Pig Farming Or Fish Farming?

Fish And Pig Farming

Hi you good people out there.

I would like tremendous support with starting two projects.  The first is pig farming and the other is fish farming.  I have already gotten an acre of land and would put that to very good use.  I know that i am a complete novice when it comes to both projects but I am willing to put a lot of hard work into both any simple guides?

Jomi

I am a fisheries and aquaculture consultant, i would really love to help you.We have to design the feasibility report, how much you'er willing to spend, expected profit,time and management etc.

You can contact me on 08023707186 giftedhandzz@gmail.com

I am a pig farmer if u want to know more i might help u

I think we have no pork eaters, so fish farming might be a better option? On the other hand, its supply is high?

I am also interested in fish farming and related projects but yet to start. I attended a day's seminar recently. I am trying to get the necessary things in place such as the water borehole which I have just sunk in my (Ikotun)Lagos farm site. I intend to fashion the farm site after "the garden of eden", a sort of integrated farming involving poultry (chicken & turkey), rabbit, grasscutter, dog breeding, snails and fish farming. Funding remains my biggest headache. Please fellow nairalanders, let's be serious on this and offer help freely. Can someone please help me with ideas in the design, planning, funding, etc. We must survive! e-mail: gozibestatefarms@yahoo.com or send SMS to 080-3307-9388. Remain blessed!

loved both in high school

 i was never a farmer,  just loved it when i was in high school , awesome stuff

In business it is save to start small if you have no sponsor, Fish farming is good business no doubt, you need a plot of  land, Make ponds, this will cost 50k, treat the pond, get fingerlins for 50k (about 2500) bore hole and feed them for about 4months. Thats all.

leave story

Feeding is very important. if u want to harvest in 4 monts (ideally harvest time is from 6 months up), then you must feed them VERY well. I started with a natural pond with about 2500 fingerlings. I read many comments that fish produced in Nigeria cannot meet local demands and that gave me the nurge to go on. It wasnt easy though. I spent above 800k putting things in order (also prepared for a second pond, netting, feeding, fingerlings etc). Well in about 7 months, we harvested and then the biggest challenge ever!! Selling the fishes. It was difficult getting buyers that will buy at large quantities and clear off the sales. We calculated that immediately after harvest we shall be smiling to the bank and have enouh money to feed the 2nd pond which we already stocked with about 4000 fishes. But that was not to be. infact it was a difficult tim for us seeing the matured fishes thinning out because they were not getting well fed as before as cash flow was low.
The point I'm tryin to make is that its not just putting up a pond there are many considerations: water, sorting, security, feeding, book keeping and marketing.
Now our second pond is ready. I hereby plead to anyone that can advise on where an how to get the buyers to clear off majority of the stock. I still believe that local demands are not yet met in Nigeria, but one needs to have the link or information to supply through the right channel and compensate for the labor. patdozie@yahoo.com

Before you start rearing fish or pigs, you must make sure you have potential customers.  Very important!

Fish Farming is great. I studied Animal Science in school but always envied those in fisheries.

Please if you know what is good for you, do not attend those seminars on catfish. Even if you do, do not listen to what they say.

The fishery I managed in Lekki had about 10 small ponds started with almost 4000 fingerlings. I learnt some hard lessons. The worst is selling the fish off, but I'll start with the first.

Cost of feeding. It may seem moderate in the initial stages, but towards the end, about 5 months time, you'll hate life. So I suggest you don't go spending recklessly on feed. The plan I came up with was to start feeding the fingerlings with the pelleted type floating feed that is obtainable from CHI. After 2 months then you start feeding them with the cheaper not pelleted locally made feed. Till they reach market size.


Shade your fish pond from sunlight. The more shade the catfish have, the less active they are so they burn less energy exercising. The shade also makes them less aggressive so less cannibalism. Thereby less loss.


It's also good to sprinkle a little salt. It works but I haven't proven how. Its not my theory so its not up to me to prove it. But it works.


This next step is something I don't know if I should prescribe. Well, if you're operating in a truly intensive atmosphere, and you know the catfish are almost always in shade, try to reclassify the fish by selecting the bigger ones and putting them together in the same pond but at lesser stocking density. This will allow those smaller ones left in the pond to grow at faster rates. Remember, if you have not taken measures to reduce the aggressiveness of your catfish, don't try this! If you do, they big fishes in the same pond will compete for dominance and territoriality of the new pond they're in and some may die.


By the third month of farming your fish, you should start bringing fish dealers, market women, pepper soup joint owners and restaurant owners to take a tour of your farm so you start building a customer base for the eventual harvest and market time in the next 2 months. Don't forget to inform neighbours too because its almost impossible to sell your first harvest in bulk. You may find some dealers that may book to buy all of your harvest. Good for you. But if someone else gets there a minute before them, SELL! SELL!! SELL!!!
The saddest thing you'll experience is keeping and feeding market size fish fox weeks because of lack of buyers.


Let your market price be moderate. About N300 is okay, depending on your location. So keep this in mind through every step of your production process. Limit your spending to what will give you reasonable profit at the end of the day. Remember, assuming you start off with 5,000 fingerlings,
cost of fingerlings (approximately) N50,000.
Cost of feed at approximately N4,000/day  is N600,000.
Preliminary recoup on fixed cost  N100,000.
Some kain yeye, yeye cost  N50,000.

So at the point of harvest if you're left with 4500 adult catfish, at N300 each,
that's N1,350,000.

So profits may lie in the area of N1,350,000 - N800,000

=N550,000 or less. Not bad for a beginner.



Then finally, I would like you to realise that there are a lot of Chinese coming into Nigeria these days. Besides that, there are lots of Chinese restaurants. The Chinese have their own species of catfish and I believe if you can raise them here, you can charge cutthroat prices. You could sell each one for more than N1,000 each and it doesn't cost you anything more in raising them except the extra cost in acquiring the exotic fingerlings. So imagine selling 4,500 market size chinese catfish at N1,000 each. Thats N4,500,000. That gives about N3,700,000 or less. Not bad at all.

So take care and run things well. I just found a text from the Sino-Nigerian trade group or so. It contains phone numbers of 3 fishery experts sent to Nigeria by the Chinese government. I'm just seeing the document for the very first time and its tempting me to go  back to fisheries. Hmmm. Well, I'll think about this. Free research consultation.

Well take care. I hope I dealt with all aspects. I'll post the Sino-Nigerian document differently. Its so loooong!


As for pig farming, not everybody eats pigs. In fact, less than a quarter of Nigerians eat pigs. Besides, I hate pigs. Their stench, their squeal and their weird little tails. I hate them. I used to skip practicals in school when it came to piggery.

@denex,
Good stuff!

Both projects are really viable but you need to do your home work very well -attend seminars/training,buy info on the projects.You  can also go here  www./forum  to seek out other pig and fish farmers.

www.

Fish farming is better and cost effectively, not many people are into pig farming.

If you are wondering on how to setup a catfish business or need advice, then contact us.

We specialise in Pilletized Floating Catfish Feeds Certified by ISO 9001/2000, Fish Feeds, Brood Stock, Table size, Juveniles, Fingerlings and Fries

Contact: Mr. Osukoya on this numbers 01 4396770, 08033227834 or 08028179167

Or drop us an email to aypopson@hotmail.com and kokorunna@yahoo.com