The words pig, hog and swine are all generic terms without regard to gender, size or breed Pigs are omnivores which means that they consume both plants and animals. In the wild, they are foraging animals, primarily eating leaves,grasses, roots, fruits and flowers. In confinement pigs are fed mostly concentrate diets which consist of different feed ingredients combined to provide rations.

SOME FACTS ABOUT PIGS
Pigs are very intelligent and learn quickly. They pick up tricks faster than dogs. Pigs rank number 4 in animal intelligence behind chimpanzees, dolphins and elephants. Piglets learn their names by two to three weeks of age and respond when called.
Pigs are very social animals. They form close bonds with each other and other species. Pigs enjoy close contact and will lie close together when resting. Pigs use their grunts to communicate with each other.
Pigs are highly prolific. A sow can give birth to a litter containing 7 to 18 piglets, about 2 – 3 times a year. The gestation period of a sow is 114 - 115 days (3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days).
A piglet (baby pig), weighs about 1.5 kilograms at birth and will double its weight in just 7 days.
Weaning occurs at two months of age or less.
Pigs are very clean animals. They keep their toilets far from their living or eating area. Even piglets only a few hours old will leave the nest to relieve themselves.
Domestic pigs are rarely aggressive. The only exceptions are sows with a young litter and boars if provoked.
Pigs are much more tolerant of cold than heat. Pigs have no sweat glands, so they can't sweat. They roll around in the mud to cool their skin. The layer of dried mud protects their skin from the sun. If available, pigs, who are great swimmers, prefer water to mud.
Some pigs have straight while some have curly tails.
Pigs have a great sense of smell. Their powerful but sensitive snout is a highly developed sense organ.
Pigs also have a great field of vision, because their eyes are on the sides of their heads.
Pigs have four toes on each hoof, but only walk on two toes per foot.
A mature pig has 44 teeth.
A pig can run a 7 minute mile.

Pigs can be reared almost anywhere given suitable housing and management. Domesticated pigs are commonly raised as livestock by farmers for meat (generally called pork, hams, gammon or bacon), as well as for its leather
Pigs have some major potential advantages which make them suitable for use in providing quick and cheap supply of animal protein.
Potentials of the Pig  Pigs produce meat without contributing to the deterioration of the natural grazing lands and are less affected by seasonal changes.  They are fast growing. They convert concentrate feed to meat twice as efficiently as ruminants.  They have high fecundity and prolificacy and short generation interval. Their output in terms of yield of meat per tonne of live-weight of breeding female per year is in the region of six times that of cattle.  They have a quicker turn-over rate on investment as compared to cattle.  Their relatively small size, when compared with cattle, provides for more flexibility in marketing and consumption.
The capacity of the pig to transform concentrate feeds and other waste products into edible human food has been responsible for its prominence in many parts of the world

SOME TERMINOLOGIES IN PIG PRODUCTION  AI - artificial insemination.  Barrow- male pig castrated before reaching sexual maturity.  Boar- male hog or pig with intact testicles.  Castrate- remove testicles by surgery.  Colostrum- first milk produced by the sow; it provides immunity to the baby pigs for the first few weeks.  Creep feeder- area accessible to small pigs but not their dams, in which a high protein supplement is provided.  Cull sow- full-grown female sold for slaughter.  Dressing percent- percentage of the carcass usable, compared to liveweight.  Farrow- to give birth to pigs.  Flush feed- increase feed to stimulate ovulation in females.  Full-(self)-feed- animals are allowed to eat as much as they will clean up; feed is available at all times.  Gestation period- pregnancy, lasting about 114 days in swine.  Gilt- young female that has not yet produced a litter.  Growing-finishing pig- animal weighing between 40 and 220 lbs. that is being fed for slaughter.  Runt- small or weak pig in a litter.  Shrink- weight loss, usually temporary.  Sow- female which has farrowed at least once.  Wallow- water-filled depression or container large enough for pigs to lay in to cool off during warm weather.  Weaning- removing young from their mother.  Yield- percentage of the carcass in the four lean cuts: ham, loin, picnic, and Boston butt.

questions,suggestions and criticism are welcomed

DIFFERENT ENTERPRISES OR PRODUCTION SYSTEM TO CONSIDER

1. Fattening: Buying growers or weaners and feeding to desirable market size.
2.Farrow to wean: Buying gilts of about to cross which is of good pedigree and farrowing it to sell the weaners
3.Farrow to finish.This entails Producing weaners yourself and fattening/growing to market size

Common pig breeds
1.1 Hampshire breed
This breed is black in color with a white belt around the shoulder fore quarters. It is a medium size breed that originated from Southern England. It has a straight face, erect ears, good nursing ability and also produces an excellent lean carcass.

1.2 Large white breed
This breed is white in color, has erect ears and a ditched face. It originated from Yorkshire, England. Although it is not quick in maturing, it is a good feed converter.

1.3 Landrace breed
This breed is white in colour with a long and big body that has deep sides. It has a straight snout and loped ears which cover most of the face. This breed originated from Denmark and has been widely used for cross breeding especially with the large white to produce prolific breeding sows. The breed is mainly used for bacon.

1.4 Duroc breed
This breed is mahogany to red in colour. It has good mothering ability. It is resistant to stress and is adaptable to various environmental conditions and is very useful in crossbreeding programs.

1.5 Crossbreed
Cross breeding is practiced because it combines the desirable traits in the parent breeds into one animal. The major traits that a pig producer should target to improve in a crossbreeding program include, fast growth rate, good feed efficiency, resistant to diseases and good litter size and mothering ability. All cross breeding programs should be followed by good management practices in
order to benefit from the good characteristics that are targeted.

1.6 Local pigs:
Most of the local pigs that are kept in villages have arisen as a result of improper management of the exotic or crossbred pigs. It is only those that can survive the poor management practice that stay. The biggest advantage of these pigs is that they are able to survive on low quality feeds and are resistant to some diseases. However, such pigs have low growth rate.


2.1 One can select pigs for stocking using pedigree
When selecting a pig for rearing, base on the following:
• Individual merit whereby the pig selected must have the desired characteristics. The pig must be a good feed converter and the female pig must have at least 12 to 14 well developed teats.
• Based on records, where the pig will be selected using the available records. The records used must have the information about the sow and boar and their performance. Such pigs will be selected with a view that they will be able to exhibit the characteristics of their predecessors.
When selecting pigs basing on individual merit, the pig must be of' the following characteristics:

• Females:
Females to be selected must have a good body condition, teats should be well developed (atleast 12-14 in number), the pig must not have abnormalities like lameness and the posture must be normal.

• Males
The male selected as a future boar to be used for mating must be selected from a sow which gave birth to atleast 10 piglets with 8 or more at weaning. The male should be selected from a sow with 12 or more fully developed and well spaced teats. In addition it must have strong feet and legs with a weight of about 110kg liveweight at 155 days.

Many farmers obtain their replacement stock through breeding and reproduction on their own farms. Farmers that adopt this practice must note the following:
• Under poor management, losses due to sterility, abortion and death of immature animals can reduce the number of animals available for replacement.
• Farmers must avoid underfeeding and other factors that retard growth and delay puberty.
• Always have a pool of' young females and males from which to select replacements.

Caution must be taken to avoid over feeding as it can lead to: excessive fatness, high expense on feeds and may be a danger to the production and reproductive ability of the animals

we have to put some facts in pig production down:
The average weaning weight of a piglet is 12kg.
The average weaning age of a piglet is 2 months
The average weight gain (ADG) of a pig is 0.6Kg per day.
The average breeding age of a pig is 8 months.
The gestation of a pig is 114 days.
Rest time before next breeding is 14 days.
Three types of feeds are available for the pigs, creep, grower and sow and weaner.
The dressing percentage of a pig is 75%
The current price of pork to city abattoirs is 6,000/=
In pig farming, feeding account for the largest percentage of the total production cost (between 60 to 70%). In this article, emphasis is put on feeding. There are 3 most important types of pig production systems including
Farrow to wean,
Farrow to finish
Fattening.
Farrow to wean involves breeding pigs with aims of selling piglets to starting or restocking pig farmers, farrow to finish involves breeding and fattening on farm piglets and fattening involves buying pigs from breeders and keep for pork.

The idea of feeding

The nutritional needs of pigs vary with age, weight and stage of production. This divide ration into 3 types, creep feed for piglets, grower feed for growing pigs and sow and weaner for grown pigs

FACTOR AFFECTING PIG FARM PROFITABILITY.

Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) or Feed Conversion Efficiency (FCE), is a measure of a pig's efficiency in converting feed mass into increased body mass. Animals that have a low FCR are considered efficient users of feed. The conversion of quality feed into weight gain is of absolute importance in modern pig production, especially as feed costs increase. Age, feed intake, genetics are some of the factors affecting feed conversion ratio.

Average Daily Gain (ADG), is a significant factor in assessing growth rates in most food animal species. Why is ADG important? The producer aims at faster growth so that the animals achieve market weights in the shortest period of time using the least amount of input/cost so that the highest profit can be received. In pig production, the most cost-efficient feed conversion and the highest average daily gain are the primary factors determining efficiency of production.

Health, poor health increase feed conversion ratio and decline in average daily gain. Diseases such as African swine fever (ASF) can wipe away all pigs on farm leading to massive losses.
Genetics, The market demands leaner carcasses so the farmer should strive to produce leaner pigs, animals with high growth rate, large litter size, high heritability and low feed conversion ratio. All these directly influenced by genetics.

Reproduction, poor selection of breeding stock and choice of either maintaining a boar (s) or artificially inseminate the sows directly affect the profits.

Market and Price, market for pigs and pork is wide but has no importance before identifying your own market from it and the price it offers. You can perform proper husbandry but market can fail you.

Management, poor management leads to poor output.

Pls continue

Sunday66:
Pls continue

I am just busy at the farm lately

I will continue

These are substances which when linked together in different combinations form different proteins. There are approximately 22 amino acids and whilst the pig can synthesise the majority of these, there are a number it cannot. These are described as the essential amino acids for normal health and metabolic processes.
The essential amino acids
Arginine.
Isoleucine.
Histidine.
Leucine.
Lysine.
Methionine plus cystine.
Phenylalanine plus tyrosine.
Threonine.
Tryptophan.
Valine.
The importance of amino acids
Field experiences constantly reinforce the importance of good quality proteins and amino acid availability particularly during periods of stress, management change and when the immune system is challenged.
Critical time periods are in the first 14 days post-weaning, and from 6 to 12 weeks of age when maternal antibodies are declining to EP, PRRS and App and when pigs are exposed to new endemically infected environments. During these periods of challenge you are advised to feed or continue feeding the higher quality diet. The advent of segregated early weaning, which removes many pathogens and environmental contaminants that are normally exposed to the pig, has increased the nutritional requirements necessary to satisfy the increased growth. This is particularly true of lysine and energy.
The quality of the protein in the pigs' diet is a reflection of the amount and the availability of these essential amino acids. High quality protein contains all of the essential amino acids at acceptable levels, poor quality protein is deficient in one or more. When proteins enter the intestinal tract they are broken down into the separate amino acids which are absorbed into the blood stream and transported around the body. These amino acids are then built into different types of proteins to satisfy the many diverse requirements of the body. It can be seen therefore, that where there is a deficiency of one or more essential amino acids in the diet, the metabolic functions of the pig are compromised leading to biological inefficiency and possibly disease.
The major roles of amino acids are in the production of muscle protein, digestive enzymes, haemoglobin in the blood, gamma globulins (antibodies), milk protein and in hormone metabolism. Since the proteins used in pig diets are of variable quality, some of the essential amino acids may be deficient. These are called the limiting ones and in most cases lysine is the most likely, followed by methionine, and both are often added to diets routinely.
If the diet is deficient in one or more of these essential amino acids then protein synthesis will only continue to the level associated with the first limiting amino acid. The amounts of each amino acid required in the diet are expressed as a percentage of the total lysine requirement. (Fig.14-1).

Enteric diseases such as E. coli enteritis in the sucking pig, transmissible gastro enteritis, colitis and swine dysentery, which severely damage the lining of the intestine and its capacity to absorb nutrients can have a profound effect on the absorption of amino acids and exacerbate the effects of the disease. It is important when dealing with such diseases to ensure that the diet has a high level of amino acids during the recovery period.

get trained today

Good day house, I need someone who does AI for pigs