Friday 20 October 2017
Thursday 19 October 2017
How many pigs can I keep on a hectare?
Question:
How many pigs can be kept on 1 hectare?
Answer:
Just about anything is possible - and how long is a piece of rope?
In the East, they farm with pigs, ducks and carp in the same building.
Pigs on the top floor, ducks among them and the carp in the water at the bottom.
The normal recommendation is 20 hectares for a 100 sow unit.
It is not clear what type of pig farming is intended - intensive indoors or
extensively outside or something in between.
Outdoors need more space. The problem is not only the number of sows being kept, but also the growth margins that will hopefully appear with successful breeding.
A sow should be able to grow at least 20 pigs a year - ten times 2.2 litters per year
(in a 100 sow unit there are always 1000 plus pigs on the farm). All these pigs
produce mites and urine plus the cleaning water that has to go somewhere. Sewage dams should preferably be away from the buildings and one hectare is not very large.
How many pigs can be kept on 1 hectare?
Answer:
Just about anything is possible - and how long is a piece of rope?
In the East, they farm with pigs, ducks and carp in the same building.
Pigs on the top floor, ducks among them and the carp in the water at the bottom.
The normal recommendation is 20 hectares for a 100 sow unit.
It is not clear what type of pig farming is intended - intensive indoors or
extensively outside or something in between.
Outdoors need more space. The problem is not only the number of sows being kept, but also the growth margins that will hopefully appear with successful breeding.
A sow should be able to grow at least 20 pigs a year - ten times 2.2 litters per year
(in a 100 sow unit there are always 1000 plus pigs on the farm). All these pigs
produce mites and urine plus the cleaning water that has to go somewhere. Sewage dams should preferably be away from the buildings and one hectare is not very large.
Reduce Pig feed with 75% by using a free range system
If you have the privilege to have ground where the pigs can feed,
you can reduce the feeding process to a quarter of origanal feeding costs.
I bought a Gallaghar Power Plus B180 shock machine at my Agri in Caledon and 500m shock wire.
The shock machine works great but what I found is that the "droppers" are very expensive
and I also need a lot of work to do the shock wires.
My solution was to make my own and I did it by taking 1.8m poles
and cutting them into 600mm pieces. I then pushed the poles into building blocks and
screwed two insulators into it. I spread the building blocks (which are now my border posts) 10 meters apart in a straight line.
The pigs get used to it and getting them in and out of the camps is getting easier.
The advantage of the method is that the camps can easily be moved
and the camp with 500m shock rope is equipped for 15000sq meters of grazing.
My pigs have been very calm in the last two weeks and their body has changed significantly positively.
My ground has lucerne, clover and grass.
Here are the costs:
Gallaghar Power Plus B180 shock machine R2400.00
Building block R10.00 ($1.50)
Pale cut in 600mm R20.00 ($3.00)
Isolators R0.99 ($0.13)
It's a quick process to set it up and I only feed 25% of my normal costs.
Follow the blog for all new articles
Pig Skin Disorder (Scabs on the Back of Pig) What can I do?
Scabs or lice on Pigs - What can I do?
Recently a group of my pigs started getting dry spots on their backs and ears.
I initially thought it was dry skin from the sun. After asking an expert's advice, he told me that it was scam mites and all I have to do is inject Dectomax. I did it and after a few weeks the pigs were clean and healthy. It is important to treat it immediately, especially under pregnant sows.
When the little pigs are born, they will be infected if the mother has scab mites and it is highly contagious.
This will slow their growth and the bones and hips will be weak. For an quick fix you can pour old car oil on their backs, but you need to give them the proper treatment.
Recently a group of my pigs started getting dry spots on their backs and ears.
I initially thought it was dry skin from the sun. After asking an expert's advice, he told me that it was scam mites and all I have to do is inject Dectomax. I did it and after a few weeks the pigs were clean and healthy. It is important to treat it immediately, especially under pregnant sows.
When the little pigs are born, they will be infected if the mother has scab mites and it is highly contagious.
This will slow their growth and the bones and hips will be weak. For an quick fix you can pour old car oil on their backs, but you need to give them the proper treatment.
How do pigs compare giving birth in the field vs pigs giving birth in farrowing crates?
After a two years of keeping the grower pigs in cages, I decided to release them onto a total of 6 hectares ( 14 Acres ) of land to graze on. I made two camps of 3 hectares.
I kept the sows in an open area close to the cages, so that they can still sleep there at night.
This area is closed of with fences and is about 120m2.
Once they got used to this system, I let the pregnant sows out of the camped area and let them farrow on the land. This was scary at first, as I did not have experience of sows farrowing outside and was afraid that they might lay on top of the new born piglets.
No piglets were lost as a result and last night's pigs were born in 4 degrees Celsius.
The mother's sow also looks a lot more at ease and the work is less intensive on my part.
Please watch: https://youtu.be/e-UTEH4T_8s
With this picture you can see how the pig made a good nest that protects her and the pigs from the wind and sun.
I kept the sows in an open area close to the cages, so that they can still sleep there at night.
This area is closed of with fences and is about 120m2.
Once they got used to this system, I let the pregnant sows out of the camped area and let them farrow on the land. This was scary at first, as I did not have experience of sows farrowing outside and was afraid that they might lay on top of the new born piglets.
No piglets were lost as a result and last night's pigs were born in 4 degrees Celsius.
The mother's sow also looks a lot more at ease and the work is less intensive on my part.
Please watch: https://youtu.be/e-UTEH4T_8s
With this picture you can see how the pig made a good nest that protects her and the pigs from the wind and sun.
Wednesday 18 October 2017
Start your small piggery with Weaners
Weaners pigs for a start.
Our winters here on the farm is 4 degrees Celsius at night and we do not have a heating system for our pigs or piglets.
I do not know how cold it gets in the evenings in your area, but if you can add heat, it's good. You can add heat in the form of UV lights or a hot water system.
It's going to be very difficult to buy a pregnant sow from a farmer, but if you're lucky enough you're on the winning side.
Buying weaners are the first step if you are starting a small scale piggery. Your income turn around is faster while you wait for the sows to farrow.
If weaned pigs are bought, treat them as if they have not yet received any medicine. 90% of sellers promise your heart and soul the pigs are De-wormed and everything is right. So you immediately give the pigs Dectomax or medicines of choice with a shot of Terramycin la.
Keep track of eyes, ears and tails.
If the ears are hanging and the tails are straight, then chances are your pigs are unhealthy, have worms or has lice.
Do not buy sick pigs, it takes months for them to recover and get back in shape. The hips of weaners must be round and firm. They should not be hairy at all. You will lose 100% of your money in the feed / growth process if you buy a sick weaner. Most problems with pigs are worms and scabs. For worms (tears in the eyes, hanging tail or hanging ears) you can de-worm the pigs twice a month.
For scabs (scab-mite) you can throw old oil on the pig's back.
The photos below show the difference between healthy pig and a sick wean pig'.
Our winters here on the farm is 4 degrees Celsius at night and we do not have a heating system for our pigs or piglets.
I do not know how cold it gets in the evenings in your area, but if you can add heat, it's good. You can add heat in the form of UV lights or a hot water system.
It's going to be very difficult to buy a pregnant sow from a farmer, but if you're lucky enough you're on the winning side.
Buying weaners are the first step if you are starting a small scale piggery. Your income turn around is faster while you wait for the sows to farrow.
If weaned pigs are bought, treat them as if they have not yet received any medicine. 90% of sellers promise your heart and soul the pigs are De-wormed and everything is right. So you immediately give the pigs Dectomax or medicines of choice with a shot of Terramycin la.
Keep track of eyes, ears and tails.
If the ears are hanging and the tails are straight, then chances are your pigs are unhealthy, have worms or has lice.
Do not buy sick pigs, it takes months for them to recover and get back in shape. The hips of weaners must be round and firm. They should not be hairy at all. You will lose 100% of your money in the feed / growth process if you buy a sick weaner. Most problems with pigs are worms and scabs. For worms (tears in the eyes, hanging tail or hanging ears) you can de-worm the pigs twice a month.
For scabs (scab-mite) you can throw old oil on the pig's back.
The photos below show the difference between healthy pig and a sick wean pig'.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
9 Ideas that you can do with your land that Works!
You have land but have no idea to do with it? Let’s answer the question that thousands of people ask everyday: What can I do with my small p...
-
Question: How many pigs can be kept on 1 hectare? Answer: Just about anything is possible - and how long is a piece of rope? In the East, ...
-
You have land but have no idea to do with it? Let’s answer the question that thousands of people ask everyday: What can I do with my small p...
-
Scabs or lice on Pigs - What can I do? Recently a group of my pigs started getting dry spots on their backs and ears. I initially thought it...
