We focus on the breed
Many farms raise pigs.
Some livestock breeders rely on proven breeds of piglets. There are also those who love experiments. The Vietnamese pig is distinguished by the quality of its meat and a smaller layer of fat, even with intensive fattening. It has no specific smell or taste and belongs to the bacon group. Even lard has streaks of meat and is particularly soft. The behavior of the pot-bellied breed is calm. There will be no problems with undermining, overturned or broken feeders. The animal is clean, divides the space into a permanent habitat and a toilet. This simplifies the process of maintaining and cleaning the premises from manure.
Unpretentious in nutrition. The majority of the diet may be grass. Relevant for keeping during the warm period while walking. For the winter season, you need to prepare a large volume of hay and root crops, which will reduce the cost of feed. In autumn, they eat fruits, vegetables, and tops well if there is a surplus crop.
A female can give birth to up to 30 piglets per year, which easily adapt to conditions and can be sold to breeders at one month of age.
Raising Vietnamese pigs is not much different from other breeds. If you study the literature on pig farming in general, a business idea on how to make money on a pot-bellied breed will not cause difficulties in implementation.
Business registration
Breeding Vietnamese pigs as a business, from a legal point of view, is no different from any other: it is enough to register a peasant farm and pay a single agricultural tax, which involves a simplified system with the deduction of 6% of income. To register such a business, you need permission from the SES and Fire Inspectorate.
To register you need permission from the SES
You will also need a certificate confirming the veterinary welfare and quality of the products produced. This document is issued by the local veterinary control service.
Preparatory steps
Small business in the field of agriculture has always been of interest to enterprising people. In recent years, this direction has become more promising and received government support after the market focused on domestic products. Of course, preferential conditions for farmers require a lot of effort and running around the authorities. Properly completed documents will help you obtain government subsidies.
But not everyone can start from a large complex. To begin with, you can breed Vietnamese pigs at home, understand the specifics and sell the first batch of products. If the opening of a peasant farm is successful, you can expand the boundaries.
The main stage in any type of animal husbandry is the search or construction of premises in which the animals will be kept. For a pigsty you need a warm structure that does not allow drafts. Winters in Russia are cold, and pigs, especially during pregnancy and feeding piglets, require warmth and dryness.
There are two options:
- Find an abandoned farm and restore it to proper condition. There are old pigsties or other complexes in many regions, but in what condition are they and how much is the owner asking for them? Is such an acquisition profitable at the start?
- Build a warm barn yourself, having previously calculated its area based on the number of pigs. Some private farms already have a suitable barn that needs to be converted.
An abandoned premises can be rented, but investments in equipment and communications will still be required. It is unlikely that you will be able to recover costs if livestock farming fails. The second option is more profitable for a village resident.
The farm's activities must be registered in order to be able to sell products at the market or in farm departments. For a small enterprise, the peasant farm or individual entrepreneur form is suitable. In addition to pigs, you can raise other animals to expand the range of services and profitability of the farm.
Business Startup Costs
To estimate the costs of opening a pig farm, you need to consider the following questions:
- Construction of a pigsty. The cost of a pig farm is determined by the scale of production and whether the entrepreneur owns suitable premises for keeping the livestock.
- Purchase of livestock. As a rule, a farm purchases several boars and 3-4 dozen sows from different farms. The total costs for these purposes average 5-6 thousand. c.u.
- The average cost of feeding a pig is 2 USD. That is, about 60 USD per month will be required.
- Purchase of equipment. This includes automatic feed supply systems, feeders, drinking bowls, tools for cleaning the pigsty and caring for animals. For this category of costs, a minimum of 1000 USD is allocated.
- Related costs. For unforeseen costs, a reserve of 500 USD is provided.
Despite the fairly large investments, the business of breeding Vietnamese piglets is one of the most profitable in the agricultural segment. If there are suitable premises, the initial costs will be about 10,000 USD, which will pay off after the first sale. If there are capital investments in construction, the payback period increases to 2-3 years.
Pig barn equipment
Vietnamese pigs are unpretentious and do not require special equipment. Feeders, drinking bowls, pens can be made independently from available materials.
It is imperative to observe the thermal regime in the barn and good ventilation to prevent diseases in adult and young pigs. In a small pigsty, ventilation can be provided by windows that open according to a schedule.
It is necessary to resolve the issue of removing manure from the premises. With a small number of livestock, cleaning can be done manually, given the fact that the pot-bellied breed defecates only in one place.
The supply of feed and water for a mini-farm does not require automation. Two people can handle the job. It is enough to supply water to the barn and correctly install drinking bowls and feeders.
If the farmer is focused on selling not only meat, but also purebred piglets, you need to allocate a place to keep the sow and her offspring. Here you can install additional heating if the barn as a whole is not heated.
Otherwise, act according to your circumstances and buy only what you need. There is no need for extra costs. It is better to spend money on buying purebred piglets from a good farm. Young animals need to be taken from different farmers, having studied the cost, documents and reviews of the seller. The option of selling mestizos is possible. This option is not suitable for breeding offspring for sale.
Room equipment
If you decide to start keeping and breeding pigs, you must first purchase or rent premises. Building a shed is not the best option because the prices for building materials are constantly rising. It is best to buy a ready-made pigsty and create the necessary conditions for breeding pigs in it. Foam blocks are usually used to divide a room into sections. This is necessary in order to separate nursing sows from young animals. The room should be dry and warm. Large farms use boilers for heating, and small barns use potbelly stoves. In addition, it is necessary to take care of ventilation, since the lack of fresh air can lead to diseases in the livestock.
Do not forget that manure must be removed from the premises periodically. For this you can use special equipment. It is not cheap, so on small farms this work is done manually.
Pig farm in progress
The main work of a farmer begins with the appearance of young piglets on the farm. It is necessary to monitor their adaptation, diet, and climate. You cannot do without a veterinarian if the breeding of Vietnamese pigs is put on stream. Animals need vaccinations and a passport from a veterinarian to be allowed to be sold to consumers.
Fattening for slaughter takes a long time. A pig reaches a marketable weight of 80-90 kg at the age of 10 months. Can be sold at an early age if there is a demand for carcasses of 40-50 kg.
The sow is ready to give birth at 6-10 months. You can mate at 4 months, but the litter is not always strong and viable.
Before slaughter, the farmer needs to think about marketing the product. Usually the meat is sold at the market. You can place advertisements and sell pork in small wholesale directly from the farm. Slaughter is carried out in stages so that there is no excess meat. It is possible to process the leftovers and sell them as a finished product:
- Smoked meat, lard.
- Ground meat.
The profitability of breeding Vietnamese pigs is high if the process from the purchase of piglets to the sale of products is properly organized.
Business Features
The main feature of breeding Vietnamese piglets is quick payback. The growing cycle is 7 months, so they are excellent for seasonal feeding and year-round production. To organize your own meat farm, you will need to purchase 1-2 boars and at least 12 sows. An adult specimen of this breed costs about 150 USD.
The advantage of doing business with Vietnamese pigs is the high demand for fresh, high-quality meat. Usually, finding distribution channels for products is not difficult: products are purchased by intermediaries who sell meat to the end consumer or meat processing plants. The average payback of a business is 2-3 years, providing the owner with high profits.
Advantages and disadvantages
Livestock farming can be both profitable and unprofitable. There are pros and cons to any business. Let us note these indicators for the selected breed. The advantages include the following points:
- The properties of meat and lard are low fat content and cholesterol, tenderness, pleasant taste, lack of a specific smell.
- Unpretentiousness, calm disposition, high fertility of females.
- The main diet may consist of grass, surplus vegetable or fruit crops, which reduces costs during the summer season.
The disadvantages include the following:
- The bad effect of drafts on the health of young animals and adults. The use of drugs may be required, which is undesirable for the quality of the meat.
- Excessive care of the mother for the offspring during the feeding period after birth. She may be exhausted and require special care and feeding.
Purchasing piglets for breeding
When the farmer has decided on the number of individuals and has already built a place to house the animals, it is necessary to think through the most important step - to buy Vietnamese piglets. The success of the entire business will primarily depend on the acquired young stock.
Many problems with animal breeding arise for farmers due to the breeder's dishonesty. Either out of ignorance or for the sake of financial gain, many sellers sell “unliquid goods” - animals that gain weight poorly, or queens that do not give birth to piglets. In order for Vietnamese pot-bellied piglets to be healthy in the future and be able to bear offspring, it is necessary to competently approach the choice of young animals:
- You should not purchase piglets from the same litter or those piglets that could have been born from the same uterus, but “with the participation” of one boar. When crossing them, sick offspring may result.
- When choosing piglets, you should definitely examine their parents.
- The appearance of the young animals will say a lot. Even small piglets should have developed muscles and even fur - this is an indicator of their health.
- A characteristic of the breed is a wide head with a curved nasal bone.
Having chosen piglets, you should definitely ask the seller about their diet. The transition from one food to another should be gradual!
The price of Vietnamese piglets varies greatly depending on the region. You can find young animals at a price of 3,000 rubles. Young stock is sold to small farmers at a lower cost. And it’s unlikely that they have documents and veterinary certificates for the animals. Therefore, when you hear about the low price of piglets, you should be wary. But the sale of Vietnamese piglets from large breeders is carried out at a much higher price - up to 15,000 rubles.
