whitepig farming in English

PIG FARMING

Advantages of pig rearing Pigs convert inedible feeds, forages, certain grain byproducts obtained from mills, meat by products, damaged feeds and garbage into valuable nutritious meat. Most of these feeds are either not edible or not very palatable to human beings Pig grows fast and is a prolific breeder, farrowing 10 to 12 piglets at a time. It is capable of producing two litters per year under optimal  management conditions The carcass return is quite high ie. 60-80 percent of live body weight With a small investment on building and equipment, proper feeding and sound disease control programme the farmer can profitably utilize his time and labour in this subsidiary occupation The faeces of pigs is used as a manure to maintain soil fertility

Pig farming- for whom? Small and landless farmers Part time earning for educated youth having agriculture as occupation uneducated youth Farm women

Breeds The indigenous pig has been the basis used for pig production for a long period of time. It is small in size. Improved breeds are now being used for grading up the form the basis for pig production in the rural areas. The imported pig breeds reared  in India  are as follows : Large white Yorkshire Most extensively used exotic breed in India Body colour is solid white with occasional black – pigmented spots Erect ears, snout of medium lengths and dished face Excellent breed for the purpose of cross breeding Prolific breeds Mature boar 300-400 k.g Mature sow 230-320 kg Landrace White with black skin spot Long  body, large drooping ears and long snout Prolific breeding and efficient in utilizing feed Carcass quality equal to Yorkshire Excellent breed for crossbreeding Mature boars weigh 270-360 kg Mature sow weighs 200-320 kg Middle white Yorkshire Used in some areas in India Grows rapidly gives good dressing percentage Not so prolific as large white Yorkshire Males 250-340 kg Females 180-270 kg Breeds for North East India Pig farming is very important component in North East India. Out of total pig population in India, 28% are grown in this region. Following are the commonly grown breeds. Good quality breeds are available at ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani – 793 103, Meghalaya.        Hampshire    HS X I    Large White Yorkshire            Duroc    Landrace    Indigenous   Ghungroo Pig: A potential strain of indigenous pig for the rural farmers Ghungroo an indigenous strain of pig first reported from North Bengal is popular among the local people because of high prolificacy and ability to sustain in low input system. This breed/strain produces high quality pork utilizing agricultural byproducts and kitchen wastes. Ghungroo are mostly black coloured with typical Bull dog face appearance, with a litter size of 6-12 piglets, individually weigh about 1.0 kg at birth and 7.0 – 10.0 kg at weaning. Both sexes are very much docile and easy to handle. In the breeding tract they are maintained under scavenging system and mainly act as insurance to the rainfed agriculture. At National Research Centre on Pig, Rani, Guwahati, Ghungroo pigs are being maintained under intensive system of rearing with standard breeding, feeding and managemental system. Their evaluation for genetic potential for use in future breeding programmes is in progress and this indigenous strain is performing very well in terms of productive and reproductive efficiency. Some of the selected sows have delivered litter size of 17 piglets at birth as compared to the other indigenous strains of pigs maintained at the Institute farm. Source: http://www.icar.org.in/en/node/2766

Selection of breeding stock Important characteristics which need to be considered in developing a good sow herd are Size of litters Strength and vigour of litters Milking ability Temperament Gain and feed efficiency, fertility, selection of individual animals from a herd is more important than the selection of a particular breed. Each producer at the time of setting up his herd should purchase his animals from a reliable disease free herd and should obtain as much information of the animals as possible. Once the herd is established the selection of the gilts and boars for replacement in  the breeding herd should be based on the types and performance. Selection of gilts (female)              Yorkshire gilt (female) Selection of gilts for the breeding herd should be made at market weight ie. When the animals weigh about 90 kg Select gilts from sows which have consistently farrowed and weaned large litters They have reached market in minimum time and have desirable market type It would be desirable to choose gilts whose litter mates and other fullsibs have given good performance in daily weight gain and feed conversion efficiency Selection of boars (male)         Yorkshire boar (male) Selection of boar is extremely important, particularly for a small breeding farm or unit The boar should be purchased from a breeder or a farm maintaining adequate information on its performance The boar should be selected from a dam which has consistently farrowed and weaned high litters A good boar will weigh 90 kg in about 5-6 months will be of good type and will be strong on feet and legs The feed conversion from weaning to 90 kg weight would be the most desirable. Points to be considered while replacing boars and gilts The mother of the pig to be selected should have had large litters of 8 piglets or more. The weaning weight (at 56 days) of a litter in case of a gilt selection  should have been 120 kg and in the case of sow it should not less than 150 kg The gilt or the boar should have reached a body weight of about 90 kg in about 6 months The pig should have adequate length and depth of the body, thick well muscled hams should be firm and trim The pig should have sound feet and legs The back fat prove in live animals is not yet being practiced in this country. For gilt back fat thickness of  4 cm or less, boars 3.2 or less Gilts should have a minimum of  12 evenly spaced, functional teats. An animal with blind teats should be avoided as there will be little or no milk from these teats and the defect is heritable Negative blood test for both brucellosis and leptospirosis should be made during selection and the pigs should be vaccinated against swine fever Pigs should be free from other diseases and physical defects

Feeding Management Points to be considered while formulating feeding ration Most economical ingredients should be selected Grains- maize, sorghum, oat, other millets, wheat and rice should form the basic ingredients Protein supplements - oil cakes and fishmeal and meat meal No vitamin supplements is necessary if the pigs are allowed to pasture or are fed fresh green legumes. Vitamin B 12 supplement would be necessary if little or no animal protein is fed Antibiotic supplements at the rate of 11 mg of antibiotic per kilogram of ration Mineral supplements should be provided The following table gives specifically the various requirements in the formation of creep, grower and finisher rations for pigs Nutrients Creep feed (Up to weaning) Grower ration (20-40 kg) Finisher ration (40-90 kg) Protein supplement (%) Oilcakes 16-18 14-16 13-14 Animal protein 8-10 4 2 Grains (Maize, sorghum, millets or combination of grains) (%) 60-65 50-55 40-50 Wheat bran or rice bran (%) 5 10 20 Lucerne meal (%) if available -- 5-8 -- Minearl misture(%) 0.5 0.5 0.5 Antiiotic supplement (mg) 40 20 10 The composition of the concentrate feed for various age groups pigs Ingredients Creep feed (14th to 56th day Grower ration (up to 40 kg) Finisher ration (40-90 k.g) Pregnant and  nursing sows Maize or sorghum or broken wheat, broken rice and barley in convenient combinations 65 50 50 50 Oil cakes (groundnut oil cake, soya bean oil-cake, sesame oil cake, linseed oilcake 14 18 20 20 Molasses 5 5 5 5 Wheat bran or rice bran 10 1.5 25 18 Fishmeal or meat meal or cooked offal, skim milk powder dairy wastes 5 5 3 5 Mineral mixture 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 Salt -- 0.5 0.5 0.5 The most convenient way to feed animals on a farm is to prepare the complete ration recommended for different classes and give the pigs the amount they will eat without waste two or three times daily. The following is the approximate amount of dry feed the pigs will consume Weight of pig (kg) Daily consumption of feed (kg) per pig 25 2.0 50 3.2 100 5.3 150 6.8 200 7.5 250 8.3 All grains in mixed feeds should be ground. Generally feeding in the form of wet mash is not superior than (Slop feeding) dry feeding. Slop feeding requires more time and excessive labour. If a ration is fairly high in fibre, pelleting the feed may increase the rate and efficiency of gain in weight. Pelleting may also decrease the amount of feed that is wasted. It is important not to overfeed sows which have been bred. Over fat sows are apt to produce weak pigs and crush more piglets at farrwoing. Sows should gain about 35 kg and gilts about 55 kg from breeding to farrowing.

Housing Adequate housing and equipment for raising pigs are necessary to provide shelter against inclement weather, prevent diseases, control parasites and save labour. The normal requirement of floor area, water and air space in pens for various classes of pigs is given below Class of animals Covered floor area per animal (m2) Open-yard area per animal (m2) Water required (litres) Boar 6.25-7.5 8.8-12.0 45.5 Farrowing 7.5-9.0 8.8-12 18-22 Weaner 0.96-1.8 8.8-12 3.5-4 Dry sow 1.8-2.7 1.4-1.8 4.5-5 Creep space The flooring should have a rough finish and should be be of a regular masonary type made up of water proof cement mortar. Proper drains should be provided so that the effluents are disposed off.  Generally under village conditions the housing can be made up of pens measuring 3 m X 2.4 m or 3 m X 3 m with an open yard of nearly the same dimension or in some cases slightly longer. Walls should be 1.2-1.5 m high from the floor. For the purposes of farrowing some of the pens could be converted into farrowing pens by providing guard rails made up of G.I pipes of 5 cm diameter, along the walls, 20-25 cm from the ground and the wall. In addtion to guard rails, creep space can be provided for the piglets along the wall by making a partition or in one of the corners with separate entrances for the piglets. This space usually of 0.75 m X 2.4 m area. In many of the farms the yard is provided with regular flooring.  Prolonged exposure of exotic breeds of pigs to bright sunshine may cause pigs to become overheated even during moderate weather. Shade helps in preventing deaths and increasing production effeciency during hot weather. While it is desirable to plant trees in the neighbourhood of pens for reducing the intensity of heat. But it is not desirable to plant trees for giving regular shade because they permit rapid build up of parasite levels. Farrowing pen Wallows Pigs have very few sweat glands. In areas having warm weather mature breeding animals and fattening animals need a wallow during summer months. Instead of permitting unsanitary wallows a masonry wallow with proper drainage would be desirable. The size of the wallow will depend upon the number and size of the animals.

Breeding Management Age to breed gilts 8 months Weight ot breed gilts 100-120 kg Length of heat period 2-3 days Best time to breed in heat period Gilts – first day Sows- Second day Number of services per sow 2 services at an interval of 12-14 hours Period of oestrous cycle 18-24 days (Average 21 days) Occurrence of heat after weaning 2-10 days Gestation period 114 days Age of breeding stock Well developed gilts may as a general rule bred to farrow when 12-14 months old. This depends more on development than on age. Gilts should weigh at least 100 kg before breeding. Ovulation rate increases during successive oestrous periods (up to fifth) following puberty. Thus it is advantageous to delay the breeding of gilts until the second or third oestrous. Litter size increases on an average in succeeding pregnancies up to 5th or 6th litter. It is therefore advantageous to cull the sow from a breeding herd or a commercial herd after her fifth or sixth litter as the litter size goes down thereafter. Detection of heat The average length of oestrous cycle in pigs is 21 days. The oestrous symptoms last for five to seven days beginning with vulvar swelling and vaginal discharge. In true oestrous there is frequent urination, reduced appetite, mounting and standing for service detected by the erection of ears and immobility when normal pressure is applied to the back.  The application of pressure on the back is used to determine the correct breeding time. Animals with a predisposition for weak oestrous should be brought near the boar to exhibit heat symptoms a little more clearly. Best time for breeding is during the latter half of  the first day or early on the second day of oestrous. In many cases the gilts and sows continue to exhibit the standing heat on the next day. In these cases the animals should be rebred and the interval in the case of rebreeding should be 12-14 hours. This procedure will ensure a high conception rate in the herd.             Sows come into oestrous one to four days after farrowing but they should not be bred at this time. Sows may also come into heat two to ten days after weaning and may be bred at this time. But better results can be obtained by breeding them in the second post lactational oestrous. The animals which have been bred should be observed for the appearance of subsequent oestrous. If sows not conceived even after successful mating with a boar in two continous oestrous cycles it is desirable to cull them from the herd. Flushing It is the method of feeding sows and gilts before breeding. A good grower ration fed to sows and gilts seven to ten days before breeding is helps in increased ovulation rates in them. After breeding sows and gilts should be fed a limited but well balanced ration until the last six weeks of pregnancy and then full feeding should be resumed. Care and management of pregnant animals The gestation period of sow varies from 109-120 days with an average of 114 days. Pregnant animals should be housed in groups in separate enclosures and should not be mixed with new animals to avoid fighting which at times may result in abortion. It would also be advisable to house pregnant gilts and sows in separate groups during gestation. About 3 m2 of dry housing should be available for each sow. The pregnant animals should be allowed to move about every day in the morning on a free range or a pasture if available. A pasture area is presumed to be clean if a cultivated crop was raised. Management at farrowing Farrowing time is the critical time in pig production. Death rate is high during farrowing and the first week after farrowing. Sows may be farrowed in pens equipped with guard rails and a creep space in farrowing crates or in farrowing stalls. A pen equipped with guard rails and a creep space is adequate. The pen should be maintained at 24ºC to 28ºC until the piglets are three or four days old and at 18ºC to 22ºC until the piglets are approximately six weeks old. The heat lamps should be hung 45 cm from the floor and suitably protected. The farrowing pens should be thoroughly cleaned before the sow is brought in. This will prevent a large number of diseases of piglets. The sow should brought to the farrowing pen atleast one week prior to farrowing so that it becomes familiar with the surroundings. She should be washed thoroughly before being brought to the farrowing pen.  The feed ration should be made bulky by substituting one-third of the regular ration with wheat bran. The amount of ration fed should also be reduced by one third till the sow farrows. The sow should be watched closely for determining the approximate time of farrowing and feed should not be given 12 hours before farrowing. Care during farrowing An attendant should be on hand when the sow farrows. Otherwise many piglets will die. It takes generally 2 to 4 hours for complete farrowing to take place. The piglets should be removed as they are farrowed and kept warm in the creep space until farrowing is complete. Each piglet should be cleaned of all mucus to ensure that the breathing passages are clear. The navel cord should be tied 2-5 cm away from the navel, cut with a disinfected pair of scissors and the stumps painted with iodine. Piglets should be allowed to be nursed after birth. In about 2 days they settle down to their individual teats. They nurse 8-10 times in 24 hours in the initial period. Trampling by the sow should be prevented during the first two weeks. Removal of needle teeth Piglets are born with four pairs of sharp teeth, with two pairs on each jaw. They are of no practical value to the piglets and they may irritate the sow’s udder during nursing or cause injury to other piglets. Clipping of these teeth shortly after birth will prevent the injury of the udder caused by the needle teeth.

Anaemia in piglets Anaemia is a common nutritional disease in piglets. This condition can be prevented and cured by supplying iron either orally or by injection. Oral administraion consists of spraying or swabbing the sow’s udder with a saturated solution of ferrous sulphate (0.5 kg of ferrous sulphate in 10 litres of hot water). This solution must be applied daily from birth until the piglets start eating creep feed. Intra muscular infection of iron –dextran compounds is the more effective method of preventing anaemia.

Raising orphan piglets The death of a sow after farrowing, mastitis, lactation failure of litters larger than the sow is able to raise, result in orphan pigs.  If another sow has farrowed within a short time previously, the orphan piglets may be transferred to her. This transfer must be made within a few days after farrowing because those section of sow’s udder are not used soon cease producing milk. To ensure acceptance of new pigs the sow should be separated from her own litter for short time and then the new piglets are brought to her and a disinfectant or other material sprinkled on all the piglets to mask the odours. Orphan piglets can also be raised with milk replacer. Milk replacer consists of one egg yolk thoroughly mixed with one litre of cow milk. This mixture supplies a well balanced diet except for iron. To compensate for the lack of iron one eighth teaspoonfull of ferrous sulphate may be added to one litre of milk.  An injection with iron compound may also be used.

Castration The male piglets not selected for breeding may be castrated when they are three to four weeks old.

Management during lactation Sows and gilts should be fed with good judgment during lactation. When fully fed a sow needs about 0.5 kg of feed per piglet she is nursing in addition to her own requirements.

Separation of piglets from mother (Weaning) Normal weaning age of piglets is at 8 weeks age. The sow should be separated from the piglets for a few hours each day to prevent stress of weaning and feed is reduced gradually. The piglets should be dewormed after 2 weeks of weaning. The piglets should be gradually shifted from 18 percent protein creep feed to 16 percent grower ration over a period of two weeks. Group of 20 piglets of more or less the same age should be housed in each pen.

Prevention and control of swine diseases All pigs should be vaccinated against swine fever at the age of 2-4 weeks. Breeding pigs should be tested for brucellosis and leptospirosis. As a routine measure all young pigs at the time of weaning should be inoculated against swine fever. Animals purchased for the farm should be purchased from disease free herds. Newly purchased animals should be isolated from the other animals in the farm for a period of three to four weeks. No visitor allowed visiting the farm. Those stys or pig houses cleared of the animals are kept empty for three to four weeks for destruction of microorganisms causing the disease.

Management Practices to Increase Swine Productivity in Mizoram

To obtain maximum return from the pig industry, knowledge about scientific management of pigs is very much essential. Giving a good start to piglets It is essential for all piglets to take colostrums from the mother. They will take the first feed within 1 hour after birth. If the sow dies after giving birth to piglets and no foster mother is available, the litter can be reared by hand feeding. The newborn piglets have to be kept in a warm, clean and dry box with clean bedding. Feeding bottles and teats (nipples) which are thoroughly cleaned between each feeding can be used to feed the litter. Regular feeds must be given at intervals of 1 to 2 hours. A good sow milk replacer consists of one egg yolk thoroughly mixed with one liter of warm cow milk. Piglets will take milk from the mother until they are 7 weeks old. They will gradually take less milk and eat more solid feed until they are weaned. Piglets of 1 to 2 weeks old age group can be offered a handful of cereal, sugar or powdered milk to in the begning. The young animals need to be gradually given standard fresh feed to avoid digestive problems. Feeding of pigs In Mizoram, the main ingredients of feed provided to the pigs are, locally available grasses, Colocasia, Tapioca and sweet potato leaves and tubers along with small quantity of concentrate. The average feed offered by the farmer/pig/day is 1.53 kg kitchen waste, 1 kg locally available grasses and 200 g concentrate. The concentrate mixture comprised mainly of wheat bran and rice polish. The concentrate mixture along with grasses and kitchen waste is boiled together as slurry and then the prepared feed is offered to pigs twice daily in nearly equal amounts. No additional feed supplements are given to the pigs by the farmers. The pig must always be provided with fresh clean drinking water. A sow with young will need 20 – 30 liters of water. Though, the pig is omnivorous and can eat grass and plants, but, pigs will grow and get fatter quickly if they are fed concentrate feed. Grain, which has been well ground into meal, is a good feed. Average feed consumption of pigs at various age groups Age (months)/ category of pig Probable live Weight (kg) Feed/pig/day (kg) 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 Pregnant Gilt/Sow Suckling Sow Boar 15 27 40 50 60 - - - 0.5 1.0 1.25 1.5 2.0 2.3 5.0 2.5 Housing Pig can be kept alone or in small groups in pig sty, a concrete or solid floored pen with a low shelter. When building a sty, one should choose an area, which is never flooded in the rainy season. It should not be too near to houses as it smells and flies are a nuisance. The floor should be concrete and sloping away from the sleeping area so that urine flows out and away. The concrete floor should be laid on a good foundation and will need to be 5 -6 cm thick. If the concrete is too thin and cracks, the pigs will soon start to dig it up. An earthen floor cannot be kept clean and will lead to problems with parasites and other disease. The walls of the sty need to be fairly smooth so that they can be kept clean. Cracks in the walls will allow dirt and germs to accumulate. The dung can be removed every day allowing the pen to be kept clean and avoiding the build up of waste and smell. Whatever the housing method is used, piglets should have access to a warm area, where the sow cannot reach. This is called as creep and piglets can be given feed here and can lie down without the risk of the mother lying on top of them. The sow is prevented from entering the creep by placing a temporary wall of boards or strong rails across part of the shelter. The bottom rail is about 30 cm from the ground allowing the small piglets to pass under it. Space requirement for pigs Type of animal Covered floor Area/animal (sq.m.) Open yard area/ animal (sq.m.) Boar Furrowing sow Drysow/Gilt Weaner/Fattening pig 6.27-7.5 7.5-9.0 1.8-2.7 0.96-1.8 8.8-12.0 8.8-12.0 1.4-1.8 8.8-12.0 Health Care All the newly born piglets should be vaccinated atleast against Swine fever at the age of 2 months. Pigs can be infected with a number of worms, which results in poor weight gain in adults. In young pigs, infection with roundworms can cause diarrhea, weight loss, lung problems and death. Hence, the piglets should be dewormed regularly once in every there months. Worms from pigs can cause disease in human. The eggs of these parasites infect new hosts and can stay in the ground or the pigsty for up to 5 years. Infected pigs can be easily treated with a suitable drug. The pregnant sow should be dewormed before giving birth; otherwise she will pass on infection to her litter. The next commonly occurring ailment is skin infection, which may be caused by several organisms like bacteria, lice, ticks, mites and results in thickening and crusting of the skin. Mange occurs around the head, ears, legs and tail but will spread over the body if not treated. The lice feed on the skin and irritate the pig, which will scratch and can cause wounds, which become infected. The ticks may carry other infections to the animals. Mange is controlled by spraying, dipping or painting the infected areas with a suitable preparation. The pen and shelter should also be thoroughly cleaned out and washed down. Treatment should be repeated after 2 weeks. Affected pens should be thoroughly cleaned. In general, illness in pig is characterized by dullness, inappetite, disinclination to move, rough coat with loss of bloom, constipation or diarrhea. Once, these symptoms are noticed, veterinarian should be contacted for treatment Reproductive Management Production depends largely upon reproduction. Pigs usually attain puberty around 6-11 months of age. It is best to leave one or two initial estrus periods and breed the gilt in third estrus. The estrus period usually lasts for 3-4 days. The major factor behind the successful pig reproduction is proper detection of estrus. Estrus detection needs to be carried out slowly and methodically each and every day. The general signs of estrus are vocal, frequent urination, elevation of tail, swollen vulva, pink vaginal mucous membrane, sticky mucus at vulva, bar biting, climbing, restlessness, pricked ears, loss of appetite, arched back, tail upright and flicking up and down. Not all the above mentioned signs will be exhibited by a single female. Different sow exhibit estrus in different way. The best way to identify heat is to press with palms of both the hands over the loin region and see the response of female (Backpressure test). If the sow stands motionless with cocked ear like a sawhorse, it indicates that the sow is in proper heat. The best time to mate the sow is 12-36 h after onset of heat and if she is still in heat next day also, rebreeding on second day is advocated to get higher conception rate and litter size. The average gestation period of sow is usually 114 days. It is better to keep the pregnant sows separately. During pregnancy sow will need plenty of feed with high nutrient (grain and green stuffs) and water. The pen should be kept clean and the sows should be shifted to farrowing pen 3 weeks before the expected date of farrowing. The sow should be provided with plenty of clean bedding materials when farrowing is close. It is better to avoid feeding sow with in 12 h of farrowing. The sow becomes restless and starts to make a nest within 24 hours of giving birth. The teat will produce milk when gently squeezed. Blood stained fluid may be passed from the vagina 1 to 2 hours before birth begins and if small greenish pellets appear, the first piglets will appear within an hour. The sow should be closely watched during farrowing. In case of any difficulty in parturition, the veterinarian should be contacted immediately. The piglets should be removed as they are farrowed and they should be cleaned off all mucus to ensure that the breathing passages are clear. Weak piglets should be guided to suck the mother’s teat. After weaning the piglets, the sow exhibits estrus with in a week. Hence, early weaning of piglets at about 3-4 weeks may help in reducing the inter farrowing interval. The following points must be taken care to get the maximum benefits out of pig rearing Proper Feeding Proper Housing Proper Estrus Detection and Mating Proper Care of Pregnant Sow Hygienic Farrowing pen Proper care of new born piglets Early weaning Early post partum mating Proper health coverage Pubished by : The Director, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani, Meghalaya