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my take on this ebola hysteria is this; ebola is not the biggest health challenge we face as a country malaria kills more peolpe in nigeria weekly than the total that ebola has killed worldwide. but because of the fear factor and people ignorant people and press in particular prey on this fear to make a living. Now that ebola is almost under control the money should be ploughed back to primary healthcare and personal hygiene education.

INFO TO EDUCATE OURSELVES AND PEOPLE AROUND US ABOUT PORK .http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt_150/184_eating_well.html

Hello everyone I have been following this wonderful thread for long I believe it is one of the best thread on NL. The data loss was unfortunate but we still have tonnes of valuable info here, kudos to all the gurus, potential gurus and all contributors. I am interested in fish processing (smoking) but I haven't been able to locate any deep discussions on its market potentials and buyers. I am presenting a proposal to an investor next week and the marketing part is lacking in the proposal. I am based in Ijebu ode. Wouldn't mind public or private discussion with practicing catfish smokers. Whatsapp 08023116432 email; eazeefixng@gmail.com. Thanks. Once again kudos to everyone.

Hello everyone, I heard in the radio yesterday that people should be 'careful with their consumption of pork' there was no distinction between wild pigs and farmed pigs already 2 of my butcher customers complained to me that sales has slowed as a result. How do we tackle this becos right now no government official has come out to counter this claim. No ebola infection has been traced to pork consumption but the way our fear ridden people are we need to respond quickly to protect our investments before it goes viral like the ridiculous salt water bath message.

femu:

Hi oga, can you give a sincere appraisal in terms of litter size and weight at 8 and 16 weeks of the offsprings of the Obasanjo sows you bought?
What is the average weight of the sows now?

My obj gilts haven't farrowed yet intact 2 came back on heat so they are being re-bred now. I actually got 2 breeds from them the landrace and large white. I can't weigh them now but I'm quite pleased with their growth though they had an initial drop but I guess they are well adjusted now.
If you ask me anyone buying from them should be careful.

http://olumo./ I think we can learn a thing or from these guys in Ghana. Our independent attitude as farmers is what makes us suffer in the hands of brokers and middlemen/women. They dictate prices they buy pigs and we are usually helpless becos we need the cash. For instance when I was starting out last June I bought my weaners @ 4000 naira each and when I approached the same guy with my own weaners which in my opinion are bigger than the ones I got from him he said he would buy for 3000 naira and I told him I do not have such weaners for sale that mine are N4500 each fortunately I am not too desperate I have unoccupied rooms and cash. Once they reach grower stage no more sales be that. We should learn how to schedule our outputs so as not to sell in desperation. We need like minded people to come together with a purposeful vision to take pig farming to great heights in our dear country.
http://www.gnapf.org. http://www.pigfarmghana.com/2014/01/two-years-into-pig-farming-part-3.html?m=1#!/2014/01/two-years-into-pig-farming-part-3.html

Honest responses needed, pls how long does it that your pigs to attain 80kg live weight? Is there anyone here that has attained 80kg in 6 months? If yes was spent grain included in your formular?

Honest responses needed, pls how long does it that your pigs to attain 80kg live weight? Is there anyone here that has attained 80kg in 6 months? If yes was spent grain included in your formular.

Was discussing with a pig farmer recently and the issue of profitability, comparison and so on on the various pig farming businesses came up. He was of the opinion that fattening farms are more profitable than farrow to finish farms. Can we discuss this??

Greetings to all. Pls can we define some standards amongst ourselves. For instance how do we define a weaner or grower will it be by weight or age? Or does a farmer just decide? Femu asked for pure breed pigs in one of his posts, how do we define pure bred pigs? I see this thread as a possible foundation of greater things in the country's swine industry so let's start defining some standards so buyers and sellers each have a clear picture of what is being sold and bought.

lagbaja:

@eazeefix, why do you want to use estrumate if you are not currently doing artificial insemination. Are your sows not coming on heat ?

We were just informed of the availability of AI locally so I am just gathering my facts becos it would be great to be able to introduce superior genetic materials into my breeding and production lines @ a relatively affordable price and I personally like to be in the forefront in innovations in any business that I do. That is how I will stand out from the crowd. When I got my obasanjo boars and gilts some aquintances were making jest but very soon they will know why i did it

How much will a 2004 kia sedona cost to clear. Might be loaded with used books so let me know how much loaded and unloaded. thanks. whatsapp 08023116432

I planted some plantain on my pig farm but have this issue with birds eating the entire bunch before we harvest them. any tip anyone?

Don't know any but this might help towards starting yours. Interested in your offal wastes when you start sha o! http://pauladoyi./2014/06/27/business-plan-for-small-scale-broiler-production/

dejia: Hi eazeefix:

I used estromate, to synchronize the pigs, you give them the injection and within 4-5days, they wll all go on heat, some pple say it has an effect over time, i havent noticed; i only did it ones, when i had to inseminate, so they all litter around the same time, i wean after 40days, and flush feed the sow for 10days, if you flush feed in 10days, they will all go on heat, so that is the method am using, we have 3 sets already and we do that to minimize cost.

I will really like us to discuss more on feed cost, as 80% of our cost is on feed; am looking for a good source of BDG; am looking at a way , where we farmers can work together, i can get what is cheaper in ilorin to any farmer in ,Osun Ogun or Oyo, and those in Oyo can also supply me with what is cheaper at there end. we have a bus that can move it around and split the cost of transportation.

Pls lets discuss it, the only thing that i get cheaply in Kwara is Maize, and wheat offal.

Thanks bro, I just searched for estrumate online was told I needed vet prescription to purchase so how get yours? I sent you a mail don't know if you got it. Would love hook up. I finished from unilorin so know Ilorin a bit. Whatsapp on 08023116432 bbm pin 7C1A18C6. Osun will be good for BDGs I'm still trying to explore what Ogun has in abundance. We wait endlessly for spent grains so looking for alternative feeding models.

dejia: Hi farmers,

I have taken time to read almost all the post, i have learnt alot , we hope to learn more from each other

Am a pig farmer in ilorin.. Yes, ilorin ; our farm is 2years old , we have about a 30 sow production,
with a capacity of about 70 sow unit.( still growing)

We only use A.I from PIC in SA ,to cross the breed we got from Obasanjo, we dont even have a boar on the farm.

We decided to go this route, when we noticed we bought some piglets from a farm when we started 2years ago, immediately they got to about 45kg

they simply stopped growing, even when we feed them with soyabeans and maize, the best we got was 48kg. We eventually sold them losing

money;
I took time to research and did a training in piggery training in SA from a farm that has 6,000 sow unit, and discovered it might be inbreeding problem;
In SA, at 7months weigh about 135kg averagely while a 7months old pig in Nigeria weigh about 45kg,
what we are trying to do is to bridge the gap and have atleast 80kg within 7months,

i know alot of expert here will argue that breed isnt the only reason, for the weight diff.. i also

agree but it is one of the biggest factors.

but if you are able to achieve 80kg in 7months, you wont mind to feed maize and soyabeans, eventhough they are expensive ( we dont feed that)

We inseminated my first set of sow Sept last year, and they littered early this year, some gave us as high as 19 piglets, in SA, any litter less than 14 isnt accepted for A.I, something must have gone wrong in the process


Our third set of A.I litter has started littering since last week, and we hope to wean them after 40days, and re-inseminate

10days after than. We synchronise our sow, so we inseminate them in batches

From my experience, A.I is the way to go ( some farmers might not agree), foreign breed is necessary to prevent inbreeding . We intend to re-inseminate our first batch end of August, as they will be about 80kg and ready to be served. with that, we hope to get a pure PIC breed by Jan,2015. We are still experimenting and researching, but we are happy with the result so far.

We are a breeders farm, majorly looking at serving those who want to go into piggery, Our pigs dont come cheap, because of

the cost associated with bringing in A.I into the country; but i can tell you, its worth it.

Also, let me also advice, farrowing crate is a must.

Liquid feeding is also the best way, mix your feed with water before giving it to the pigs, we mix our water with

multi-vitamins and then mix it with the feed. We also use a growth promoter instead of broiler premix

I also read post about nipples, well we have been using nipples for 2years, a sow requires about 20liters of water

when lactating, how do you serve her that? Also i noticed alot of people give there pigs dirty water; it is totally wrong

from trainning, the farmer must be able to drink the water the pig drinks, so ensure you supply clean water.

Am openned to help any new farmer, who wants to learn from my 2years experience.

Wow very inspiring write up. Your presence in this thread will definitely add value to us all. Love to learn more on AI. What do you use to syncronise your sows, is it readily available locally?

lagbaja:

@Excelsiorfarm, this practice will lead to a breach of biosecurity. In as much as you as the buyer can do the due diligence check, you can not say the same of the person you are buying from. As a commercial practice, he must have mated the Boar with many Soars from different farms. Susceptibility to diseases becomes higher. Collecting sem.en from a professional seller eliminates the need for interaction of the stock with other pig stocks.
Dont know if was banned or not couldn't comment for a while. Anyway lagbaja when u said the Astron semen is 3500 per dose is it per vial or per sow?
@femu, Astron Farms which I earlier quoted is the same farm that offers the services. they sell the se.men of their pure genetic breeds for N3500 per dose. I have not used the service before because I have 2 Boars that mates my herd of Soars and they are not of same lineage.

Dont know if was banned or not couldn't comment for a while. Anyway lagbaja when u said the Astron semen is 3500 per dose is it per vial or per sow?

FarmTech:
..
I dont know much about pig rearing, but I know that pig meat contains lots of fat. Fat is very high in calorie. Feeding dogs excess calorie leads to obeisity, and obeisity leads to a lot of health problems in dogs.
..
U talked about a well-fed pig, but i dont think that most pigs in nigeria are well fed. Hw many pig farmers buy commercial feed for their pigs? They prefer to use byproducts.
..
I dont know about the fat content of piglets. If it doesnt contain much calorie, then it's ok. The lower the calorie, the more u can safely feed.

Farm tech assumption is the lowest form of knowledge, I farm pigs and raise dogs feeding high calorie diet to a dog isn't bad and doesn't cause obesity if the quantity fed is balanced or compensated with the nutrient density , what this means is that you can feed a large quantity of a dilute feed(rich in fibre) animal is satisfied but not getting sufficient nutrients or a nutrient dense diet with smaller quantity requirements and smaller poo too. Obesity is caused by consuming more than is burnt, a highly active working dog will strive on a high calorie diet aka high density diet.
Back to how to raise lean pigs .

Genetics, balanced feed and responsible use of feed additives can help achieve lean carcass my first attempt at sale some of my pigs were fatty. I was then advised to add salt to their feed. Still researching the possibility of choline chloride as a fat burner as applied for poultry. Will post some formulae that are said to produce lean meat.

FarmTech:
..
But mine u, pork contains lots of fat. A fat dog is more likely to develop health problems. So dont feed regularly.

You statements aren't true sir. Firstly you don't generalise that pork contains lots fat. That statement is false and is anti pig farming becos some people who have never eaten pork nor seen pork believe it is fatty. A well fed pig pls mind the word 'well fed' contains lean (non fatty) meat. Well fed meaning nutritionally balanced not junk. Soon we i hope we would examine the art of feeding for lean meat or carcass.
Secondly you implied fat is bad for dogs that it will make them fat, which is totally false too. I own and breed dogs on my farm I parboil dead piglets and pigs for my dogs to eat no issues at all. On the issue of fatness a dog is built to burn fatty food efficiently especially if it is an active and working dog not chained or locked up all day. An overfed dog locked up all day will become obese and suffer lots of health issues fatty food or not.
@Seun you have cheaper sources of meat maybe when we grow into serious pork processing we can generate lots of edible waste for dogs and other meat eating animals.
For those who can read between the lines, I have mentioned 2 possible topics for deliberation on this thread namely proper feeding for lean carcass and next level of pork processing.
Let's get talking.

stanchuks:
ok thanks
will appreciate that, but do you know where it was purchased from or any recognised company in Nigeria that fabricates one or worse case outside Nigeria.

It was somewhere in Ibadan but I can ask a friend who is into the business it appears the technology has been improved upon over the years.

Don't feel sorry for him, he makes over a billion naira yearly from his mango farm alone. I only weep for our politics of chop I chop

One IT student needed but must be serious becos I sack IT students. From which school? Send email to eazeefixng@gmail.com. Mine is a piggery /fish farm

It depends on the age of the birds, if they are layers tylosin based drugs and NCO will crash ur production I will suggest 20% enroflaxocin which is a mega spectrum anti microbial. You pulse dose them by giving them the dosage they are to consume in a day in 20-40% of the total water the consume in a day. Before you begin to spend money on drugs pls confirm your diagnosis first becos other diseases present respiratory distress signs. Allow ur, vet, consultant or mentor look at your birds to confirm it really is CRD. it isn't called chronic for nothing. Enrofloxacin is a proven drug. If you are going with tylosin based medications always supplement with vitamins intact every anti microbial treatment should be assisted with anti-stress ie water soluble vitamins.

It depends on the age of the birds, if they are layers tylosine based drugs and NCO will crash ur production I will suggest 20% enroflaxocin which is a mega spectrum anti microbial. You pulse dose them by giving them the dosage they are to consume in a day in 20-40% of the total water the consume in a day. Before you begin to spend money on drugs pls confirm your diagnosis first becos other diseases present respiratory distress signs. Allow ur, vet, consultant or mentor look at your birds to confirm it really is CRD. it isn't called chronic for nothing. Enrofloxacin is a proven drug. If you are going with tylosin based medications always supplement with vitamins intact every anti microbial treatment should be assisted with anti-stress ie water soluble vitamins.

stanchuks:

Nice one!
If I may ask, where did you get your expeller from, was it locally sourced or imported?
Thanks

Locally fabricated but I got it from the previous owner who complained it didn't work efficiently but I called in a friend who told me it is the basket and shaft that were badly designed and fabricated. will post a picture when I get back to base.

Nice thread I have an expeller that I want to resuscitate and adding to my piggery business will be following this thread closely. Pls let's not dampen the spirit of the thread by insults we are on naira land to make nairas. Learn what you can do ur own research network make ur cash smile to the bank.

lagbaja: I am into pig farming. Pig farming is one of the most lucrative arms of animal farming. Pigs are highly prolific, giving birth to an average of 10 piglets per farrow. Typically a pig farrows 2.5 times in a year. So in a year, a pig can give birth to about 25 piglets.

The biggest variable cost component in pig farming is feed cost. It accounts for about 70h% of the total cost. Your ability to source your feed in a manner that is most cost effective is your success determinant. Typically, pigs have FCR in the range between 2 and 4 depending on the breed and on the feed formulation. FCR means feed conversion ratio. It is a measure of how much kg of feed an animal will eat to produce 1kg of live weight.

This the is formula I adopt for my pigs

60% of cassava ( I buy them Fresh, break them into chips, dry and store them)
30% pkc
6% blood meal
2.5%. Oyster shell/bone meal/ lime stone
0.25% lysine
0.25% methionine
0.5% salt
0.25% premix
0.25% bakers Yeast ( probiotic)

The above feed formulation will cost you about N30 per kilo. 1kg of live pig is sold for between N280 and N300. If your pig consumes 3kg of feed to give 1 kg of meat, It means that it will cost you N90 to produce 1kg of live weight. Therefore you make a gross margin of N300 - N90= N210.

The other component of pig farming that is capital intensive is their housing. Pig housing has to be properly planed according to the number of pigs you intend to grow. You need to decide whether you want to do batch or continuos pig production.

The biggest pig farm in west Africa is at oke aro , Agege. Another one is at Gberigbe Ikorodu. Accomodation costs at this locations are very high. I will advice you to site your pig pen close to where you can get cheap land and source raw materials at low price. Eg cassava plantations.

Technology application will greatly hep you in your pig farming. Fr example using, pig ni.ppl.es (see picture below) will ensure that you deliver constant and clean water to your pigs , it will also reduce labor requirements. You also need to construct a manure allay within your pig house so that when they poo poo, you can flush it away via the manure allay ( the manure allay is like a gutter).

Love this formular Lagbaja but will like to ask if cassava peels can replace whole cassava? Those worried about piglets, weaners and growers i think it work if the lysine , meth levels are ajusted. Fortification with enzymes will make it more digestible.
Lets keep this thread alive. Ogas are too silent o!

Can I get 2004 kia sedona from Cotonou and at what price thanks?

Hello , pls i want to ship a 2004 kia sedona from Jersey to Naija was told shipping can cost $1250 pls how much will clear at the port here for. I might load it some used books but let me know how much with and without load. 08023116432 whatsapp and calls. Thanks

ops:
@ lagbaja; That seems pretty cheap. Ready to cross gilts are usually sold @ a premium. N15,000 divided by N300/kg is 50kg. How big was your. "About to cross"large white? I usually cross from 90kg above or am I waiting too long?

90kg is textbook standard in more developed countries where supporting infrastructure are on ground yes and fine but here your can breed @45-60kg becos the gilt will still be growing during pregnancy. I bred some gilts at 80kg and got nice results no farrowing issues but had to police them to avoid crushing of the piglets.

femu: it's important for us to examine both sides of any suggestions in order to get the best and help beginner farmers.
the issue of hot water when using nip.ples isn't to be underestimated in agriculture... the solution, you have just stated after we examined it.
when we suggest brewery waste and cassava we must let beginners know inappropriate use can lead to mortality.

@lagbaja what happens to the soakaway when it gets filled? I once did 60ft and it got filled in 2months from poo alone.

my issue with pure foreign breeds include:
they select what they eat
some don't come on heat
higher rate of dull boars
can easily die under stress
lousy mothers.

What we need to focus on is cheap feeding, processing and Artificial insemination, my friend is currently producing a minimum of 14 piglets per litter. he once had 19 piglets but lost a lot because of crushing. now he plans on using farrowing crates.
so far farrowing crates have been the most justifiable investment on my piggery, i hardly lose a piglet in the first 7 weeks
some of our predecessors in agriculture made the mistake of over investing in nonessentials and couldn't sustain the biz when hit with challenges or need to reinvest.

Oga mi sir i actually bought material to contruct my own farrowing crates but thot my efizi was too much would appreciate if i could see its installation. Some of my sows are lousy mothers thinking of evicting them from my breeding program but if these crates can work then I would really appreciate it.