Feeding dairy cows roughage.

Feeding dairy cows roughage.Before putting together a feeding schedule, confirm the properties of the available feed.Ignorance about feed often results in animals being fed too much or too little, with economic losses. Feed for dairy cows is divided into roughage and concentrate Grazing is normally the cheapest source of roughage for dairy cows. Factors limiting production are mainly energy content and moisture content of crops. The protein content of rye grass clover is usually high. Kikuyu has a low calcium level. Other pastures have high levels of potassium that could increase the incidence of milk fever. The cheapest method of storing roughage. Maize is mainly used, although good quality silage can also be made from most grass types and legumes. The crude protein level in silage is often higher than that of hay. It is excellent for young animals older than nine months. There is no limit to its inclusion in dairy cow rations. Mouldy silage often contains fungi with dangerous toxins and should not be fed to animals.

Advantages of raising pigs.

The advantages of raising pigs. Pigs have fast growth rates and good feed-to-meat conversion ratios; are relatively easy to raise, and do not require much space; have prolific breeding potential; and are docile. These factors not only lead to increased profitability but will surely assist in meeting the growing demand for meat in future. Pork consumption is likely to increase even more due to lower production costs. About 36% of meat eaten by humans annually is pork, followed by poultry (35%), and cattle and buffalo (22%). Lamb and mutton, come in at a distant 4,6%. Many factors affect these trends such as religious beliefs, environmental conditions, pricing and the growth of the human population. Livestock producers continually strive to breed the ‘ultimate animal’ – one that grows faster and converts food to meat better, carries more meat in valuable areas of the carcass, and has a better temperament for ease of handling. It is possible to choose a specific breed or certain outcrosses to satisfy a particular market. For example, very fat pigs may not be useful for the production of belly or ‘streaky’ bacon, as the bacon will have more fat than meat. Pigs usually breed twice a year, and produce about 12 piglets in a litter. These weigh about 1,1kg at birth and, unlike any other livestock, may double their weight in the first week of life if they obtain sufficient milk from the sow. Piglets can be weaned at two to four weeks and can be slaughtered as ‘weaners’ at two to three months old. Other categories include ‘porkers’ (slaughtered at four months), ‘baconers’ (at eight months) and ‘sausage pigs’, elderly animals that are culled.

Basic infrastructure for small-scale pig farming.

The basic infrastructure for small-scale pig farming.The size of your pig housing infrastructure will depend on the number of pigs you have. Ideally, it should be strong, simple and adaptable, and it need not be expensive. The basics needed for a small pig farming operation: design, infrastructure, construction cost, and running costs, including feed, early in the operation. The basic infrastructure depends on how many pigs you want to keep. The design should ideally allow for adding further pens as your operation grows. Previously, I suggested starting off by buying weaners (young pigs already on solid food, usually older than 28 days) and growing them out. In this way, you’ll soon learn about pig behaviour, management techniques and daily feed requirements. Your cash turnover cycle will also be quicker, as you will not need to feed a sow for four months while it is pregnant, manage the birth process, and then feed the piglets until selling them. It is crucial to consider the economics. Is it worth your while to feed the sow for so many months, or should you let another farmer do this for you, leaving you only the task of growing the weaners out to ‘porker’ or ‘baconer’ size?

How to make sausages with a caulking gun.

How to make sausages with a caulking gun. Starting a business requires some money,but lean startups look for smart ways to get the product. Learn how to make sausages with a caulking gun.

How to start pork sausage business.

How to start pork sausage business.

 Agriculture is the next goldmine and as such a lot of people are venturing into various aspects to make money.

    Pig farming is a lucrative business with various aspects of production from farm to table. Thinking of investing in pork business and dont have enough capital to start a farm? then this is for you.

   Pork sausages is just an aspect of the value chain that you can dabble into,just link up with pig farmers that are selling their pigs,buy and process.

   The business can leverage on the high demand for pork and also a create a new market of locally produced pork sausages. This is how to make pork sausages;

How to make money with pig farming.

Pigs are mono gastric animals usually bred for commercial purposes. The raising of pigs is for reproduction, fattening and sale. Pigs properly managed and housed in a clean environment reproduce at a fast rate and bring about good return on investment.

                                     .How to make money with pig farming. 

 There are various breeds of pigs available such as land race,large white,Duroc and Hampshire. The indigenous breeds available have been crossed over time with exotic breeds such that some of their traits are passed down. The cross with indigenous breeds ensures that the pigs are hardy and are stable in this environment.

N-Power releases call centre lines as applicants check pre-selection status.

N-Power releases call centre lines as applicants check pre-selection status.N-Power, the Nigerian Government empowerment scheme, has released its call centre lines.This is as applicants begin to check their pre-selection status. Categories Nigerians applied for include N-Teach, N-Agro, N-Health and N-Tax. Meanwhile, the presidency has stated that a total of 176,160 graduate beneficiaries has so far been deployed under N-Power. N-Power releases call centre lines as applicants check pre-selection status.

Why is the skin of your pig yellow.?

Why is the skin of your pig yellow.? Jaundice, or icterus is yellow coloration of white connective tissue in the body, skin or eye sclera, the latter being the only sign in pigs. The yellowing/jaundice results when there is an increase of biliary salts in the blood and it takes one of three forms. Pre-hepatic jaundice, or hemolytic icterus, occurs due to massive blood destruction that overwhelms the detoxifying capacity of the liver. Hepatocellular icterus comes from direct liver injury, and post-hepatic icterus is caused by obstruction of biliary drainage. Several infections can affect directly the blood or the liver causing yellowing these are: Leptospira (mainly fetuses), mycoplasma, E. coli and Salmonella. In all cases other signs can help to address infective causes. Ascaris suum can also cause icterus through direct parasitosis of the liver with later migration to the lungs. At the abattoir white spots are evident in the liver.

How to maintain hooves and limb health in pigs.

How to maintain hooves and limb health in pigs. 

1) Maintain and control floor quality in pens. Remove sharp edges (or file sharp edges when necessary).Ensure the correct slat width in slatted floors Keep the floors non-slippery by providing dry and clean resting areas.

 2) Minimize social and hierarchy clashes.Introduce husbandry solutions that will prevent hierarchy clashes.Provide sufficient pen space and free space per number of animals.

How to feed your pigs for less.

Feed accounts for 65-85% of the cost of commercial pig production. The more a farmer knows about their pigs' feed need, the better he can meet this need efficiently. . The use of none conventional and cheap pig feed ingredients that are available in Africa e.g.Banana, Plantain, Pawpaw, sweet potatoes, coco-yam makes a difference in the profit margin.

Pigs Against Malaria.

                                Pigs Against Malaria.

Mosquito vector-borne diseases are serious global health threats. Malaria alone claims the lives of about 600,000 people annually. With such high death tolls, controlling vectors and the pathogens that they carry is of critical importance.

 Ivermectin is a broad spectrum antiparasitic medication that can be used both internally and topically for the treatment of myriad parasites, including filarial worms, gastrointestinal parasites, and scabies. And, as it turns out, ivermectin can even kill mosquitoes.

 Scientists have shown that having humans in an entire village take ivermectin can disrupt transmission of malaria and other vector-borne diseases.

How to establish and maintain a mange-free pig populations.

How to establish and maintain a mange-free pig populations.The establishment and maintenance of mange-free herds is achieved by three important facts:
1) Piglets are born free of mites.

2) Mites are highly host-specific and do not survive long away from their host.

3)Modern treatments are very effective.

 Mange-free herds can also be established with cesarean piglets, by depopulation and repopulation from mange-free stock, by segregated rearing of treated pigs or by eradication using ivermectins and other products.

 Biosecurity measures that focus on careful scrutiny of incoming stock and sourcing stock from a minimal number of herds are usually adequate to prevent re-introduction of the parasite.


 Mange control involves identification of animals with chronic mange so that they can receive systematic and regular treatment to protect the younger animals in the herd.All control programmes must target the breeding herd.

Mange in pigs.

The importance of external parasites in pig production varies greatly among regions because of differences in climate and systems used to raise pigs. Sarcoptic mange caused by Sarcoptes scabiei var suis is the most important external parasite of pigs worldwide.

 Other external parasites include demodectic mites, lice, fungi and ticks. External parasites produce a range of clinical signs in pigs including rubbing, scratching, and skin lesions. Some parasites also cause significant economic effects due to reduced growth rate, reduced feed efficiency, and loss of carcass value at slaughter.

 Sarcoptic Mange. Two clinical forms of the disease are recognized: a hyperkeratotic form that most commonly affects multiparous sows and a pruritic or hypersensitive form that primarily affects growing pigs.

 The sarcoptes mite is a small, greyish-white, circular parasite about 0.5mm in length and just visible to the naked eye when placed on a dark background.

 Hyperkeratotic encrustations in the ears of multiparous sows are the main reservoir of mites within a herd. The boar helps to maintain infection in the herd because he is constantly in direct skin contact with breeding females and he remains a chronic carrier.

If pigs are housed in groups, there is increased opportunity for spread. Piglets become infested during suckling. Environmental spread is less important but exposure for as little as 24 hours to pens that have been immediately vacated by previously infected pigs can result in infestation.

 The mite dies quickly away from the pig; under most farm conditions in less than five days. This is an important factor in control. If a herd is free from mange, it is one of the easiest diseases to keep out because it can only be introduced by carrier pigs.

However, once it is introduced, it tends to become permanently endemic unless control measures are taken. In the acute disease,there is severe hypersensitive (allergic) mange in a sow.

Control of Biting Insects on Pigs.

How to control Biting Insects on Pigs.Biting insects such as flies, mosquitoes, midges or sand flies and ticks can cause major economic loss to pig farmers. Irritation from biting flies and mosquitoes can cause skin lesions or allergic–type reactions in pigs. Some pigs need to be skinned at the abattoir. Paralysis ticks can cause deaths among piglets and illness in older pigs housed outdoors, resulting in major financial loss for the farmer. The Dipteran biting flies of most significance to pig farmers are March flies (Family: Tabanidae), stable flies (Family: Muscidae), biting midges or sand flies (Family: Ceratopogonidae) and mosquitoes (Family: Culicidae). Each type of fly has it own specific habitat but they share a similar life cycle – eggs, larvae or maggots, pupae and adult form. Mosquitoes go through four instars or moults in their larval stage before forming pupae. Biting flies tend to be day–time feeders and most active on bright sunny days whereas mosquitoes tend to be night–time feeders. The females are mostly the biters and they seek blood for breeding and egg production. The flies multiply in warm, moist conditions so late spring, summer and early autumn tend to be the problem periods. Populations can increase dramatically as seasonal conditions change. House and bush flies, which do not bite, can also be a major nuisance to pigs and should be controlled using the same techniques.

Facts about African Swine Fever.

The emergence of cases of African swine fever identified within the pork producing countries,shows it is important to maintain high standards of biosecurity.

The knowledge about the signs of the disease, and equally most important is to know how to curtail the spread. The pig and its close relatives, boars and hogs are the only natural host of the double-stranded, Asfarviridae family of viruses, meaning the virus does not cause harm to humans or other animals. This does not mean that humans and other animals cannot spread the virus as carriers;


 African Swine Fever (ASF) is commonly carried by arthropods, such as the soft-bodied tick, through uptake of blood from infected pigs.

 Contamination generally occurs via direct contact with tissue and bodily fluids from infected or carrier pigs, including discharges from the nose, mouth, urine and feces or infected semen.

   It also spreads through transport and consumption of contaminated pork products, and some cases have originated from failure to comply with biosecurity standards by feeding waste food to domestic pigs..

   The virus in wild boar and hogs does not manifest any signs of the disease but it remains highly contagious across all swine species and can survive in pigs for long periods of time even post-slaughter and even in frozen carcasses.  It is also important to note that curing and smoking pork products does not destroy the virus.

 The common signs are as follows: 1). High fever 40-42°C.
 2) Loss of appetite.

 3) Depression.

 4)Vomiting and/or diarrhoea
.
5) In White skinned pigs: extremities (nose, ears, tail and lower legs) become cyanotic (blue-purple color).

 6) Discrete hemorrhages appear in the skin particularly on the ears and flanks.
 7) Group will huddle together and are usually shivering.

8) Abnormal breathing.

 9) Heavy discharge from eyes and/or nose.

10) Lethargic- sometimes refusal to stand or move.

11) Very unsteady when forced to stand up.

 12) Comatose state and death within a few days.

    Pregnant sows commonly undergo miscarriage or deliver stillborn piglets that are malformed. Piglets can be tested for the virus.

Mortality rate in infected groups of pigs is high and there is no vaccination proven to prevent or cure infection.

Prevention is key,here are some steps to follow

 Ensure strict biosecurity rules. Do not take pig meat onto farms, and restrict all food (and consumption of food) to a canteen.

All staff on farm should be inducted onto a strict programme of hand and equipment sanitation before and after contact with pigs.

 - Follow rules and regulations on disposal of food waste at ferry ports and airports.

 - Provide the means for staff and visitors to thoroughly sanitize their hands and equipment.

 - Ensure that wild boar, warthogs and wild pigs, and materials potentially contaminated by such wild species do not come into contact with domestic pigs.

 - Check infected regions before importation of goods that could potentially be contaminated. - Advise and educate people on the risks of bringing back pork products from infected regions.

Soybean meal positively affects pigs with PRRSV.

Soybean meal positively affects pigs with PRRSV. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is the most widespread disease in the swine industry. In sows, PRRSV causes reproductive problems during gestation, including abnormal litters or abortions. Growing pigs with the disease will have respiratory problems and poor growth. Increased soybean meal concentrations in the diet may help alleviate the effects of PRRSV in infected weanling pigs. PRRSV infected pigs fed high soybean meal concentrations had a more efficient virus elimination compared to PRRSV infected pigs fed the low soybean meal diet. Soybean meal is the primary protein source fed to swine. It also contains isoflavones, compounds that have anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. Soybean meal positively affects pigs with PRRSV.

Banker quits job to be a millionaire pig farmer.

Banker quits job to be a millionaire pig farmer.Martin was a Manager with Standard Chartered Bank before he quit the job to pursue an entrepreneurial passion in pig farming. Having been raised on the proceeds of pig farming as a young boy, he decided to leave the world of suits and ties to exploit the lucrative potentials of the pig business. And his bet paid off! Banker quits job to be a millionaire pig farmer. #banker Martin sells about 20 pigs every month and has gradually grown his business to a current stock of 200 pigs, which he often raises to 500 when the market demand increases. According to this Business Daily Africa article, his current total wealth – calculated from the worth of his pig stock – stands at nearly 2 million Kenyan Shillings (roughly $23,000). Banker quits job to be a millionaire pig farmer. #pigs. He plans to multiply this wealth eight fold by 2015 and believes this is possible because the demand and market for pigs is grossly undersupplied. more

How to reduce aggression in pigs.

When new ,unfamiliar pigs are grouped together they fight to establish dominance relationships. This natural behavior can, under farm conditions, escalate to the extent where health and productivity are affected. Aggression increases stress, causes skin lesions and can result in injury and reduced immunity and growth. Researchers at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC, formerly SAC) in Edinburgh, UK have been working on pig aggression for over 15 years and recently, an information leaflet on aggression has been made available for farmers. The effect of aggression on productivity, aggression between newly mixed pigs lasts for around 24 hours, after which it reduces but remains high for up to three weeks. Aggression results in skin lesions which mostly fade after one or two days. Aggression increases stress, causes skin lesions and can result in injury and reduced immunity and growth. In sows it can lead to abortion. The time spent on fighting comes directly at the cost of the time spent on feeding. Growth rate is therefore most often reduced on the first days after regrouping. How to reduce aggression in pigs 1) re grouping: If needed, then regroup pigs as young as possible. The older and heavier pigs are, the more likely that growth will be reduced and injuries occur. Endeavor to keep the number of unfamiliar pigs per pen as low as possible. The higher the familiarity, the fewer the fights. Caution: Do not put one or two unfamiliar pigs in an established group. more

Vaccines and biosecurity to replace antibiotics in pig industry.

The increase use of vaccines and better sanitation and biosecurity are the 2 most common changes US pig, cattle and poultry producers are making in response to the loss of shared use antibiotics.That was a key finding of a new study just completed by animal health and nutrition consulting company Brakke Consulting, headquartered in Dallas, TX. 

 The survey, New Strategies for Health and Performance in US Livestock and Poultry Production, was conducted among beef, dairy, swine and poultry producers in late 2016. Since January 1, 2017, new antibiotic regulations as well as the Veterinary Feed Directive have been effective in the United States. 

 In a press release, the consulting firm wrote, “Although there was some variation among species groups, vaccination protocols and improved sanitation were the top 2 strategies for 70% or more of all producers. Other strategies included reduced co-mingling of animals/birds, changes in feed additives, changes in facilities, use of immune modulators and changes in genetics.” 

 The study was conducted late in 2016; half of producers said they had already made changes to their operations. About 75% indicated that they were ready for the changes, of which the poultry sector was the most prepared source

AGRIBUSINESS: How to use pig manure to make roads.

AGRIBUSINESS: How to use pig manure to make roads. A team of US researchers has been studying ways to convert elements of pig manure for making new roads. A statement from North Carolina A&T State University, in Greensboro, NC, United States, shows that Prof Elle Fini and a team of researchers has found a way to extract the rich oil that is found in pig waste, and mix it with rocks to form a new type of asphalt durable enough for highway traffic, which they call ‘Bio-Adhesive’. AGRIBUSINESS: How to use pig manure to make roads. The extensive research, which has included putting samples of the new material through rigorous vehicle simulators and tests to determine its durability, has proven to be a success according to the press release. Fini and a group of partners have set up a company called Bio-Adhesive Alliance. The team carried out tests to see if it will rock or sag too much because it shouldn’t do that. Also it shouldn’t crack at low temperatures. The vision of the alliance is to help the farmer and the construction industry by providing a cost effective solution.. The team believe its a win/win solution as all parties benefit and nothing is wasted. In the course of processing, the foul, aroma is filtered out, and the by-products of the bio-adhesive can be used by farmers as fertilizer.