Basic pig breeding rules for beginners

Pig breeding is a profitable business. Even if you don't trade in pork, you can save a lot of money that you would have spent on meat at a premium without raising piglets. In addition, the quality of domestic pork will be much higher. If you are a beginner pig breeder, then start Vietnamese pigs or potbelly. They are unpretentious to climatic conditions and have a good growth of meat. It is better to purchase piglets in the summer, so that you do not have to maintain the required temperature in the pigsty during their growth. Another plus of summer pig breeding is that piglets can be fed on green forage.

Piglet feed

A piglet will not gain much weight on one green feed. In order for the quality of the meat to be good, it is necessary to choose the right diet from solid feed and root crops. Pork is made more tender by barley, and carrots help to gain muscle mass. If you buy a pig from the market, then inspect it and, if possible, weigh it. A healthy pig should be active. The weight of a monthly piglet must be at least 7.8 kg.

It is better to purchase exactly monthly piglets, since at this age pigs can already eat solid feed.

If you have a sow that has farrowed, and you plan to raise your piglets, then remember that you need to wean them from their mother at the age of one month. At 15 days of age, it is necessary to give the piglets solid feed together with the sow's milk. Beets, wheat bran and pumpkin have a negative effect on the taste of meat. A 15-day-old piglet is given only the best food: carrots, barley and buckwheat flour. From the age of one month, green food can be added to the piglet's diet. Also, in order to reduce the cost of meat, from one month of age, beets, corn, oats and bran are included in the diet.

Growing piglets for slaughter and for reproduction

From one month to three months, the piglet is considered young. Intensive feeding starts at 3 months of age and lasts up to 7 months. It makes no sense to keep piglets for meat longer, since from this age the piglet stops gaining weight intensively. Two months before slaughter, it is necessary to exclude beets, bran, corn from the diet of piglets. Two days before slaughter, the pig is completely stopped and given only water.

If you keep piglets for breeding, then you should not allow pigs to mate until 10 months old. The sow needs to be removed from the rest of the herd before delivery.