by Ndidi Ngwuluka

Created on: May 12, 2009   Last Updated: May 15, 2009

In order to augment her salary, my mother decided to own a piggery. She went to one of the local breeder who made her feel it was quite easy to raise pigs. As a first timer, you can start a piggery behind your house. Initially not much space is required. You can expand or change location if you want to do it on a large scale. A barn built with concrete partitioned into two was how we started. The barn was built with concrete because we were made to understand pigs can eat wood. Of course we did not want the job of hunting for pigs that escaped or continual repair or replacement of wood.

The barn was built in such a way that there was bedding and feeding sections. The floor is made of concrete sloping for easy cleaning and drainage. Each partition is big enough to take at least two grown pigs - vital for mating period. The feeding area is made up of feeding and water troughs. I must not forget to add that the barn should have roofing and straw can be placed at the bedding section which should be changed regularly. The barn is washed on daily basis; best time is when the pigs are feeding. Then you can wash with fewer interruptions from them. With constant cleaning, the pigs are not as dirty and smelly as we imagine or see in pictures. However, if your schedule is so tight on such a day and you do not have time to wash, it is important you clear the feces because you would not like the messed up barn the next day and cleaning would require extra effort!

Pigs eat practically anything. For us, feeding the pigs was not expensive. My mother would go to a nearby brewery and buy spent grain (mixed grain - sorghum, maize, etc) and we would dry it in the sun. Sun drying was necessary to avoid decomposition. When it is time to feed, the spent grain is mixed with enough water, milled palm kernel as well as some vegetables from the house or the farm. We observed that the pigs were not fatty and looked healthy.

We started with one pregnant pig which my mother bought from one of the local breeders. Gestation period is approximately the triple three (333 = 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days). We observed that the more the pregnancies, the more the piglets. For instance, at first pregnancy, you may have three piglets, next pregnancy five piglets and so on. Some sows are not 'good mothers' like my mother would put it.

I remember we got the barn one day and discovered a sow had eaten one of the piglets while another was lying on her piglets. When my mother noticed such 'bad mothers' she did not encourage further pregnancies and the sows were sold off for meat. As the piglets grew we separated the males from the females. However, when a sow was in heat, a boar was brought into her pen for mating. A female is on heat when blood is seen behind; the vulva is swollen and pink. I remember my mother was usually in a hurry when she noticed a sow was in heat. This is because sows are not in heat for long (usually 8 to 48 hours) and not being sure when it started, she made haste. It's amazing how much you get to know about animals as you breed them!

Sometimes my mother would sell the pigs 'alive and whole' to the butchers or she would get a butcher to prepare the pork, cut into parts and then some customers can buy. A number of her customers preferred the pork she sold because it had little fat.

Generally, I think it is cheaper to breed pigs for meat than have poultry. We did not have incidence of epidemic like you would have in poultry and you lose practically all chickens. As long as the barn is kept clean and the pigs are well fed, they are less prone to diseases. We also had a veterinary surgeon, who came in occasionally.

And so there was meat for the family and extra income.

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