Since you are reading this article, I’m sure that starting
your own piggery or babuyan is
bugging your mind. Somehow, there is a part of you that has a passion for
agriculture (yey, that’s great). But, how do you start…really?
If
you’re a conventional person and only want to earn money, conventional hog
farming will obviously be your choice. But, if you are a modern man, whose
concern is not only to earn but also to innovate and promote a healthy living,
natural hog farming would be a great idea (congrats).
At
first, you’ll think that budget is the biggest problem (perhaps only) you’ll
encounter. Well, that’s not a problem at all. If you’re a great entrepreneur,
you can always use OPM – Other People’s Money, and eventually OPT – Other
People’s Time.
What
you should be worrying about are the natural things that are needed in natural farming. There should be enough
water to supply your farm. Electricity is not essential but if you’re living in
a cold area, a heater must be provided for piglets (or you can use the natural
way – init na galing sa dingas ng uling).
Weather will greatly affect your farm so it should be greatly considered.
Become familiar to the regular direction of the rain in your
farm so that you’ll know what type of structure to build.
A
conventional pen can be used if it’s already existing but we prefer the
P.I.G.S. system from FeedPro. (Profitable Innovative Growing System). Check out
the picture below.
The
advantage of this kind of structure is you no longer need to bath your pigs
since there will be a wallowing pond (some say this is a swimming pool) where
your pigs can play and dump their selves. It is also a lot easier to identify
who is sick since pigs don’t like to get wet when they are not feeling well.
Unlike in the cemented structure, diseases can be identified easier in the
P.I.G.S. system.
Overcrowding
should be addressed by providing adequate space for your hogs. 1 – 1.5sqm
should be enough for a single head. 1 meter should also be allotted for the
width of the wallowing pond and the depth can only be 2 – 3 inches. That depth
of the rice hull, which will be the bedding of the structure must be 2 – 3 feet
and should not be cemented at the base.
That means
if you plan to raise 10 pigs, your structure must have 10 – 15sqm for the
bedding not including the 1 meter width of the wallowing pond.
Your
structure doesn’t need to be expensive. You can use indigenous materials to
lessen the expenses. Remember, some of the indigenous materials can be much
worthier than expensive ones so use them wisely for your advantage.
Finally,
you can never have natural farming if you’re still using feeds that have
antibiotics (you know them). Just because they have commercials don’t mean that
they are as effective and healthier as the ones who don’t have. Choose wisely,
choose AGREECulture.
For
interested hog raisers, you may visit our store at Iglesias st., Pob. North,
Sta. Cruz, Zambales or contact me at levipierce@outlook.ph.
Take
courage, great entrepreneur.
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| Turning Hog Raisers Into Businessmen |
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