Piglet management: breed selection, housing conditions, rearing technology, diet and productivity

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Pigs are relatively unpretentious, productive and prolific animals. It is the breeding of piglets at the moment in Russia that is the most profitable type of agricultural activity. Pigs grow quickly and at the same time are considered absolutely undemanding to the conditions of detention. In addition, these animals are also distinguished by a high degree of fertility.

The success of keeping piglets on a farm depends on several important factors. First of all, a farmer who decides to start breeding pigs should try to choose the most suitable breed. Also for animals it will be necessary to develop the most balanced diet. And, of course, you will have to build a comfortable pigsty for piglets.

Varieties of piglets

All currently existing pig breeds are classified into four main groups:

• meat (bacon);
• greasy;
• meat-greasy;
• decorative.

Bacon piglets are bredfor low-fat pork. The share of meat in commercial carcasses of animals of such breeds accounts for about 2/3 of the mass. The ham of piglets belonging to this productivity group is very massive, the body is rather long, and the front part is compact.

Pigs of the second variety are kept mainly for fat production. The features of the exterior of such animals are:

• meaty breasts;
• thick cheeks;
• powerful ham.

Muscle tissue in these pigs usually grows no more than six months. Then the piglets begin to gain fat. The share of fat in the carcass of a properly fattened pig of this productivity group accounts for about 50% of the mass. In addition, it has a very pleasant taste.

Both bacon and tallow pigs are very popular with farmers. Many farms are engaged in the breeding of such animals. However, in Russia, traditionally, meat and tallow piglets are most often kept on farms. A feature of these pigs is that they grow very quickly. At the same time, their meat is quite tasty. Keeping and breeding piglets from this group at home is in most cases very profitable.

Decorative piglets were bred by breeders only a few decades ago. Such pigs usually weigh no more than 15 kg. On farms, ornamental piglets are not bred. These animals were bred for purely scientific purposes.

The best breeds of bacon pigs and their characteristics

From this grouppiglets are most often bred by domestic farmers:

• early meat;
• Durocs;
• landrace;
• Vietnamese bellies.

Early maturing meat pigs were bred in the 90s of the last century by domestic breeders. The advantages of these piglets are, first of all, unpretentiousness in care and a high yield of meat (64%). Boars of this breed can weigh up to 3 centners.

Duroc pigs originate from the USA. The advantage of this breed is considered primarily resistance to cold and rapid weight gain. Duroc meat yield can reach 50%. Eating 3-4 kg of feed, these pigs gain 1 kg of weight.

Landrace piglets were bred by Danish breeders. The average weight of adult animals of this breed is 300 kg. They can gain up to 1 kg per day.

Vietnamese lop-bellied pig is widely distributed mainly in East Asia. However, recently such piglets are becoming more and more popular among domestic farmers. The advantages of Vietnamese piglets, the maintenance of which is a simple matter, include, first of all, unpretentiousness and omnivorousness. The weight of such pigs usually reach not too much - about 100 kg, in rare cases 150 kg. At the same time, their meat yield is 70-85%.

Greasy piglets: breeds and their productivity

This productivity group includes, for example, breeds such as:

• mirgorodskaya;
• large black.

Mirgorod pigs were bred by Poltava scientists specifically for breeding in the forest-steppe zone. At the age of 200 days, the body weight of such animals can reach a centner.

Large black piglets were bred back in the 19th century. in England. The weight of boars of this breed can reach up to 350 kg. The meat and fat in the carcass of such pigs are distributed in proportions of 50 to 40. These piglets reach the weight of 1 centner at the age of about 7 months.

Popular meat-greasy breeds

From this productivity group, pigs are the most popular among domestic farmers:

• Ukrainian steppe white;
• large white.

Ukrainian steppe pig was bred in the USSR in the 30s of the last century. The advantages of piglets of this breed include, first of all, the fact that they digest food very well. Even when kept on nutrient-poor feed, these pigs can gain a lot of weight.

Large white piglets are a product of English breeding. The weight of boars of this breed can reach 350 kg. At the same time, a large white queen is capable of bringing up to 10-12 cubs.

Which breed to choose?

Thus, the choice of variety of piglets depends on what kind of product is supposed to be received on the farm in the first place. Raising bacon pigs is quite difficult. But at the same time, their meat is the most expensive on the market. If the farmer has sufficient experience in raising piglets and has identified suitable markets, he may need to consider choosingto contain some of the bacon rocks.

The exception in this case is Vietnamese bacon piglets. Keeping and breeding them at home is a simple procedure. Even a novice farmer can cope with this task. However, it is still difficult to buy such young animals in our country at the moment in some regions.

Greasy pigs are undemanding in content, but you can get less profit from such piglets. It is believed that such animals are suitable for breeding on the farm of inexperienced farmers who do not have too much money at the initial stage.

Meat-greasy pigs can be kept in any farms. Growing them is somewhat more difficult than greasy ones, but you can also get more profit from their breeding. It is within the power of both experienced and novice farmers.

Where to build a pigsty

Piglets are quite large animals. Consequently, their waste can cause serious harm to the environment. Therefore, they build premises for keeping piglets, usually away from settlements, highways, etc.

They also choose a place for the pigsty in such a way that a convenient access is provided to it in the future. After all, in the future, feed will have to be delivered to the farm and animals will be taken from there to the slaughter point.

Features of building a pigsty

Most breeds of piglets can tolerate winter well. However, it is still necessary to build pigsties for these animals capitally. As materials for the construction of suchstructures in most cases, brick, foam blocks or adobe are used.

Ceilings are usually made low. This allows you to save on heating costs in the future. When building a pigsty, they try to make sure that there are no drafts in the interior. It is mandatory to equip such facilities with a ventilation system.

Boilers are commonly used to heat large piglet farms. In small pigsties, conventional electric heaters are often installed in the winter.

Next to the farm, usually, among other things, a well is also equipped. Pigs must be provided with water at all times.

Ways to keep piglets at home

On farms located far from towns and cities, as well as in villages, in the summer, pigs are usually released to look for pasture in the vicinity. This way of keeping is called walking. When using it, the farmer has the opportunity to save a lot on feed. In addition, free-roaming pigs gain weight faster and get sick less.

Keeping piglets in a walking way is considered the most economically viable. However, it is not always possible to use such technology, unfortunately. In large pig farms, piglets usually live indoors year-round. Such content is referred to as free-flowing. With this technology, farmers spend more on feed and veterinary services. However, to care for pigs in large complexes withusing this technique is much easier.

Feeding methods

Developing a diet for piglets, a farmer who decides to breed these animals, should pay maximum attention. There are several ways to feed pigs:

• bacon;
• meat;
• to fat condition.

The first two technologies are used in large pig breeding complexes and farms. Keeping piglets at home - in villages and dachas - usually involves the use of fattening methods to fat conditions.

The best piglets of meat breeds at the age of 2 months are selected for fattening for bacon. Food for pigs in this case is used the highest quality. The conditions for keeping Vietnamese piglets, Durocs, etc. at the same time also provide the best.

Additionally, when using this fattening technology, animals are also given back. Boars in this case must be castrated. In the last 2 months of fattening, any products that can spoil the taste of meat are excluded from the diet of pigs - fish, bran, soy.

For fattening or meat piglets are selected at the age of 3 months. In the second case, better quality food is used for pigs. When fattening to fat conditions, piglets are given any food that promotes weight gain, including fish and food waste.

What should be the diet

Food for pigs on the farm, regardless of the chosen method of fattening, is given 2-3 times a day. That's how they do it with content.bellied piglets, large blacks, landraces and animals of any other breeds.

At the same time, the diet of pigs includes:

• juicy food;
• rough;
• concentrates.

From succulent feed, pigs are usually given potatoes, carrots, peelings, freshly cut grass. Hay is coarse. Concentrates for fattening pigs can be used both grain and legumes. The choice of a specific variety of such feed depends on the technology of growing piglets. In bacon fattening, for example, only barley is fed to grain animals.

Feed additives

Durocs, Ukrainian steppe, Mirgorod, Vietnamese pigs, when kept at home, should, of course, receive the most varied food. However, under farm conditions, unlike in the wild, piglets still do not receive all the vitamins and microelements necessary for their body. Therefore, when growing such animals, various additives are additionally included in their diet. These can be, for example:

• monosodium glutamate improves appetite;
• betazine, which increases growth rate;
• lake silt containing a huge amount of trace elements;
• citric acid, also a growth promoter.

In order for pigs to gain weight faster and get sick less when kept on a farm, antibiotics can also be added to their food: streptomycin, grisin, penicillin and others.