How to Easily start a pig farming business in Uganda. (2022)

Some people may know what a piggery farm is, but there are many who don’t. If you’re one of those that don’t understand how it works or why someone would need their own piggery, then this article will help clarify things for you.

We’ve covered the basics and some more advanced information on how to start a pig farming business in case you’re considering branching out of your current career path into something new. Running any type of business comes with its challenges so make sure to do extensive research before embarking on piggery. This article will tackle that exactly.

What is piggery?

Piggery is the process of raising domestic pigs for their meat(pork) and waste as manure. It involves an establishment to provide shelter for pigs and there after caring for the pigs by providing for them feeds, and good health care.

This type of business is very common in Uganda especial in the Christian communities and there is very high demand for pork locally. If you want to join the business, then you are in the right place. Keep reading we shall turn all stones on how to start a pig farming business.

The benefits of raising pigs.

If you want to start a pig farming business, then you’re probably looking out for the benefits. Below are some of the benefits of raising pigs.

Pigs are on very high demand of late. So you’ll be producing products with ready market.

Pigs grow and mature very fast. You’ll be assured of your profits in a short while. A pig takes up to six months to mature. You’ll be assured of the return to investment in this short while.

You can get multiple products to sell from pigs i.e. pork, piglets, and manure.

How much it’s costs to start a piggery farm?

This shall depend on the scale of production. On a small scale, a presentable pig farming business can cost less than 2million Uganda shillings. On a large scale, a pig farming business may take all you have. Though it isn’t wise to go in headfirst. We would advise you to start small with up to ten pigs, there after expand slowly.

How to start a pig farming business in Uganda?

Below is a detailed guide on how to start a pig farming business in Uganda.

Draft up a business plan.

To start with in our outline on how to start a pig farming business, is a business plan for your piggery farm. Make sure it includes projections, marketing strategy, and detailed information about costs and revenues. You have to do a detailed market research to be able to determine costs and revenues.

Read also: How to write a business plan.

Choose a location and set up the farm.

Location of your pig farm is very important as a good one comes in with handy benefits. A good location should be accessible and with space for expansion.

Look at local laws, regulations and cultural beliefs that may affect your operation.

We have some religions that don’t eat pork. I need not to mention these. But it’s very important to locate your farm out of these zones. Pigs tend to make a lot of noise especially during feeding. You need to place your farm not in a residential area as it shall be a nuisance to people who are resting.

Decide on what type of pigs you want to raise and get your stock.

Choosing animals from reputable breeders who have tested their stock for common swine diseases is ideal. The breed you choose to raise depends on the available capital. Some breeds are expensive both to buy and care for.

Some of the good breeds you can choose from include Hampshire, Camborough, Large Black, large white and landrace.

Digging dipper into the cost of piglets in Uganda.

Piglet prices differ from different sellers in Uganda and also the type of breed comes into play. nevertheless, you can prepare from 100000Ugx-300000Ugx. I mean not to make a bad conclusion about cheap pigs, but generally piglets whose price goes below 100000Ugx are generally not good and you shouldn’t go for them.

Choose a strategy to follow.

To start a pig farming business, you’ll need a strategy. This shall depend on available resources like money, land to mention but a few. one of the strategies is raising pigs for meat. Here, you push for the pigs to fatten thereafter you sell off. This usually calls for good Capital and resources like land. The other strategy you can choose is breeding pigs and selling off piglets. If you have less resources, this is for you.

Raise capital

Just like any other business, to start a pig farming business you’ll need money. The money requirements differ and are based on your scale of production. Money can be raised in different way i.e. through bank loans, savings, loans from friends and more.

Read also; How to raise money for your side business.

Construct a Pig sty

This is one of the areas where you’ll spend a lot of startup capital. There are many styles of pig sty construction. I.e.

Raised pig sty.

These comprise of a raised wooden floor with gaps in between the floor as a passage for droppings. These are less durable as the wooden floor is susceptible to rotting. There is also a risk of pigs breaking their legs when the legs pass through the holes between the different floor timber.

Concrete floor pig sty

These have a concrete floor. The main draw back with these is that they smell. Though they are easy to clean, and they don’t put pigs at risk of breaking their legs.

Saw dust/ improved (I.M.O) pig sty.

This is a current innovation in the business. This pig sty comprises of an excavated hole of depth up to 1m which is filled with saw dust. The pigs live in the sty with the saw dust as a stepping platform. The saw dust is mixed with organic agent (I.M.O) to digest the pigs’ droppings. This is the best pig sty I would recommend to anyone starting piggery. Some of it’s drawbacks is that it’s expensive and in case of a disease outbreak, it’s hard to disinfect.

Its main advantages are;

• It doesn’t smell
• It’s a good source of manure as it collects dropping for up to 3+years
• It’s friendly to the pig as it keeps it busy playing with the dust and lying over as though it were a natural environment.

Start your business.

Now that you are tipped on how to start a piggery farm, this is the right time to dive in and start off. Its always good to start off small and learn the common practices and how to go over pig rearing before an explosion in number at your farm. Generally, starting off with ten pigs is good. Though you can do better.

Pig welfare.

Feeding.

To start a pig farming business, feeding pigs is one important aspect which should be given attention. Pigs should be given a proper well formulated meal to provide for all their growth and health needs. Pig feeds should be got from a trusted reputable source as some sellers adulterate feeds in the name of increasing weight.

Pigs should be provided with clean drinking water all the time preferably using pig nipples

Pigs should not be given left over food as it may cause diseases.

Read also: How to start a Restaurant in Uganda.

Common pig diseases.

There are many pig diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, nutritional deficiencies, poisonous substances, internal and external parasites. The commonest and most dangerous is African swine fever. Below are some of the ways to control pig diseases:

• Have good biosecurity
• Ensure proper dropping disposal
• Construct the pigsty properly with good aeration
• Provide suitable feed and water
• Isolate new or sick animals
• Dispose of dead pigs properly
• Use of disinfectants incase of a breakout.
• Hire a veterinarian doctor for advice and treatment.
• Do not slaughter sick/ dead animals
• Avoid giving pigs leftover food.

For more information about pig diseases and control, contact your veterinary officer. You can do some more reading here.

Breeding in pigs.

Special attention should be given to sows to determine their heat period. usually, they are restless, have no appetite, mount fellows and have a swollen reddish vulva during heat period.

The sow should be taken to the boar house on time for servicing. Attention should be taken on the body ratio of the two pigs. Incase one is 2 times bigger than the other, then they can not service each other. This can result into hind leg damage on the sow or fights.

Sows can be served several rounds in order to produce a good number of piglets.

Caring for piglets.

As you start a pig farming business, you have expansion at the back of your mind. Then you can’t avoid piglets. Piglets are the young of the pigs. After birth, you need to keep the piglets with their mother and all they feed on is breast milk. At an age of 3-7 days, piglets are injected with iron to provide strong bones.

Dirt especially on the mothers udder can cause trouble for the piglets as they can fall sick and get diarrhea. In case this happens, you need to contact your veterinary officer for help.

Piglets should be feed on special feed to promote rapid growth and health when they start eating. This should be done in a way that the mothers pig sty has holes where the piglets can pass to a nearby section of the pigsty where the special meal for them is placed. This is to prevent the mother pig from eating the feed.

Piglets’ teeth and tails should be trimmed to avoid wastage of nutrients and hurting each other during breast feeding respectively.

Breast feeding saws should be given plenty of water and feed to have enough milk for the piglets

Bio security.

This is a very important aspect as far as pigs are a topic. It is the prevention of disease causing agents from leaving or entering the pig sty. More emphasis is put on entering the pig sty in this case. But in case there is an outbreak in one section, the prevention of it leaving to other pig sty comes into play.

Biosecurity is very important if you are to start a piggery farm as it can keep you in business or out of business when all your pigs are dead.

Important elements of biosecurity.

Have a 2 m fence around your farm with no access to pigs on a free range system. You shouldn’t have your pigs too on a free range system.

No unauthorized access to the farm, in case of authorization, then the person should be disinfected through a sand bath.

Enclose the pig sty with anti-bird nets to prevent birds bringing in diseases

Pigs shouldn’t be fed on leftover food as it may contain pathogens. Pigs shouldn’t eat pork as it may be from a pig that died of diseases which may be passed on.

There should be no kind of transferring pigs from one farm to another in form of providing males for servicing as this can aid transfer of diseases.

As a pig farmer, avoid visiting different farms as you may bring disease back to your farm. In case it happens, then disinfect thoroughly.

Don’t accept pig buyers to access your premises be it your compound as they have been to different farms buying pigs.

Advertise your business and its products.

With production of goods that is pigs, piglets and manure at its best on your farm, you should advertise your business to get goods readily fetched from your farm by customers. Some of the ways you can advertise your business include;

Through social media platforms like twitter, Facebook and more.

Creating a website for your business to have an online presence.

Read also: 3 ways to get your business online in Uganda.

Tips to get ahead of others in the pig farming business.

Look for a good breed that will fatten and give you a worthy reward.

Biosecurity is priority as swine fever is so common in African hogs

Consider large scale production and look out for some people to supply with pork rather than selling a live animal to butcher shops.

Conclusion.

With all that with you on how to start a pig farming business, we shall get this also across. Don’t be afraid of failure! There will inevitably be obstacles along the way but they are all surmountable with hard work and perseverance. We hope these insights about starting a piggery farm were helpful! Let us know how things go in the comments below or give us a call anytime.