Raising different breeds of pigs for meat. Pig farming as a business: features of piglet breeding

Pig farming is considered to be the most profitable area in livestock farming. This is due to the fact that these animals gain weight quite quickly and are unpretentious in food. However, do not forget that, like any business, this one will require investments, risk and constant participation in the business.

Where do you start breeding pigs?

Pig farming as a business can only be considered by those who have prepared a specific plan and are ready to engage in raising animals every day. Despite the fact that the business started will require huge investments and patience, the results that it can bring will fully compensate for all the efforts. Pig farming is divided into two areas: raising animals for meat and selection, which is not considered as an independent business. In itself it is unprofitable. Pork is always a popular product. The result of production is meat, fat, skin and blood. They are purchased by sausage factories, workshops, grocery store chains and market resellers. Smoked sausages and lard can be stored for a long time, which allows you to increase the duration of product sales without compromising its taste. What makes this business profitable is the sale of meat.

If we are talking about the needs of your family within one shed, then you can do without complex calculations. But you still have to invest time and money.

Pig farming for aspiring livestock farmers should start with a business plan. It should take into account such aspects as farm organization, possible sales markets, feed purchases, breeds of pigs and their cost, and maintenance costs. Separately, it is necessary to identify all possible risks and ways to reduce them. To effectively start a business, it is recommended to attract experienced specialists, among whom should be a livestock specialist.

Farm organization

When considering pig farming as a business, the main focus must be on the farm. The room should be bright, clean and draft-free. The optimal area for a 300-head herd is 5000 square meters. meters. This will allow it to accommodate household, office and industrial offices, as well as a laboratory.

Particular attention should be paid to the removal of manure in various farm design options. This is a very important factor for compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards, and therefore for healthy growth of the livestock.

Equally important is what equipment will be installed on the farm. Equipment for pig farming must meet the latest requirements to prevent animal diseases. The success of the business depends on how modern it is. European companies remain leaders in the production and development of such equipment. Modern farms are set up in such a way that most of the process occurs automatically. These include electronic feeding systems and separate areas for sow insemination, farrowing, growing piglets and fattening. In Russia, such farms are still very rare. The equipment used here is 15-20 years old. Half of it is not functioning. The result of such activities is losses.

Purchasing pigs

To organize a farm, experts recommend purchasing a herd of 300 heads for a novice pig breeder. There should be no more than 10 producers in the herd, and no less than 150 sows. This will be the main potential for replenishing the herd. Almost half of the livestock will need to be fattened and sold to generate funds. It is better to buy dozens of pigs from different owners in order to prevent mating of animals that are close in pedigree. The choice must be made with an experienced livestock specialist or veterinarian, who will immediately determine the health status of the animal. If the farm where you plan to purchase piglets has many unhealthy-looking piglets, it is better not to risk it. And look for another farmer. In any case, this must be done in breeding farms.

Pig breeds

There are about 100 breeds of pigs in the world. To select livestock, you need to carefully study them. Each of them has its own pros and cons. Pigs are raised for meat, lard and bacon. Pig breeds differ based on what more can be obtained from them. There are differences in their fertility and resistance to changes in temperature. They differ in skin color and temperament.

In Russia, 32 breeds of pigs are actively used. Photos of some of them are presented below.

1. Large white. The most common breed in Russia and the CIS.

2. Landrace.

Even outwardly you can see how different all these representatives are.

Pig farming as a business has the main goal of growing the existing livestock and providing offspring to replenish the herd. To do this, it is necessary to take into account all factors, including the time of year.

It is better to start raising pigs in early spring. These animals are very thermophilic. During the warm season, a pig weighing 25 kg grows into a pig weighing 115 kg. With such a mass, they are already ready for sale. Piglets that were born during the warm period will get stronger and gain weight faster.

To grow properly, pigs must drink a lot. If the water supply is not automated, then it must be provided in another way. It is not recommended to leave a trough with water, since it can easily be overturned. Animals will be left without water.

Pigs are very positive about feeding. The food should be balanced according to their age. Normal weight gain should be 0.5 kg per day.

Pig rearing technologies

The technologies for breeding these animals have many differences. But they all relate to feeding and maintaining the herd. Each farmer chooses the one that is most economically acceptable for him and meets his goals.

Technologies differ in their approach. Some are designed for free movement of the herd. Others completely block it and are aimed at keeping the animal in a narrow cage.

There are various Danish, Brazilian, German, Canadian, Finnish technologies in the world. Each of them has its opponents and supporters. The technology of breeding pigs in hangars is gaining popularity in Russia. This is very economical in terms of constructing a farm.

Those who have already started this business unanimously say that with any technology, the important factors for making a profit are the source material (piglets), quality investments in their cultivation and market prices at the time of delivery of the products.

Development of pig farming in Russia

Pig farming is poorly developed in Russia. As a business, this type of livestock farming is not profitable for small farmers. This is due to the fact that new technologies, which are based on the capabilities of modern equipment, are not being implemented in most farms. Russian factories that produced equipment for pig farming have almost completely stopped. Which leads to the use of old energy-intensive technologies for keeping animals. This affects costs and reduces production profitability.

Pig farming in Russia is represented by a number of major companies that have not given up their positions for several years.

TOP 5 most successful pork producers in Russia

As can be seen from the table, production growth is obvious. But on a national scale this figure is very small. Recently, special attention has been paid to the development of pig farming. This is due to Russia’s reorientation towards the domestic market and the ban on the import of meat from European countries and the USA. The government plans to allocate special subsidies for the development of farms.

Raising pigs at home for novice pig farmers is a profitable and, at the same time, risky business. The benefit is associated, firstly, with the large amount of meat obtained and the accelerated growth of its growth. Secondly, with good sales of lard and meat products.

Buying meat nowadays is not difficult, but it is expensive, and there is a possibility of purchasing low-quality products. Pig farming at home conditions worries most novice entrepreneurs, since pigs are characterized by enormous fertility. Thus, a good sow can give birth to 10–14 piglets at each farrowing, and 25–30 per year.

Today, pig breeding has become a popular activity. However for beginner it is important to know the farmer basics of keeping these animals. To raise pigs at home, Canadian or Danish technology is usually used.

The first technology in pig farming involves covering the floor with a voluminous layer of bedding, which is not changed, which allows you to retain heat in the barn. Sand, sawdust, and straw are usually used as bedding. This fairly economical option is well suited for large and small farms. When raising a large number of livestock, the second technology is convenient and very cost-effective, since a large bath for manure is installed in the barn, into which all decomposition products flow. Sometimes a plastic floor is used instead of a bathtub.

What should a good pigsty be like?

Breeding piglets at home is advisable start with construction a spacious, bright, insulated, ventilated barn with separate sheds. In summer, a pigsty made of boards is suitable; in winter, a warm room is suitable. When building a barn, the livestock is taken into account, including the future. Inside, the premises are divided into small areas, pigs are housed in groups, while boars and sows are kept separately from everyone else. Young piglets can be kept 25–30 in one compartment, and boars 8–10.

Pig farming is a branch of livestock farming, the intricacies of which are of interest to both owners of large farms and residents of the private sector. The interest in breeding and raising pigs is easy to explain: the sale of high-quality meat and lard brings high profits to farmers, and the production of just one pig feeds an entire family for six months. To successfully fatten and breed pigs, you need to delve deeply into pig farming and learn everything about pigs.

Of course, no scientist can name the exact date of domestication of the first pig. It is known that even primitive people tamed wild animals, gradually changing their nighttime to daytime mode. People ate hearty pork, shields were made from pig skin, and household items and weapons were made from bones.

The domestication of wild boars began in the Middle East and China, from where the animals were brought to Europe. Introduced pigs interbred with each other for centuries, which led to the displacement of Middle Eastern genes from the blood of animals. Starting around the 18th century, breeders and amateur pig farmers began developing new breeds with improved characteristics. This is how the Yorkshire, large white and a number of other breeds appeared. Today in the world there are about one hundred varieties of pigs, which differ both in appearance and in the direction of productivity.

What breeds of pigs are considered the best?

When you decide to start a farm, you should find out everything about piglets before purchasing. If the goal is to obtain fatty meat with an impressive layer of fat, then you should pay attention to the so-called “”. These include the Hungarian downy mangalitsa, Vietnamese, Chinese Meishan pig and white steppe Ukrainian.

If you plan to fatten a pig for meat, then you should pay attention to piglets of the Belarusian, Urzhum or Mirgorod breeds.

The most popular is pork of the bacon-type of productivity: the carcass contains at least 70% meat with a thin layer of fat.

During heat treatment, the lard melts, saturating the meat with flavor and moisture. This kind of pork is popular with consumers: fattening bacon-type animals for the purpose of selling products in the future pays off with interest. Universal breeds or “bacon” include Yorkshire, Landrace and. Therefore, when clarifying when is the best time to buy piglets, it is important to decide on the breed of animals.

Where to keep domestic pigs?

In the warm season, the issue is not as acute as in cold weather. If we are talking about suckling babies under 2 months of age, then you should take care in advance of a special place where the piglets will be warm and where they will not be disturbed by drafts. If there is no barn or pigsty, even a corridor or utility block will do. Subsequently, for successful rapid growth, the piglets will need an enclosure for walking, where you can build an impromptu pond and put a few logs: pigs love to dig the ground under them and scratch their backs.

Can pigs swim? Eyewitnesses of natural disasters claim: the flood forces the pigs to swim, which they do masterfully. But wallowing in the mud is a more pleasant activity for these animals, so even a primitive pit with water will interest them. In addition to the pond, a shelter is often installed in the pen, where the pigs hide from the heat and sleep. Therefore, many owners who keep animals in the warm season strive to build a pen for pigs.

On a small plot of 6 or less acres, keeping one or more pigs is considered ideally simple, so summer residents buy piglets in early spring and fatten them until the cold weather. Raising a pig in six months is a reality if you purchase, for example, a Landrace pig. This Danish bacon-type breed has conquered the whole world: Landraces on balanced and rich food gain 100 kg in just six months.

A plan for breeding purebred pigs or fattening them year-round will require financial investments from the owner of an individual farm. Without a permanent pigsty with several pens and a water supply, things won’t work, and caring for the pigs will be significantly more complicated. The following cage sizes for pigs are recommended: 2.5 by 1.9 meters. A pen or pen of this size is ideal for caring for a farrowing sow. If there is a shortage of space, the size of the pen can be reduced to 1 by 2 meters, which, however, will complicate the maintenance of the pigsty and limit the freedom of the animals.

How to keep piglets in winter? It's not that difficult: just keep them warm and out of reach of harmful drafts. It is recommended to insulate the premises for pigs during the construction stage. Not only the walls or ceiling are insulated, but also the floor: sheets of foam plastic are laid under the concrete screed. Thus, the floor will never be icy, thanks to the insulation, and the pigs will not be able to dig through the concrete surface.

Hay and straw are natural materials that are used on the floor as warm bedding. Natural insulation is also installed in the attic of the pigsty. It is advisable to cover the walls with wood. All these measures are necessary to ensure that pigs do not become hypothermic in the cold and do not get pneumonia, a disease that is fatal without the use of an appropriate treatment regimen.

The most common diseases of pigs

While learning everything about pig farming, you should familiarize yourself with the symptoms of the most common animal diseases. This will allow you to avoid loss of livestock, and thanks to timely contact with a veterinarian, quickly cure the pig. In addition to the above-mentioned pneumonia, pigs suffer and often die from infectious diseases: plague, erysipelas, rabies and dysentery.

Outbreaks of infectious diseases are also frequent: pasteurosis, salmonellosis, lawsonia and parvovirus. Invasive diseases (coccidiosis or strongylatosis) caused by worms inhibit the active growth of pigs and cause serious harm to their health.

Pigs, despite their omnivorous nature, are prone to disorders caused by poisoning.

A common cause of poor animal health is food left in the trough, especially if it was prepared using a wet method.

Experienced pig breeders and veterinarians advise thoroughly cleaning feeders from food debris after each feeding. Salt poisoning in pigs is also common. Excess salt (for example, in fish or pickles) can even kill a pig: half a gram of salt per 1 kg of animal weight is enough. The so-called “salt fever” gets worse if the pig does not receive the required amount of clean water. Read about diseases of domestic pigs and methods of treating them.

Monitoring the behavior of individuals will prevent the development of infections and stop epidemics in time. A healthy animal eats food actively and willingly. A sick animal is not interested in the contents of the trough and prefers to lie on the floor of the pigsty. It is not uncommon for a sick pig to develop a fever. What temperature should pigs be if they are healthy? A body temperature of 38 to 40 degrees is considered normal for pigs.

A pig's teeth are another factor that helps determine the animal's well-being. If a pig squeaks with them, it should be examined. Beginning pig farmers often wonder if pigs sweat. No, pigs cannot sweat due to their lack of sweat glands. Sweat can form on your pig's snout, so when it's hot, she likes to hide it in a puddle to cool off.

How to raise piglets?

The development of pigs is usually divided into periods. The milk period is the initial stage in the life of babies. In the first three weeks, they feed on high-calorie mother's milk, and the signal for the start of complementary feeding is their interest in the contents of the mother's trough. Piglets can experience a lack of milk even at a week of age, if the offspring number more than ten pigs.

How to raise piglets and accustom them to solid food? You should start with porridges cooked with whole milk or 0.5% skim milk. When pigs learn to eat porridge, it needs to be enriched with grated vegetables: carrots, potatoes, beets and herbs. When the offspring learns to cope with vegetables chopped into a puree, you can move on to cutting boiled vegetables into cubes. The diet must be fortified with charcoal - a useful natural additive to enhance the rapid growth of piglets.

The milking period ends when the piglets reach 2.5 months and 20 kg of live weight. The growing period begins - the most important stage for the development of gilts and their transformation into healthy and well-fed animals. For rearing pigs, thick porridge is cooked from crushed grains, filling it with food waste and skim milk. Chalk, salt and vitamin A are the main additives in the daily diet that affect the rapid growth of gilts. Outdoor exercise in the pen is also extremely important for the development of young animals. Interestingly, the lifespan of a pig is up to 15 years with good care, but livestock rarely live that long. The average life expectancy of pigs, for obvious reasons, is only 1-1.5 years.

When the pigs reach 4 months and weigh 50 kg, the final stage of their growth and development begins - fattening. Caring for pigs at home is simplified at this stage. The main condition is to feed the gilts as much as possible, but not to overfeed them with corn, which causes the replacement of muscle mass with fat. This is especially true for owners of meat and bacon livestock. The weight of a pig of 100-110 kg allows the animal to be slaughtered. The pig's live weight and yield, that is, slaughter weight, depend on the breed of the animal. So, if a standard boar produces up to 75% of production, then landrace produces 79-80%.

It is not necessary to do it yourself. If the animals were raised for sale, you should contact private buyers or contact a representative of the nearest meat processing plant. Purchase prices for live weight pigs can be found on the company’s website or by phone. If we are talking about buying an animal, then the cost of live weight of a pig in small farms starts from 100 rubles per 1 kg.

Buying a cow and pigs for a private farm is an excellent solution. Moreover, starting a household is more important today than ever. The cost of living is rising, and producers do not bother to improve the quality of the meat and dairy products they offer. So why not get the best quality pork for your own family? Or not start a profitable business of fattening and breeding pigs? Business consultants believe that pig farming is a relatively free niche for implementing your own project. And the profitability of the pig farming business is calculated at 35%. Worth thinking about!

Victor Kalinin

Pig farmer with 12 years of experience

Articles written

One of the most profitable and promising areas of livestock farming has been and remains pig breeding, including on small private farms. The relatively quick and high profitability in the future is worth making keeping pigs your business. Its success is due both to incentive programs from the state and to the characteristics of the animal itself:

1. Record fertility. During one farrow, from 10 to 14 piglets are born, and proper maintenance of sows leads to the appearance of offspring twice a year.
2. High rates of weight gain.
3. The highest percentage ratio between skinned carcass weight and live weight among all livestock breeds is up to 85%.
4. The best indicators of feed digestibility are up to 30%, compared with 20% for all other farm animals. This allows you to expect 1 kg of weight gain for every 2.5-3 kg of feed.
5. Constantly high demand for pig products.

Pig farm

How to care for pigs, what determines success in this type of business? Having decided to make keeping pigs the basis of our own business, we determine the main tasks:

• construction of a pigsty and recruitment of personnel;
• selection of breed;
• acquisition of the initial herd;
• breeding your own livestock;
• raising piglets;
• competent maintenance and care.

Let's take a closer look at each point separately.

Construction of a pigsty and hiring of personnel

• a good foundation to avoid digging and pigs getting out;
• sufficient area - for one individual you need 4 square meters. m, for a sow – 6 sq. m;
• dividing the premises into group and individual pens for sows;
• wooden flooring in the place of the den, dry straw bedding;
• lighting - a combination of natural and artificial; necessary for the well-being of the livestock;
• high-quality ventilation while eliminating drafts; optimal humidity when caring for pigs is 70%, increased humidity has a very bad effect on animal health, 85% is detrimental to young animals;
• floor slope with a recess for draining slurry;
• paddock for walking with a canopy from the sun; the possibility of walking can significantly improve the living conditions of pigs, strengthen the skeletal system, avoid rickets, accelerate growth, and reduce the frequency of cleaning pens;
• feeders, drinking bowls, cleaning and disinfection equipment;
• heating or insulation; at temperatures below 12 °C, keeping pigs becomes unprofitable - the animals spend 70% of the energy they receive on heating their bodies and lose weight even with good feeding.

Pigpen with division into pens

When discussing the issue of heating, Canadian technology for raising pigs deserves attention. If straw prices are low enough, the system allows you to reduce the cost of heating the barn, save on the installation of heating equipment and raise pigs at a comfortable temperature even in northern regions. At the same time, the costs of cleaning are reduced, which is carried out only 2-3 times a year, with the condition of constantly adding fresh straw to the top layer of litter. The cost of constructing pens is eliminated, and the herd is kept in a large common space. The method is based on the natural process of fermentation in a thick layer of straw. The temperature reaches 50-60 °C, due to which the room is heated.

To achieve the best results, work on a pig farm should be left to professionals. Therefore, the next step in building a business should be hiring personnel who will monitor the health of the herd, feed, clean, and raise piglets. When calculating for a minimum farm livestock of 300 units, you should hire 4 pig farmers, 1 livestock specialist, 1 veterinarian, 2 auxiliary workers.

Canadian technology for keeping herds in a hangar

Pigs: any domestic animals belonging to the species Sus scrofa. There are breeding pigs, piglets and fattening pigs.

Breeding pigs: sows intended for breeding

Piglets: weanlings. In European countries these are piglets weighing up to 20 kg. In Canada, until 2007, this category included animals up to 20 kg, and since 2008, this category includes animals up to 50 pounds (23 kg). In the United States, until 2007 this included animals up to 60 pounds (27kg), and since 2008 up to 50 pounds (23kg).

Fattening pigs: pigs whose meat is intended to be used for human consumption. In European countries this includes all animals weighing over 20kg, including those whose live weight exceeds 110kg. In Canada, until 2007, this category included pigs weighing over 20 kg, and since 2008, over 50 pounds (23 kg). In the United States, until 2007, this category included animals weighing 60 pounds (27 kg) or more, and since 2008, 50 pounds (23 kg).

Information sources

Statistics Canada, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html

USDA, http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome

National Statistics Office of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn

Number of pigs by year and country. The interactive chart format allows you to view and compare numbers and trends for multiple countries over different time periods. Results are shown for different categories of pigs.

The number of pigs for slaughter and the amount of pork produced per month and per year. An interactive chart allows you to show and compare numbers and trends for multiple countries over different time periods.