How to Build Wealth in Pig Farming

Pig farming also known as piggery is another aspect of farming in Nigeria that most part of the world, that is making smart investors and entrepreneurs huge money on daily basis. If you are into this pig farming, you sure wouldn’t lack money again for the rest of your life.
The reason is because Pig meat is in high demand in Nigeria and sells very very fast in the market. Another reason is that Pig reproduce in large number and grows very fast.

A single pig gives birth to as much as 15 piglets at a time, making it one of the most reproducing livestock in the world. Baby pigs is known as shoat, farrow or piglet. Male pig is referred to as the boar while female is sows. As a group they are called a herd or drove.

Despite the huge profitability of Piggery, many Nigerian are still overlooking this goldmine because of ignorance of how it works. While some don’t just get the fact that it is a big business – many who engage in it do it as part time business but if you can engage in this business fully, you are sure going to have steady bank alert.

ROUGH ESTIMATE:

A fully grown Pig goes for as high as N30,000 depending on the weight. Now Imagine for a year you are able to rear hundred to maturity, you will be making N3 Million from the sales. If you can take it higher – lets say like 2,000 pigs in year, you will be making upward of N60 Million. Considering how fast pigs reproduces, it wouldn’t be a very much big deal to come up with 100 pigs in a year. Then, how do you go about setting up your pig farm? Below are the important guides

Also read: How to build wealth in poultry farming

PIG FARMING STARTUP:

Grazing Area:

Depending on how you plan to feed your pigs, a plot of land may just be okay for small scale starting but if you can acquire a large farm land (from 5 acres) that will be better so that your pig can graze in the open and retire to the pen where they’d continue feeding and playing. Land is your biggest investment in this business. Once you have it, you’re half way done.

Look for land in a rural area where you can get it cheaper. 1acre of land in a rural area will be from N200,000 x how many you want. Do your stuffs there and transport your goods to the town. Some butcher will even be coming to your farm to buy, saving you cost of transportation.

It is good to raise pigs in pasture by leaving them occasionally to root around in the fields where they can find plants to eat, and that can only be achieved when you have large enough farm land (Pasture Ground) to cater for this. As they mature, you take care so that they do not wander away.

Also read: How to build wealth in cattle farming

Standard Pens:

Big pen is important if you don’t want your pigs to injure themselves. A good and specious pen is also important to keep the pigs healthy and free from diseases and contamination. Proper drainage is needed too to avoid water becoming stagnant in your pen which could attract insects and other harmful pets to harm your pigs.

To avoid your pigs getting overly dirty, you need to build a water pool where they can play, swim as pigs likes swimming, and cool themselves which is important to their wellbeing. Changing the water and refilling the pool as frequently as possible will ensure that they are clean all the time. If you are keeping them outdoor, shelter should be build for them.

Healthy Piglets

To ensure healthy farm, you need to make sure the piglets you are about to start your farm with are health. Buy from trusted source and make sure the ones you are buying has history of vaccination.

Also read: How to build wealth in Goat Farming

Buy as much as you wants to start with but don’t start with too many. It is advisable to start with small number and increase gradually. This way, you will be able to learn the rope and you grow and anything go wrong at the initial stage, your risk will be minimal.

Healthcare – You need the services of veterinary doctors for regular checkup and vaccination as well as feeding and nutrition advice. Pigs generally eats what human being eat, making them appear stronger; cheaper to feed and easier to maintain.

Employ Workers

Employ 4 – 5 persons if your pigs are up to 100. If you are starting on a smaller scale, you may need lesser number of worker 1 – 2 workers who will be assisting in the cleaning of the pigs and the pens, feeding the pigs and making sure they are well behaved and other things necessary.

Grazing/Feeding:

Just like human being, Pigs eat a wide variety of foods, anything human can eat, they can eat. Like human being as well, they need balanced diet such as fibre, energy, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals to thrive. Feed will take the major chunk of your spending in the farm.

Also read: How to manage business risk

Pigs, like all animals, must have constant access to clean fresh drinking water. As well as tipping the trough to make a wallow, pigs will also stand in the water trough and wash their dirty faces in it, so it needs to be checked regularly, cleaned out and refilled.

Marketing-: Pigs can be sold live to meat sellers or used to make sausages and bacon. You can approach other pig farmers for assistance on how to sell your pigs. Pigs are usually sold per kilogram so the bigger your pigs, the more money you would earn.

Also read: How to tackle any business risk

Conclusively, this is a template to serve as a guide to a proper decision making towards pig farming. Just save, decide financially and build the wealth.

More on GistWealth: