of this livestock industry depends on many factors. The farm will only make a profit if the animals are properly kept and fed. The use of advanced technologies also plays an important role. You can see on the video what conditions are created for pigs at industrial enterprises. All of them are inapplicable in a mini-farm, but some points can be used.