Sharing is caring!

How to run a successful goat farming business

With a high reproductive capacity (a single sow can give birth to over 18 piglets at once and can do this three times in a year if managed well), overwhelming demand in the market and ability survive virtually on anything, pig farming is very lucrative, and worth every go.

Do I need to also remind you that starting a pig farm is also easy once you have the capital to set up your farm? Here we will walk you through the steps you need to follow to start your profitable pig farm

The first question that always pops up when it comes to Pig farming is “How profitable is Pig farming?” or as some say “Is Pig farming profitable?”. Well, I am here to tell you that “YES”, Pig farming is very profitable. Here are some facts you need to know about Pigs that will prove my point.

• Do you know that a single pig (Sow- a female pig) can give birth to over 18 piglets at a go?
• Do you also know that this same pig that can give birth to 18 piglets can repeat this for a whole three times in a year when managed well? The same pig gives birth to 18 kids, it does this three times in a year, that’s 54 pigs from a single mother-pig in a year.
• The gestation period of a pig is three months, three weeks and three days, now if you calculate the weeks required to produce three times in a year you have 48 weeks and the rest weeks can be shared within the 48 so the pig can rest and regain all it lost during pregnancy
• A grown-up pig sale for nothing less than #35,000 depending on the weight which as a pig farmer is not a big deal in meeting up with, some sales for over #50,000 to #60,000, now imagine producing 100 pigs, that’s over #3,500,000 (#3.5 million). Yes, with the reproductive rate of a pig farm, you can rear up to 100 pigs within a year.

Is it that easy to achieve? No, but who said it’s not possible, thousands of pig farmers worldwide are doing it, you too can, the one thing I can assure you is that you will make very good profit in pig farming, it’s not even a question.

I will be frank with you as much as possible, starting a pig farm isn’t a big deal, maintaining your pig farm is where the stress is, but are you letting go of a profitable farm all because you can’t stress yourself, well even to eat is a stress and we do that all day, so you will be just fine.

To start a pig farm, you need to have considerable knowledge about a pig, their behavior and lifestyle, forget those who will tell you that you don’t need to be trained by an expert before starting, believe me, a single mistake can cause huge harm if you don’t know anything about pig farming.

Pigs are simple animals, easy to understand, and manage so it won’t be much of a problem to handle your farm, but with good training, you will be able to handle incidents such as when a pig is beginning to behave abnormally may be due to weather or sickness.

Training is important unless you already have good knowledge about pig and pig farming.

With good training/knowledge about pigs, the very first thing you do in setting up your pig farm is to consider your budget.

Consider your budget

This might seem unnecessary to many, but as a student in the university, I worked with a pig farmer, from his story, when he started, he had just #100,000 after acquiring land.

He spent almost all of it in the build-up to the farmer only to be left with nothing to feed the pigs, he started with over 11 little pigs.

It is good you start small, three pigs are ok for a start, one male and two females. Consider what you have to spend, you have no business buying over ten (10) pigs for a start if you know you won’t have much to feed them. Start small and grow not the opposite.

Get a suitable and secure breeding farmland

(Security matters here)

One very thing you must consider before paying for any land space for your pig farm is security, setting up your land in an insecure area is a waste of income, invaders can destroy your farm anytime.

Tor start, a plot of land is ok, for small scale pig farming, but for large scale pig farming, enough piece of land is required, pigs love space where they can move around.

You can get a piece of land in rural areas where it will be cheaper, at most, for #200,000 to #250,000 or even less.

Study the land well, make sure there is an access road for transporting your products to the market and bringing in materials. Once you have a secure piece of land with an access road, you are sure on the right path.

Build a standard pig farming pen

Standard breeding pens should possess the following qualities.

• It should be large (pigs love space)
• It should be durable; each pen should have a small area for their feeding.
• Your pens should have a path for easy movement. You will need to be feeding your pigs so there should be space for you to walk on during any indoor activities like feeding or cleaning.
• There should be a channel in each pen (an opening on the edge of each pen for easy washing off, of remains of feeds and water), this channel helps in waste management and maintaining the pig house clean.
• Your pens should have space at the edge for water intake (this is where you keep water for them to drink). Pigs drink a lot of water, when they have access to enough water, they eat less.
• Your pens should be segmented, the sows (mature female) should be separated from the boar (mature male), same as the piglets unless they are being nursed by the sow.

To maintain a neat pig farm, you must build a water pool for your pigs, this is a place they go swimming, pigs love cool atmosphere and will become very unrest when they can’t access water. Remember that pigs lack sweat glands, they roll around the mud (if there is any) when they can’t find water.

Buy and Introduce your pigs

Buy from a trusted agent

When buying your pigs, you must buy from someone you can trust, someone you know sells pigs with a good history of vaccination. When you buy unhealthy pigs, you risk running a big loss, that’s where your coach or trainer comes, as an expert, he/she should know those who will offer you the best quality and healthy piglets.

For a start, the female and male can stay together and will be separated later as they grow. Remember to start small and gradually grow, unless you have the capital to employ workers.

Get workers if need be

The workload may be much if you handle the management and maintenance of the farm all by yourself, there is a need you employ workers, for a small scale, you can start with three (2) or four (3) persons.

They will help see to the day to day running of your farm (cleaning and feeding). Having workers is a good idea, you won’t be around at all times.

Do well to feed your pig properly

How you feed your pigs determine how they are priced in the market, it is not really about how many times in a day you feed them, how you maintain balanced dietary matters.

There should be access to enough water as well, pigs generally eat less when they take much water.
The good thing is; pigs eat virtually everything so what to feed them with shouldn’t be a big problem. We will make a post to this effect (What pigs eat)

Regular Vaccination is important

Vaccination should be taken seriously, just like human needs vaccination to prevent diseases, this is the case with animals, employ the services of a veterinary doctor regularly. It will help you maintain a healthier pig farm.

With strict adherence to the above steps in starting your pig farm, you are sure on the right path, yes, they look simple but, every step involves adequate care and contributes a lot in how your pig farm performs.

Let’s say you bought your startup pigs from an agent who isn’t trustworthy, only to find out they have no history of proper vaccination, you will need to spend more on vaccination to avoid complications.

Conclusively, pig farming is a profitable agribusiness idea, this has been proven over time. If you know you have what it takes to set up a pig farm, believe me, it will be a good decision to do so, the steps are quite easy and you can always employ the services of others to make it even easier.

If you have any questions to ask or you need more information on pig farming, you can always make use of the comment box below to reach out to us and be sure, we will reply.

Useful resources 

How to start and run a successful rabbit farm

Soja Goat breed facts and information

Best breeds of goat for profitable goat farming

Best way to start and make money from Snail farming