A Simple guide to Profitable Pig farming

 

Pig farming in Kenya is now one of the most lucrative agribusiness ideas that is sure to make you smile to the bank. They are mostly kept for pork or processed products like bacon, sausages, and brawns. 

It is a highly attractive husbandry practice compared to other husbandry practices because pigs attain maturity in a very short period (6months), have a short gestation period (3months, 3weeks, 3days), and have high prolificacy (up to 15 piglets per cycle). Pigs also need minimal attention and are thus not labor-intensive.

However, to create a success story out of pig farming, farmers should consider the following key requirements.

1. Breed selection

Always choose the best breeds with a superior genetic constitution to maximize production output. There are many breeds of pigs but the following three are the best breeds for an enterprising farmer; large white, landrace, duroc jersey.

Large white is a strong breed with a good daily weight gain, low feed conversion ratio, mothering ability, with characteristic upright ears.

A landrace is mainly used for cross breeding since it has a high fertility rate, good teats, and it’s a good baconer

Duroc jersey is also a strong pig with high lean meat percentage thus a good porker

 

1. Feeding

Nutritional requirements vary with age, weight, and stage of production. There are three types of feeds available with varying protein content. Feeds should include all the basic nutritional needs. It should also be easily digestible and free of toxins .cooking and chopping increasing digestibility while sun drying vines, peels, and leaves reduce toxins.

Common pig diet includes; maize bran, cassava, fishmeal, vitamins, and water. There are also processed feeds classified as sow and weaner mash and finisher mash

1. Housing

Pigs are clean animals contrary to popular misconceptions. The pig unit should thus have the following considerations;

Good drainage, separate feeding and watering areas, concrete floor, and adequate spacing with a separate dark area for rest and sleep.

Ensure the house is warm and dry to keep away diseases as pneumonia

1. Biosecurity control

Pigs are highly susceptible to diseases as African swine flu which affects health and production. Adequate biosecurity programs include a comprehensive vaccination calendar, control interaction of animals with the outside world. It is important to note that (ASF) is a viral infection spread through contaminated feeds and production equipment. Farmers are advised to avoid bringing any pork or pork products into the farm since the virus is present in meat bones skin and other body parts. Also, avoid the careless disposal of dead animals on the farm.

1. Marketing

The first requirement of a successful pork farming is drawing up a good business plan. This must include a successful marketing strategy since the major setback to profitable farming is getting the market. Let’s do simple maths; if you buy a piglet at 2months, it is ready for sale at 6months. It should have consumed 4, 50kg bags of feeds thus consuming about 11000 Kes all-inclusive. At this time it is about 100-110kg live weight if on optimum management. With a good marketing system, this pig can give the farmer a profit range of 20000-30000 Kes. 

To increase the chances of making profits sound market research should be done to utilize the existing marketing solutions such as group marketing, value addition through processing, and use of the farm to fork campaigns.