The complete guide for the beginner Pig Farmer

 Everything you need to know to start a small scale pig farming business – Pig Farming – The complete guide for the beginner

Pig farming is a truly enjoyable business. Every pig has their own personality and pigs are rated to be some of the smartest animals and can even outsmart dogs.

Steps to take to start a pig farming business.

• Get Land for the amount of pigs you want to farm with
• Pre-arrange and plan on getting feed
• Have a Market Strategy
• Plan the housing of your pigs

Get Land and make sure your pigs are comfortable

Pigs farming does not require a lot of space but be that your pigs are comfortable. Too much space will make your pigs run around a lot and they are curios creatures so expect them to dig and search for things to chew on. This will lead into weigh-loss and they are surely going to take longer to reach market weight.

Pigs do not get lonely like other animals but they do require some space to move around, lie in the sun or even a waterhole as they love a muddy bath that protects them from scorching hot summer sun.

If you don’t own land you can rent or in most cases farmers accept a barter deal to give you land. This is a popular way for upcoming famers to get hold of land. You trade land for some of your piglets or grown pigs and in return you don’t pay rent for land.

Get your plan in action on how to get food for your pigs

The hardest part of pig farming is getting feed at the right price. Many upcoming pig farmers make the mistake to get food from supermarkets in the form of expired or unusable vegetables and fruit. This is a great way of getting minerals into the pigs but most veggies and fruit are extremely low in protein. Pigs need at least 19% to 22% of protein value in their daily meals.

Protein feeds like barley, wheat and oats is easy accessible from agricultural stores but is very expensive. Depending on the area where you live pig feed prices can change dramatically as most inland agricultural stores has a hefty fuel charge on their feeds.

You need to plan how and where you can get pig feed before you start farming. This is vital to the success of your pig farming business.

Read the following article Food Types that will help grow your pigs faster to understand what proteins pigs really need. If you are going to farm with free range pigs you can read about Saving Cost on Pig Feed. This method has saved us a lot of money on feed and our pigs are truly healthy and happy.

Have a Market Strategy

Plan ahead on how you are going to sell your pigs. This will help you set your goals on how to sell your pigs. You can also plan on how to grow your business if you have a market strategy. There are many profitable ways to sell pigs and we have put together an article on how to sell your pigs and still make a decent profit.

Read this article on how to sell your pigs and still make profit

Plan your Housing for the pigs

Pigs are smart animals and they don’t want to be cooped up. They will dig holes under wooden and wire fences. Make sure that your fencing is secured and that no pig can escape. Brick walls build on a foundation is the best way to go. You can have a cement slab as flooring but keep in mind that pigs will need an dose of iron to keep their immune system strong.

Your housing or coops should have an dry area where your pigs can take shelter from windy rainy and hot days. Try to build your coops so that the North Western wind or South Eastern wind does not blow into the entrance. This will ensure that your coops has less rain water blown in by the wind when it rains.

Learn from mistakes.

As a beginner or veteran pig farmer mistakes will happen. Speak to other pig farmers and ask them advise on how to avoid mistakes. This is probably the best step a beginner farmer can do.

Read this important article about Mistakes pig farmers make

We have put together a compilation of topics on this website that can help you with pig farming. Please read them to make sure that you understand on how to get the best from your pig farming business.

These Shortlist Topics will help you guide through your Pig Planning

• Raising Pigs a guide for beginner pig farmers
• The best pigs to farm with
• Production Cycle when farming with pigs
• Housing Farrowing and Welfare of pigs
• How to weight your pigs by only using a rope
• How to load your pigs on a trailer
• Transport Permit
• How to make your own Feed
• What is the difference between a Landrace and a Large White

https://pigfarmingsouthafrica.co.za/pig-farming-housing-farrowing-and-welfare/

https://pigfarmingsouthafrica.co.za/how-use-a-rope-to-weigh-a-pig/

https://pigfarmingsouthafrica.co.za/how-to-load-pigs/

https://pigfarmingsouthafrica.co.za/best-homemade-high-protein-pig-feed/

https://pigfarmingsouthafrica.co.za/how-to-transport-pigs-in-sa/

https://pigfarmingsouthafrica.co.za/difference-between-a-landrace-and-large-white-pig/

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Tags: pig farming, beginners guide to pig farming, pig farming South Africa, how to start pig farming, what you need to know about pig farming, steps to take before farming with pigs

How to sell your chicken eggs and marketing tips

 Marketing and Selling Chicken Eggs – Probably no animal product of the farm is produced in a more sanitary or convenient form for marketing than eggs. They are one of nature’s choicest food products. Nevertheless, many farmers experience considerable difficulty in shipping eggs to market that will command the top price.

The principal reason is probably due to the fact that eggs are very perishable when improperly handled and are then very quickly affected by their surroundings. The sale of eggs is also governed by their interior quality, size, color, appearance, the type and condition of container, season of the year, and the like.

All these factors nay be controlled to a large extent by breeding, proper care, and good management. The freshness of an egg has to do with its age and quality: when used for food. The highest standard of quality in an egg is one just laid (“new laid”). It is customary to speak of “new laid” eggs as fresh eggs.

Farming with eggs

Almost every one has this definition in mind when speaking of fresh eggs; but, inasmuch as the quality of an egg is very quickly affected by unfavorable sur- rounding’s, freshness is more largely a matter of care and handling after the egg is laid rather than age. For example, it is possible seriously to impair the quality of “new laid” eggs in two or three days, while on the other hand the same eggs, under favorable conditions, might remain fairly fresh after several weeks in storage.

This results in several grades Of eggs according to their interior quality regardless of age.

Structure of Eggs

To understand what take place in eggs when they deteriorate in quality and the factors that are considered in the pricing and utilization Of eggs, it is desirable to have Some knowledge of their structure and of the relationship of one part to another. In a normal new-laid egg of good quality, the yolk is nearly spherical and Of a uniform surface color.

On the surface Of the yolk, usually the upper side. when the egg is broken out, there is a small area lighter in color and about % inch in diameter known as the germ spot. It is in this spot that embryo development in a fertile egg begins; consequently the size and appearance Of the germ spot on the yolk, when viewed before the candle, is Of importance in determining the grade.

The yolk material is enclosed in a covering called the vitelline membrane, which holds the yolk in its normal shape. However, as an egg ages, the yolk tends to take up water from the white with a consequent enlargement in size, and the yolk membrane weakens as a result, permitting the yolk to assume a more flattened or spread-out shape when the egg is broken out on a flat surface.” “The white, or albumen, of the egg consists of several parts or layers Of thick and thin white. The yolk is suspended in the white by a twisted, ropelike mass at each end of the egg, known as the chalaza. The yolk floats and turns easily within the white. Lining the shell are two membranes commonly described as the inner shell membrane, which is next to the contents of the egg, and the outer shell membrane, which is next to the shell.

These membranes are close together and normally do not become separated except at the large end where, as the fresh egg cools and as it ages and the water and gas escape from the egg, the two membranes draw apart and the space between them is filled with air.

The Shell is the container for the liquid parts within. When new-laid the egg is coated with a gelatinous covering which tends to seal the pores and gives the shell its bloom. Unless eggs are handled and kept under good conditions in a relatively short time they may reach a Stage at which they are no longer edible. One of the first indications of deterioration is the evaporation of water from the white through the shell, with the consequent enlargement of the air cell. Another is the flattening of the yolk already described.

Marketing and Selling Chicken Eggs

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Make your own Chicken Feed and save on your farming project

 When farming with Chickens, the question that is probably asked the most is how to make your Own Chicken feed and reduce feeding cost. Today we will discuss how to make your own chicken feed for broilers and layers. Feeding your chickens can be very expensive and the main reason why farmers fail to succeed with their poultry business. We have put together 3 recipes that works well, but not everyone can afford it so yes, there is a budget Chicken Feed Recipe included in this Article. How to make chicken feed for broilers and layers

Make your own Chicken Feed with 3 easy recipes

Breakdown of ingredients used to make Chicken Feed

When making your own chicken feed it is important to bag it and store it as you do not want to loose any nutritional value and moist. You do not need to crush your grains and chickens can eat whole corn (mielies), it is actually better as the corn pips does not loose oils and vitamins.

Chickens do spill when they eat, so feeding them whole grain feed will save you money as they will pick up the spills whereas a powdered feed will be lost. For smaller chicks you can crack the grains.

For layers grains are healthier and will produce better eggs with harder shells. You still need to get the balance right as they need calcium, vitamins, protein and calories.

When you buy chicken feed at the stores (generally 14% to 16%) you need to know that there is nothing wrong with that mix, but with you own mix you can increase the protein levels especially when it comes to broilers.Not every chicken needs the same amount of calcium and too much can destroy their kidneys, Layers need more calcium to produce eggs.

You can introduce egg shelves back into their food mix, but be careful not to give big pieces as you will teach them how to eat eggs. Grinding the egg shelves into powder will be the best solution.

Wholewheat has about 14 to 16% protein and omega which will be a good value to our chicken recipe.
Oats only has 9% protein but is high in fiber and chickens need fiber. Lots of it.

Corn surprisingly enough, has very little nutrition value, it is mostly calories and you want to add a bigger percentage corn to your chicken feed in winter times to help fatten up broilers and keep them warm at nights.
Corn is good for broilers but keep it balanced for layers.
Flax seed is great to add but it’s hard to get and expensive, with lots of minerals and 25% protein I would suggest to add it to your chicken feed.

Another good option is to add calf manna, a feed that has 25% protein, calcium and minerals, you don’t need a lot for your chickens. Calf Manna is expensive, you are not saving money with calf manna, but boosting your layers.

How to make Chicken Feed for Layers

• 100 kg Wheat
• 100 kg Oats
• 100 kg Corn (Milieus)
• 60 kg Soybeans
• 10 kg of Calcium (make your own powdered calcium from egg shelves)

This is a very basic recipe and you will get the most eggs from your farming operation. It’s been tested and works well.

How to make Chicken Feed For Broilers

• 100 kg Corn (Mielies)
• 70 kg Soybeans
• 10 kg Oats
• 10 kg Crushed Luserne
• 10 kg Bone or Fish meal
• 5 kg Calcium
• 7 kg Poultry Nutri Balancer – You can buy this at most Agricultural Shops.

A lot of people are against bone and fish meal so here is an alternative recipe for chicken feed.

How to make Basic Broiler Feed

• 100 kg Barley
• 50 kg Wheat
• 50 kg Corn (Mielies)

We have used this recipe many times and our chickens was ready to sell at around 75 days. (2.8 kg in weight – that is way to big, but we like selling BIG chickens.

A Few Important Notes About This Homemade Chicken Feed: