Pig Farming in Nigeria

Today, pig farming in Nigeria is considered to be one of the most lucrative business ventures. People who are into pig farming can confirm that this is true. They will confirm that they have reaped quite attracting profits from pig farming.

Benefits of Pig Farming in Nigeria

• 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.
• They have a quicker turn-over rate on investment as compared to other livestock animals.
• Pigs are highly prolific. A sow can give birth to a litter containing 4 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).

What to consider before starting pig farming in Nigeria

• Secure a good location: you need to select a suitable location to be able to set up a pig farm, when selecting a site for establishing a pig farm, the following must be considered:
– The location must be far from residential areas because of the odour
– Must be close to good source of water to ensure adequate sanitation
– Close to market, so as to reduce cost of transportation and mortality.

Selecting Your Breeding Stock: the selection of the right animals in terms of health, genetics and body conformation will be key to determine the success of the enterprise. Therefore at the onset, it is necessary to buy your foundation stock from a reputable breeder’s farm and also to consult a veterinarian.
• Housing: pig house must be well constructed for maximum performance of animals. The flooring must be concrete (neither too rough nor too smooth) to allow easy cleaning and minimize occurrence of parasite and diseases. Pig house should be provided with concrete feeders and water troughs.
• Feeding: it is advisable to feed your pigs twice a day (morning and evening). The age of your pig depends on the type of feed they will eat. Young pigs need succulent diet high in amino acid. After three months, young pigs could be put on adult feed that will have lower levels of protein. Aside from concentrates, you can offer your pigs other feedstuffs like grass, vegetables and kitchen waste.
• Marketing: The ability to market pigs at the right time is a major determining factor to the success of commercial pig production. Before venturing into pig farming, it should be ensured that there is a reliable market for the purchase and sell of the pig farm inputs and products at reasonable price.

PIG FARMING AS A LUCRATIVE BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

Pigs are kept in almost all the farms in Nigeria. It is still common to find pigs roaming freely around communities in rural areas of southern Nigeria than in the Northern parts due to religious taboo associated with pig farming. However, pig farming enterprises are also found in and around towns and cities in many areas of Nigeria, and stands a good lucrative source of income when properly managed like every other farming business.
Good pig farming in Nigeria relies on a combination of inter connected aspects such as housing, breeding and reproduction, nutrition, disease prevention & control and management; which are incorporated into intensive system of pig keeping to achieved a desirable and sustainable production. However, a blend of technical know how to make the right decisions at the right time, capital to provide improved building, feed and drugs, marketing viability to ensure that the animals have to be brought to the market when they have reached the desired weight and with optimum strategy for buying and selling of inputs (drugs, feed, farm facilities & equipment) and output (pork) with dependable sales outlet are key to sustainable income flow from pig farming.

PROFITABILITY OF PIG FARMING IN NIGERIA

NOTE: this is mainly for pig fattening aspect of pig farming
A simple way to judge whether pig farming is profitable is by comparing the pork price (pig meat) and cost of production.
Assumptions (NB; Based on the available contemporary experience on pig farming)
• Average daily weight gain of 0.4kg
• Average daily feed consumption of 1.64kg from weaner to finisher of (50kg live weight in this case)
• Target live weight of 50kg
• Resultant pork from pig as 80% of its market weight
• Average feed price per kg of diet= #150
• Selling price per kg of pork= #1100
• Other costs(drugs and vaccine) = #1500
Hence,
• The pig would require 50÷0.4= 125 days to reach the target market weight of 50kg
• Total feed consumed throughout growth (125×1.64) = 205kg
• Total cost of feed consumed (205×150)= #30,750
Therefore Total cost of production = total cost of feed + other cost
= 30,750 + 1500
= #32,250
• Resultant pork = 80% of 50kg
= 35kg
• Cost price per kg of pork = 32,250÷ 35
= #806.25
• Selling price of pork per kg = #1,100
• Profit per kg of pork = selling price of pork per kg – cost price per kg of pork
= 1100 – 806.25
= #293.75
Therefore, you make #293.75 for every kg of pork meat!!
HOW CAN MORE PROFIT BE MADE???
While the above illustrations were ensured to be real as obtainable in pig farming. More profit can be made in the following ways:
• Ensuring improved housing to provide convenience to pigs to facilitate better growth.
• Employing good breeding practice by avoiding in breeding and ensuring selection of best animals in the herd for breeding
• Provision of good and well balance feed to your stock to ensure availability of nutrients for fast growth.
• Ensure a good disease control measure, to reduce cost through reduced medication (drugs) and to facilitate the animal’s utilization of nutrients for growth.
• Push to expand production, so as to enjoy more flexibility with economics of scale for production at lesser cost.

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 days.
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.
Farrow- to give birth to pigs.
Flush feed– increase feed to stimulate ovulation in females.
Gestation period– pregnancy, lasting about 114 days in swine.
Gilt– young female that has not yet produced a litter.
Runt– small or weak pig in a litter.
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.
Pork: the meat of the pig

Pig farming in Nigeria PDF

Get all the skills and information needed on Pig Farming in Nigeria from one of the best books on pig farming

This pig farming in Nigeria PDF book explains all the principles and theories of pig farming in details.

Areas covered in this pig farming in Nigeria PDF, include:

• Introduction to pig farming
• Pig selection
• Pig housing and constructions
• Pig disease and control measures.
• Terminologies in pig farming

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