Lucrative Pig Farming Business Plan and Feasibility Study

If you choose to set up your pig farm in a rural area, ensure there are motor-able route to your farm. Furthermore, You can lease a land from a period of 3 years up. (nothing less than 3 years) before you will be able to buy a land of your own.

If you can device a great marketing strategy (which I will discuss later on this article), butchers will even fight over themselves to come to your farm to buy your pigs. This would reduce your budgeted cost of transportation to sell off your pork in city markets.

While you are giving consideration to construction of a breeding ground for your pig farming business, the following should be your top priority:

Accessibility to your farm is a necessity for buying and selling of your pigs. If your farm is not easily accessible, no butchers would fight over themselves to buy from you. Even getting your goods and feeds to the farm or to the market, could be hell experience. Considers these factor before  setting up your farm.

when you begin your farming business, days can quickly turn into months and months into years. Whatever would inconvenience you now might be more inconveniencing in two years. Whatever looks fairly OK for you now, would be too small in two years. For instance; When you buy your little piglets for stocking. Look at the space you have provided for them, try to see them as full grown pigs. Then imagine if the space is OK or too small for them. If it’ll be too small, then make amends “while the sun shines”. Most pig farmers usually adopt the semi intensive system of rearing pigs. This method comprises of having a pig pen on one end of the farm. Having an open grazing land area where the animals can do their open grazing.

It’s always a good practice to raise pigs in pasture by leaving them occasionally to root around in the fields where they can find plants to eat, and that can only be achieved when you have large enough land space to cater for their amusement. You would need to secure your farm land if you want to adopt this approach, pigs often wander away if adequate security measures are not taken.

Big spacious pen is important if you don’t want your pigs to injure themselves. A good and specious pen is also important to keep the pigs healthy and free from diseases and contamination. Proper drainage is needed too to avoid water becoming stagnant in your pen which could attract insects and other harmful pests to harm your pigs.

To avoid your pigs getting overly dirty, you need to build a water pool where they can play and swim ( pigs likes swimming) and cool themselves which is important to their well being. Changing the water and refilling the pool as frequently as possible will ensure that they are clean all the time. If you are keeping them outdoor, shelter should be build for them.

Important Points to Note for Pig Housing

Deep litter pig housing

Deep litter housing is a type of pig housing where the floor is filled with sawdust 2 – 3 feet in the both open and covered area. This method of pig farming is well suited for high rainfall and high altitude area. The floor of the pen remains clean and dry due to the sawdust. The pig house also provides better micro – environment in summer and winter as well as better physiological adaptation. This model provide 2 – 3 times higher manure than that conventional concrete floor pigpen.

Advantages of deep litter housing

BUY HEALTHY PIGLETS

A Healthy piglet

To ensure a healthy farm, you need to make sure the piglets you are about to start your farm with are purchased from a healthy source. Buy from trusted pig dealers and make sure the ones you are buying has a history of proper vaccination. You might want to look out for the signs of a healthy pigs, some of which I have listed below;

Some popular breeds in Nigeria to choose from are; 

You can also get various hybrid piglets in your Country. These hybrid grow quicker with high resistance to diseases.

Important Tip 

Employ 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.

Just like humans, Pigs eat a wide variety of foods, anything humans can eat, they can eat. Like humans as well, they need a balanced diet such as fibre, energy, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals to thrive. Feeding will take the major chunk of your spending in the farm.

Pigs, like all animals, must have constant access to clean fresh drinking water. They’d also love 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. Galvanised troughs are robust and easy to clean, and are usually not too easy for the pigs to tip over. Automatic drinkers are available but aren’t half as much fun for the pigs

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF FARM PIGS

Generally raising newborn piglets need a pen house temperature of around 95 degrees Fahrenheit for the first week. Then the temperature should be dropped by 5 degrees each week until it is time for weaning. Young piglets must also be allowed to either root in the soil, on the other hand you can buy iron supplement from pet stores.

Young growing piglets should be offered creep feed until they are fully weaned. you should also offer them pasture but ensure you provide only the most nutritious available pasture to encourage growth, since their stomachs are not yet developed enough for rougher or less nutritious fare.

Pumpkin ( popularly known as ugwu) stems (which the vegetable sellers would gladly give for free after they have removed the leaves) do serve as an excellent nutritional pasture for both young and matured pigs.

To properly care for pigs, you need to pay wrapped attention to three key aspects;

We shall now talk about these three vital aspects of caring for farm pigs.

Good Health Care

Providing your pigs the vaccines recommended for your local area by a veterinarian, and limiting the pigs’ contact with other animals, will go a long way toward preventing disease. It is also crucial to keep their housing area clean and free of manure.

Pigs are often prone to worm infections, especially if they are not rotated through different pastures. Many worm species leave eggs or larvae in the host animals’ feces, and rotating to a new pasture helps to disrupt ,the worms’ life cycles. If your pigs do get worms, use a commercial dewormer and feed your pigs fresh garlic to help eliminate the infection. More on this when i shall be discussing common pig sicknesses and treatments.

Your veterinarian also may administer a tablespoon of wormwood powder per 25 pounds of pig.

Good/ Proper Housing

If you’re raising pigs on a pasture, they will need only a covered three-sided shelter large enough for them all to lie down beside each other inside. A board fence around the pasture with a single strand of electrified perimeter wire will be enough to keep pigs contained.

You can raise pigs in a pen exclusively inside a barn, but the enclosure will need deep bedding to allow for rooting, and it will need frequent cleaning to help prevent disease. Whether indoors or outdoors, piglets will need 16 square feet of space each, while weaners and older pigs require closer to 40 square feet.

If the winter temperatures in your area drop much below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, you will need to offer supplemental heating, such as a heat lamp or heated floor mat.

In the summer your pigs will need a wallow, an area with mud and water, in order to keep cool. If you don’t provide one yourself, your pigs may dig their own.

Good food and water is needed for optimal pig growth, when you offer pigs a high-quality pig feed preferably commercial hog feed that will allow them to gain weight rapidly and stay consistently healthy.

If you want to reduce considerably, the number of times a vet doctor visit your pig farm then you have to pay attention to the quality of food you are feeding your swine. A little while we shall discuss how to formulate your own pig feeds, pigs can however, benefit from a wide variety of diet types including pasture, wooded lots, scrap vegetables, whey, other dairy and day old bread, remnants from restaurants all of which can reduce their need for grain. The food you offer your pigs can affect how its meat taste.

A very important aspect of pig diets is water. Clean water should be available in the farm at all times. Automatic waterers, serviced by a hose is more preferable, you can also provide large drums of water, its usualy difficult for the pigs to overturn the drums or soil the water inside them.

OTHER PIG MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

Culling of animals: Unproductive pigs with diminished size or with very high inter-farrowing period, repeat breeders, aged animals, unproductive boars etc. are to be culled and sold out for meat purpose.

Castration of piglets: Male piglets which are unwanted and not fit for breeding purpose are to be castrated just after weaning and may be kept in the farm as fattener animal which later on may be sold for meat purpose.

Segregation of diseased animal: A separate house should be there to keep the animals suffering from contagious diseases.

The ultimate profit or loss in a farm can only be found out by keeping proper records in the farm which includes data sheet of individual animal, total stock of animals, feed register, expenditure statement etc.

COMMON PIG DISEASE AND TREATMENTS

Health care measure to be followed in a pig farm is one of the most important factors and if not followed properly, farmer may incur a heavy loss. The pigs can be infected with a number of internal parasites, skin infections and other bacterial and viral diseases, which in turn will result in poor growth and even death of pig.

Generally, symptoms of illness in pig is characterized by the following

Piglets should be dewormed once in three months. Worms from pigs may infect human being also. Most commonly found parasitic Pig disease are Ascaries, Strong infection, Coccidiosis and mange mite infection. Drugs like Piperzine in feed and water, Fenbendazole in feed (Single dose) or Ivermectin are useful against parasitic infection in pig. The pregnant sow should be treated before farrowing. kindly contact your local veterinary on how to use these drugs, he may prescribe other drugs according to your region.

Another commonly occurring ailment in pig is the skin infection which may be caused by ticks , mites and lice. Mange caused by mites may occur around the head, ears, legs and tails which subsequently spread all over the body.

Tick and lice

Tick and lice feed on the skin and irritate the pigs which will scratch its body. The skin infection caused by the external parasites can be treated by spraying. Dipping or painting with Butox – 1% solution spray or dipping or Tickting or Deltamethrin (two application at 1 0 days interval or Ivermectin should be done regularly. Other diseases like piglet diarrhoea, salmonellosis, mastitis etc can be treated when it occurs in consultation with your local veterinarian.

Notable infectious diseases of pigs

Classical swine fever or Hog cholera is one of the most important and devastating viral diseases of pigs. The disease affects both domesticated and wild pigs under natural conditions. It is characterized by fever, multiple generalized petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhages giving rise to visceral and skin lesion. Symptoms of tremor, in coordination and paralysis and occasionally peracute death without any signs may also be observed.

Pig farmers are advised to vaccinate the animals against swine fever about 20 – 30 days before breeding.

Respiratory disorder/ Pneumonia

This is frequently caused by Pasteurella, it is considered to be an important disease of pigs. Symptoms in affected pigs are apathetic, anorexia, high fever, coughing and sneezing, difficulty in breathing, red eyes with discharge. The treatment is more effective if appropriate antibiotic is used based on the drug sensitivity of the isolated bacteria.

Colibacillosis (piglet diarrhoea)

It is caused by pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli and its a disease primarily of the newborn or young pigs. The disease may be manifested by diarrhea,respiratory distress and arthritis. Thorough sanitation, adequate feeding of colostrums and milk during the first few hours after birth is important to reduce the problem. Oral rehydration therapy along with specific antibiotics is useful for the treatment of the affected piglets. Occurrence of most of the diseases can be prevented by following strict hygienic measure and by timely vaccination of pigs.

A separate house should be provided to keep the animals suffering from contagious diseases in isolation or quarantine.

HOW TO FORMULATE YOUR OWN PIG FEED

While you can buy bags of premixed pig food at most farm supply stores, you might want to make your own pig food mix. Many people believe that you can feed pigs anything, such as your table scraps and whatever else you can get your hands on. While it’s true that pigs will eat just about anything, they should be fed a balanced diet just like any other animal. This is especially true if you are raising your pigs commercially, as you want them to be as healthy as possible.

Feed your weaners, or pigs that are being weaned off of their mother’s milk, a special mix of food until they are about 10 to 12 weeks old. Create a feed mix that is comprised of about 76 percent corn or wheat, 12 percent skim milk powder, 6 percent soybean meal, 6 percent calcium and protein supplement, and 0.2 percent salt.

Begin feeding your pigs a grower diet when they are about 12 weeks old. Create a feed mix that is 79 percent sorghum, 10 percent soybean meal, 7 percent calcium and protein supplement, 4 percent sunflower or peanut meal, and 0.25 percent salt.

Feed your breeder pigs a different mix than the rest of your pigs. Make a feed mix that is 80 percent sorghum, 10 percent sunflower meal, 10 percent calcium and protein supplement, and 0.25 percent salt.

HOW TO MARKET MATURED PIGS

This is the main point of starting this business in the first place. It is only proper to have a marketing plan in place even before the commencement of your enterprise. While you should have a detailed marketing plan in your pig business plan, I will give you a quick heads up on how to market your pigs to customers.

Before your pigs grow to maturity, do a feasibility study in your area, try to know those who buys, those who sells, where their main market is at, do they have a pig buyers/sellers union? and the likes.

The answers to some of these questions would tell you who to make friends with. Now make friends with your would be buyers even before your pigs is matured, asked them vital questions, buy poke meat from them and start introducing your more unique pig breeds to them ( even if your pigs is same with the ones they sell in such market).

If you do this job very well, when your pigs are ready to be shipped into the market, buyers won’t be in short supplies.

HOW TO DETERMINE PIG PRICE PRICE IN NIGERIA

We all agree that the financial return is one of the biggest motivation that entices many entrepreneurs into pig farming.

Now!

How much do pigs sell for? The answer is quite simple. Pigs are weighed and sold in amount that’s corresponding to their weight in kilograms (KG).

Let’s say you have a grown up, castrated or ready-to-be-sold pig in your pig farm. The pig buyer will know how much such pig is worth by weighing it on the scale. Let’s say your pig weighs 65KG, the price for it is 65 x the market price of a KG as at the moment.

As at the time of writing this post, the price pig in Nigeria per kilogram is about N550-N700 ( $2 – $2.5)

That may not be the price in your region. and that may not be the price as at the time you’re reading this post (so you need to find out)

Well !!!

Glad you stick around till the end of this article

Piggery as you can see from this article is not a very difficult business to run, if you put everything I’ve discussed in this article, you just need to have: