Pig Farming In Thailand

[guyshown]

Just remember it is a business, and just as much so in Thailand as anywhere else, your success will be largely down to how well you understand the subject, and how well you implement your business plan.

Other than the initial capital outlay, the ongoing spreadsheet entry that is going to determine whether or not your balance sheet has a + or - on it at the end of the year is going to be feed costs - and for what it worth (just as with cattle feed - which I myself have only recently managed to get completly under control after 20 years of pushing water uphill), it is expected to contnue to rise by around another 30% over the next 18 - 24months, so top of the list of things to do will be finding a way of getting your feed costs under control.

Agreed MF, its a real chore trying to minimize food costs while maintaining production, traditional protein sources like fish meal,meat and bone meal etc are not going to get cheaper so finding an alternate source of protein is top of my agenda.

We are currently in the early stage with using water lettuce which reportedly has a protein level of 40 - 46 % . Omnivorous species like Pla Nin reportedly eat it but with its rate of reproduction I dont want it taking over the ponds so we are looking at growing it away from our farm and sun drying it to add to a feed pellet. Whether it retains its protein level after sun drying we will have to wait and see what lab tests reveal.

Does anyone have a picture of "water lettuce" some how or another it has got my attention as for many possibilities

thanks

guyshown

[ozzydom]

quote<

Does anyone have a picture of "water lettuce" some how or another it has got my attention as for many possibilities

thanks

guyshown

If you Google Duckweed + photo ,all will be revealed.Its latin name is Lemnaceae and there are quite a few species, also known as water lettuce ,water cabbage ,watermeal.

cheers

ozzydom

[guyshown]

quote<

Does anyone have a picture of "water lettuce" some how or another it has got my attention as for many possibilities

thanks

guyshown

If you Google Duckweed + photo ,all will be revealed.Its latin name is Lemnaceae and there are quite a few species, also known as water lettuce ,water cabbage ,watermeal.

cheers

ozzydom

Thanx- worked all sorts of info. the web is spetacular....

[fruity]

We have a Water Lettuce problem! One of our pools has to be dragged at least twice a week to remove the stuff, near impossible to get it all. As Ozzy says it reproduces or seemingly clones itself at a phenonominal rate, leave it, you have a thick covering with no water visable & more importantly, zero oxygen for your fish. From what I see, fish, Planin don't eat it, or if they do, they could never eat enough to even put a 'dent' in it.

Interestingly, Ducks do not touch it, UNTIL it is dried in the sun. We just put heaps of it around the sides of the pool, where it dries VERY quickly, almost reducing to a powdery form. Quite a peculiar plant, however, when dried in the sun the ducks scoff large quantities of it.

I had no idea it was supposedly as protein rich as Ozzy says & now I'm wondering if I could feed this 'fresh' to the pigs without ill effect? .....or, like Ozzy, taking care with the drying & utilising the dried plant! I agree, it should retain a good protein level when dried; where could this be tested one wonders?

We are currently in the early stage with using water lettuce which reportedly has a protein level of 40 - 46 % . Omnivorous species like Pla Nin reportedly eat it but with its rate of reproduction I dont want it taking over the ponds so we are looking at growing it away from our farm and sun drying it to add to a feed pellet. Whether it retains its protein level after sun drying we will have to wait and see what lab tests reveal.

[YangYaiEric]

nothing,s changed it seems . i grew on fattening pigs, 60, a total loss. ended up killing and selling porc at the local market. the pigs i killed and sold the porc probably broke even. the rest a loss. at the moment pigs are expensive, good for the farmer. dont know the price of feed tho. so still keeping away from all farming. how are you doing eric? any feed back yet. nice to hear of one sucsess.

Hi chaps!

Been 'absent' for a few months now generating much-needed cash to start the pig-farm. We hope to begin the business around October of this year, by which time pork prices will have gone up even further! Our plans are still on the cards and I will certainly keep you chaps updated as time progresses. Untill October arrives though, we've started to plant rice on our 4-rai paddy to try and cash-in on the recent rice price increases .

Toodle loo!

[undercover]

In for a penny in for a pound

[IsaanAussie]

Hi PigFarmers one and all,

I plan on starting an integrated farm including pigs. I am looking for comments on my planned 4 batch system of 3 sows/batch to start with. I intend to build a rearing shed which will accomodate 4 batches of 6 sows as a maximum. That is 6 farrowing stalls, 6 weaner rooms, four six stall gestation pens and six growing pens. Target selling weight of 70 kgs.

Other associated items include biodigester, mushroom growing and composting, worms and fish farming and use of the fertiliser on both rice and crop fields.

All comments and advice welcome.

Regards

Tony

[allcladrad]

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/imgwotha.htm

khai-nam

Some interesting duckweed info, at 40% protein it might just be a good source of food.

[fruity]

Hi Tony,

As a matter of interest, do you have any Pig experience? What you propose to do equals a lot of work & also knowledge, not forgetting money! or maybe you are going to have staff to man the operation as this is a full time job.

I wonder what the reason is for your low target selling weight of 70kgs?This is low, people prefer them around 100/110 kilos.

All our Pig manure is washed out into a large pool, where it supports a largish population of Planin, however, in my opinion, these fish don't do so well as those reared in a more conventional set up. I plan on sticking some Pladuc in there at some point & watch their progress. The water is very green & we pump it out to water fruit trees, grass etc & this year we plan on using on some of our rice.

Personally, I despise the stalling system here in Asia, Of course, it enables large numbers of pigs to be housed in a smaller space, however, theres no getting away from the fact it is extremely cruel to keep an animal more intelligent than most dogs cooped up 24/7 in a tiny prison. Pleased to say such practice is now banned in much of Europe. My sows & gilts each have their own 'house' & are given access to outside exercise where they can wallow in the mud; I spend hours showering pigs every day afterwards:) The time spent in the farrowing pen isn't so long & when finished in there they have a reasonable lifestyle to look forward to before their next stint.

I am expecting a litter of pure bred Duroc's next month, if anyone is interested in a boar for breeding from the litter, let me know. I will be retaining one for myself. Similarly, we have a litter due in July from our 'super sow' a 300 kilo Landrace beauty, in-pig to a Large White, she always produces fifteen piglets (45 born/42 born alive & reared-in less than one year); she has produced some outstanding daughters in the past & gilts from her will be available to grow on as breeders. We are a very small scale operation & can't keep them all!

Hi PigFarmers one and all,

I plan on starting an integrated farm including pigs. I am looking for comments on my planned 4 batch system of 3 sows/batch to start with. I intend to build a rearing shed which will accomodate 4 batches of 6 sows as a maximum. That is 6 farrowing stalls, 6 weaner rooms, four six stall gestation pens and six growing pens. Target selling weight of 70 kgs.

Other associated items include biodigester, mushroom growing and composting, worms and fish farming and use of the fertiliser on both rice and crop fields.

All comments and advice welcome.

Regards

Tony

[fruity]

Very interesting. I have looked & looked for info on another water 'weed', the Thai name of which escapes me, not the Water Lettuce already touched on, but another one, we have loads of in one of our ponds, which my wifes mother harvests daily, cleans & cuts the roots off & sells around the village where people use/eat it as a vegetable. I've no idea what this stuff is & my wife can't tell me the english name, all I know is that it grows like hel_l & people like to eat it.

I often wondered why the villagers would buy this weed & not grow it in their ponds; my wife says that this particular weed is very 'choosey' about where it grows & unless circumstances are perfect, it will not grow. Anyway, the old girl gets herself a few baht from it:) Any ideas what this could be? Sorry I couldn't be more specific.

khai-nam

Some interesting duckweed info, at 40% protein it might just be a good source of food.

[IsaanAussie]

Hi Fruity,

Thanks for the response. Let me attempt to answer your questions and add a few further thoughts.

Pig experience here (apart from my many cultural mistakes) .. limited personal involvement, a lot of observation and research over 6 years with Thai wife's family and in the local area, before coming here had family in the business for many years.

Labour... Good question for which I only have the family members involvement undertakings in reply. Time will tell and I anticipate a very heavy involvement from myself. Financially here in LOS? As they say "Up to you", which we all know means my money in and "their" money out.

70 Kg selling weight ... purely a matter of maths. Over that weight the feed conversion rate decreases hence so does the return. I will have limited feed growing capacity initially as well. As an aside I love bacon and dislike fatty pork. I may change to include a finishing facility up to full market weight later but this would mean another facility on land I am yet to redevelop.

Manure handling ... most raw solids will be feed through a 24 cubic metre biodigester, after processing part of the residue will be used in the fish pond. Raw sewerage doesn't do a lot for the oxygen content of the water. The liquid fraction goes to the garden and the solids are dried for fertiliser and used in composting and worm farming. Trick here is to keep the input of water into the digester at the right ratio. Biogas will be used for farm equipment and heating, no intention of piping it into the house.

Stalling system.. It is not as bad as it may seem, it is really all about reducing the labour in handing. Farrowing pens will be used to allow the piglets to escape the mother and for easier temperature regulation. The gestation pens will house the sows in their respective breeding batches or groups that allows social contact (watering/dunging/lying) within the group and mesh screens between pens allows them to see other pigs. The feeding stall for each allows regulation of individual diets and confinement for vet inspection/treatment. The weaner pens will allow sexs to be seperated and sizes to be matched to ease competition, again temperature regulation is easier in smaller spaces. Grower pens will house up to ten pigs.

The whole system is a standard All-In-All-Out Model.

The batching cycle I intend to use will target the sows being in heat within five days to a week of weaning to be able to hit 2.2 to 2.5 litters per annum. I would be interested to know what cycle periods you use?

I would be very interested in knowing what square footage you allow your pigs. Seperate rooms for pigs, wow, most Thais don't get that.... (attempted humour)

I have no plans initially for a boar but will keep you in mind as a source. I need to get more current local information on diseases before I make that decision. If I can rent a clean boar then I will probably not buy one. The local vet has good AI and immunisation credentials and is anxious to earn a regular income from our pigs.

I would be interested in talking more on a supply of weaners and gilts though. My plan is to purchase four groups, three per group at five week intervals to establish the batch flow right from the start, could you or anyone else help with this?

I would prefer to buy proven sows but may change if I can get good quality gilts or even over 20 kg piglets in order to gain a few more months of local, less complex handling experience for the "Labour" and especially myself. If I decide to buy younger pigs then we would start with higher numbers per batch and begin with the grower cycle and wait until we develop the gilts before starting breeding.

Our plans are to "attempt" a break even within eighteen months apart from the building and equipment costs, and to limit maximum cash exposure on stock and operational costs to under 500,000 baht.

Regards,

Tony

PS I like your Churchill quote

[fruity]

Hi Tony,

You have a very good plan. One point to consider, although I'm sure you have this covered would be; who is buying all of your 70kg batches? In a set up such as you propose a customer or better two or more to take the batches on time is of critical importance.

Basically, I am an old school stockman type, very hands-on. Experience (lifetimes:) has taught me to expect the unexpected with all livestock & to forget the book. I vary weaning / serving times depending on how well things are doing. Some sows will come into season within 24 hours of being parted from her litter, some a week, nothing etched in stone:) Usually, the longer she suckles, the quicker she'll show colour when parted.

I really couldn't help in supplying regular batches, there must be farms locally to you that could do this.

Our adult pigs have 5, some 6 square meters of floor space apiece in their 'rooms' Some would think, wasteful, I think comfortable:) I'm not in pigs to make my fortune, they do turn a profit, however, I'd not part with them if they didn't. As the quote says, 'I'm fond of pigs'...lol..

Good luck with the farm & let us know how things go.

Hi Fruity,

Thanks for the response. Let me attempt to answer your questions and add a few further thoughts.

Pig experience here (apart from my many cultural mistakes) .. limited personal involvement, a lot of observation and research over 6 years with Thai wife's family and in the local area, before coming here had family in the business for many years.

Labour... Good question for which I only have the family members involvement undertakings in reply. Time will tell and I anticipate a very heavy involvement from myself. Financially here in LOS? As they say "Up to you", which we all know means my money in and "their" money out.

70 Kg selling weight ... purely a matter of maths. Over that weight the feed conversion rate decreases hence so does the return. I will have limited feed growing capacity initially as well. As an aside I love bacon and dislike fatty pork. I may change to include a finishing facility up to full market weight later but this would mean another facility on land I am yet to redevelop.

Manure handling ... most raw solids will be feed through a 24 cubic metre biodigester, after processing part of the residue will be used in the fish pond. Raw sewerage doesn't do a lot for the oxygen content of the water. The liquid fraction goes to the garden and the solids are dried for fertiliser and used in composting and worm farming. Trick here is to keep the input of water into the digester at the right ratio. Biogas will be used for farm equipment and heating, no intention of piping it into the house.

Stalling system.. It is not as bad as it may seem, it is really all about reducing the labour in handing. Farrowing pens will be used to allow the piglets to escape the mother and for easier temperature regulation. The gestation pens will house the sows in their respective breeding batches or groups that allows social contact (watering/dunging/lying) within the group and mesh screens between pens allows them to see other pigs. The feeding stall for each allows regulation of individual diets and confinement for vet inspection/treatment. The weaner pens will allow sexs to be seperated and sizes to be matched to ease competition, again temperature regulation is easier in smaller spaces. Grower pens will house up to ten pigs.

The whole system is a standard All-In-All-Out Model.

The batching cycle I intend to use will target the sows being in heat within five days to a week of weaning to be able to hit 2.2 to 2.5 litters per annum. I would be interested to know what cycle periods you use?

I would be very interested in knowing what square footage you allow your pigs. Seperate rooms for pigs, wow, most Thais don't get that.... (attempted humour)

I have no plans initially for a boar but will keep you in mind as a source. I need to get more current local information on diseases before I make that decision. If I can rent a clean boar then I will probably not buy one. The local vet has good AI and immunisation credentials and is anxious to earn a regular income from our pigs.

I would be interested in talking more on a supply of weaners and gilts though. My plan is to purchase four groups, three per group at five week intervals to establish the batch flow right from the start, could you or anyone else help with this?

I would prefer to buy proven sows but may change if I can get good quality gilts or even over 20 kg piglets in order to gain a few more months of local, less complex handling experience for the "Labour" and especially myself. If I decide to buy younger pigs then we would start with higher numbers per batch and begin with the grower cycle and wait until we develop the gilts before starting breeding.

Our plans are to "attempt" a break even within eighteen months apart from the building and equipment costs, and to limit maximum cash exposure on stock and operational costs to under 500,000 baht.

Regards,

Tony

PS I like your Churchill quote

[IsaanAussie]

Fruity,

Plan is right, not yet proven so I'm interested in learning about local basial feed formulation. My involvement back home the base feed was purchased and supplemented with a combination of farm bi-products. Do you produce your own base feed?

I have some formulations that are used locally but they don't appear to be well balanced and there is also some witch's brew involved that I cannot work out. The most practical I have comes from Cambodia and Loas but they are usually growing native pigs and I don't know how it translates to the import breds here.

[fruity]

Hi Tony,

I don't personally produce my own feeds here in LOS. I did so in the UK for many years. After nearly 13 years I still think of myself as a novice here & even though I have seen others mix their own, I have stalled.

The base ingredient here seems to be rice bran or 'ram' mixed with a combination of the by-produced cooking oil meal & /or fish meal. I have checked on price & this would be cheaper & in the future I may take the plunge, however, for now, call it laziness, I use propriety brands, with a liberal mix of 'tasty treats'...lol....Sorry couldn't be of more use on this one!

Fruity,

Plan is right, not yet proven so I'm interested in learning about local basial feed formulation. My involvement back home the base feed was purchased and supplemented with a combination of farm bi-products. Do you produce your own base feed?

I have some formulations that are used locally but they don't appear to be well balanced and there is also some witch's brew involved that I cannot work out. The most practical I have comes from Cambodia and Loas but they are usually growing native pigs and I don't know how it translates to the import breds here.

[miracle77]

Hi Eric,

I'm new to TV, but couldn't help noticing this thread and wondering how it all went. So, did you decide on moving forward with the farm?

I work in a veterinary pharmaceutical company, and despite what some people have said in this thread (I haven't read all), pig farming does make profit if you do it properly. They are rich silently. Although, I must say that the pork situation during these few months haven't been too good due to the increases in feed costs.

If you have already started, I'd be interested in learning how you are getting along. From this thread, seems like there's quite a number of farangs farming out there

Edited June 5, 2008 by miracle77

[waldpyk]

just curious

how many aspiring pigfarmers have any , yes any , prior farmer experience "at home"

[fruity]

I do!.........

just curious

how many aspiring pigfarmers have any , yes any , prior farmer experience "at home"

[IsaanAussie]

just curious

how many aspiring pigfarmers have any , yes any , prior farmer experience "at home"

Walpyk,

I have no idea on the numbers of aspirants such as myself. What I do know is it is very hard to introduce anything "new or imported" to the local methods and none of the people I have talked to understand business principles. In my case this is definitely a business proposition not a hobby, a passion or a way to help the family. So for those interested here are a few current issues for me.

I have just been around our local area again and most pig farmers still follow a very traditional "the way we have always done it" model. Feed is the best example I can give. Currently the range of basal commercial feeds are sold at around 10-12 baht per kilogram, yet the farm grown ingredients are sold at 6-8 baht. Formulating basal feeds on farm is done in Vietnam and Cambodia but not in my area. Cassava, sweet potato, rice bran, corn and chicken manure are all easy to grow or get and to process here. Even if you buy the ingedients, the 4 baht per Kg saving is signicant. At an average feed rate of 2.5Kg/pig/day thats 10 baht/pig/day or some 1,500-2,000 baht per pig to be saved.

There is an attitude of taking the easy way on all things and little analysis of costs. Again in my area, many farmers buy piglets, fatten them and then sell back to the breeder. Little if any profit seems to be made by the grower but it is easy because the breeder delivers the piglets and collects the grown pigs.

For anyone who is trying to start an operation here I would suggest that for it to at least break even, you should very carefully examine the local methods and costs.

There is a lot of off-season labour and land available in Sisaket when crops can be grown for basal feed as well as farm gate available crops which can be used. There is also small pockets of "Land Up" which are left unused for rice. You do not have to grow it yourself you can effectively contract it out.

One thing that is definitely different here is the need for a rice mill to supplement commercial feeds. Most however do not produce enough bran for more than a handful of pigs. We grow around 16,000 Kgs of rice which would produce feed for 4-6 pigs annually from their own crop if that was the only ingredient. I am yet to find a closeby commercial mill that doesn't use all the bran they produce.

Turning to the mill itself shows one of the traps. Locals mill the rice of others and keep the bran as payment. Therefore the 100,000 baht investment must be amortised over the feed produced as no money changes hands. Most use 25Baht/day/pig by substituting the cost of commercial feed. If you buy/grow alternates for the basal feed then use the 6 baht/Kg number I suggested above that is only 15Baht/pig/day. However with a 5 year amortisation period for the mill (55Baht/Day) and 10 pigs, the cost including ROI rises back over 20 baht/pig/day. The bran is not "Free" when you include the machinery and maintenance costs and depends of scale to minimise the cost/kg.

The clumsy point I am trying to make is you must be very careful of statements about "free feed if we have our own mill". Look very carefully at the returns and on-costs of the mill itself. Look into the availability of rice to mill. The mill I am looking at has a capacity of around 60 Bags (up to 3,000Kgs) per day and it appears that we will have to actually buy rice first to secure the volumes needed. That is become rice traders as well as pig farmers.

I agreed with a previous post that there is money in pig farming here. Be careful that the "real" costs are understood and be prepared to challenge the local "norms".

Isaanaussie

[ThaiLife]

Does any know the current situation with the price of pork ( producers selling price ) any comments as to the current prices and

forecasts for the future would be most welcome . Thanks

[IsaanAussie]

Does any know the current situation with the price of pork ( producers selling price ) any comments as to the current prices and

forecasts for the future would be most welcome . Thanks

Last I heard, the official price was 65 baht live weight.

Isaanaussie

[ThaiLife]

Thanks .. Does that mean the price has gone UP , or Down recently ...?

[YangYaiEric]

Hi Eric,

I'm new to TV, but couldn't help noticing this thread and wondering how it all went. So, did you decide on moving forward with the farm?

I work in a veterinary pharmaceutical company, and despite what some people have said in this thread (I haven't read all), pig farming does make profit if you do it properly. They are rich silently. Although, I must say that the pork situation during these few months haven't been too good due to the increases in feed costs.

If you have already started, I'd be interested in learning how you are getting along. From this thread, seems like there's quite a number of farangs farming out there

Hello M77 and all otehr TV members.

I haven't posted for a quite some time; been too busy setting-up the pig farm with the wife and in-laws. I've just returned from a 50 day 'vacation' to Thailand(wish it was!), and back to the land of OIL!

Well, there have been quite a few developments since I last posted, so I'll try and convey them to you.

First of all, we are in the process of constructing a large 16 unit (40m x 5m x 3m) piggery on 3 rais of land. We've had 4 concrete-encased wells/holes dug to trap the pig effluents, wich are each connected by PVC pipes to run-off via electric pumps to our fruit farm.

The work is about 70% complete and should be completed within the next month or so.

The wife and I went scouring the local countryside for piglets to order; quite scares in these parts. But we did manage to get some good contacts at the Suranaree University Industrial farm. So, fingers-crossed we'll be up and running within the next month or so.

We've also started mushroom farming! We managed to find a source locally and ordered 5,000 mushroom 'bottles', which were delivered 2 days ago. The mushroom 'house' we had constructed is 4m x 4m x 2m. we plan on procuding about 10 kilos of mushrooms daily, generating about Bht 1,000 daily. We have a buyer/agent who comes early mornings to harvest the mushrooms and takes them to market. Depending on how well things go with the mushroom farm, we intend to expand and build several more mushroom 'houses'.

The wife is now taking hands-on training classes in pig-rearing at the University, and I'm doing my bit here in the land of oil, generating more cash for when I next return to early 2009.

Cheers to all.

[ThaiLife]

Hi Eric.. sounds as if things are moving along Ok, please let us know how things progress in the future and when you are back in the LOS

TL

[YangYaiEric]

Hi Eric.. sounds as if things are moving along Ok, please let us know how things progress in the future and when you are back in the LOS

TL

Cheers TL! Will do!

BTW, if you're ever in Korat, they serve a GREAT pint of Guinness at the George and Dragon on St. Mary's Rd.

[IsaanAussie]

Hi Eric,

I'm new to TV, but couldn't help noticing this thread and wondering how it all went. So, did you decide on moving forward with the farm?

I work in a veterinary pharmaceutical company, and despite what some people have said in this thread (I haven't read all), pig farming does make profit if you do it properly. They are rich silently. Although, I must say that the pork situation during these few months haven't been too good due to the increases in feed costs.

If you have already started, I'd be interested in learning how you are getting along. From this thread, seems like there's quite a number of farangs farming out there

Hello M77 and all otehr TV members.

I haven't posted for a quite some time; been too busy setting-up the pig farm with the wife and in-laws. I've just returned from a 50 day 'vacation' to Thailand(wish it was!), and back to the land of OIL!

Well, there have been quite a few developments since I last posted, so I'll try and convey them to you.

First of all, we are in the process of constructing a large 16 unit (40m x 5m x 3m) piggery on 3 rais of land. We've had 4 concrete-encased wells/holes dug to trap the pig effluents, wich are each connected by PVC pipes to run-off via electric pumps to our fruit farm.

The work is about 70% complete and should be completed within the next month or so.

The wife and I went scouring the local countryside for piglets to order; quite scares in these parts. But we did manage to get some good contacts at the Suranaree University Industrial farm. So, fingers-crossed we'll be up and running within the next month or so.

We've also started mushroom farming! We managed to find a source locally and ordered 5,000 mushroom 'bottles', which were delivered 2 days ago. The mushroom 'house' we had constructed is 4m x 4m x 2m. we plan on procuding about 10 kilos of mushrooms daily, generating about Bht 1,000 daily. We have a buyer/agent who comes early mornings to harvest the mushrooms and takes them to market. Depending on how well things go with the mushroom farm, we intend to expand and build several more mushroom 'houses'.

The wife is now taking hands-on training classes in pig-rearing at the University, and I'm doing my bit here in the land of oil, generating more cash for when I next return to early 2009.

Cheers to all.

I assume you are running a slatted floor system? Do you have a biodigester or two in your plan? Are you running a batching system, and if so what are the periods? Noisey bugger me. But I am planning a much smaller 8-16 sow system and need all the reassurance my slender budget calls for.

Isaanaussie

[fruity]

The wife and I went scouring the local countryside for piglets to order; quite scares in these parts. But we did manage to get some good contacts at the Suranaree University Industrial farm. So, fingers-crossed we'll be up and running within the next month or so.

We've also started mushroom farming! We managed to find a source locally and ordered 5,000 mushroom 'bottles', which were delivered 2 days ago. The mushroom 'house' we had constructed is 4m x 4m x 2m. we plan on procuding about 10 kilos of mushrooms daily, generating about Bht 1,000 daily. We have a buyer/agent who comes early mornings to harvest the mushrooms and takes them to market. Depending on how well things go with the mushroom farm, we intend to expand and build several more mushroom 'houses'.

Hi Eric,

If you want some quality gilts, I have a litter due soon out of an excellent landrace sow who always pops 15 piglets ( this time she's bigger than ever!) She is in-pig to a large white boar. She has produced some beautiful gilts in the past. If you were interested in aquiring excellent breeding potential I'd gladly sell you all females from this litter.

Likewise, I currently have a litter of Durocs (red pigs) There are three lovely gilts in that litter. I have locals wanting my gilts, but prefer to sell out of the area. Theres also some super duroc males, which I'm going to leave entire & rear as boars. Durocs being the best boar to use on white cross bred dams. All available & not expensive.

[YangYaiEric]

Hi Eric,

If you want some quality gilts, I have a litter due soon out of an excellent landrace sow who always pops 15 piglets ( this time she's bigger than ever!) She is in-pig to a large white boar. She has produced some beautiful gilts in the past. If you were interested in aquiring excellent breeding potential I'd gladly sell you all females from this litter.

Likewise, I currently have a litter of Durocs (red pigs) There are three lovely gilts in that litter. I have locals wanting my gilts, but prefer to sell out of the area. Theres also some super duroc males, which I'm going to leave entire & rear as boars. Durocs being the best boar to use on white cross bred dams. All available & not expensive.

Hello fruity.

Yes indeed, I am EXTREMELY intrested in your offer! I'll PM you today to arrange a meeting.

Cheers!

[AlexisKouklas]

..Form the posts it seems that there are only a handfull of poeple who actually know how to manage a pig farm properly and do so profitably. (Yes one can make a pig farm efficient if done PROPERLY).. First things first: capital is needed to set up proper disease free unit, then of course a healthy diet (also costly) and lastly (but not least!) proper waste management. From my experience, the better the food, the better pig. Starting pigs off healthy and maintaining proper growth yields a faster turnaround of pigs (because they grow to the required weight quicker and healthier) meaning less time in the units, less shit (better food, better FCR's), less labour and cleaning required. One can't cut corners and expect to get results.

[fruity]

..Form the posts it seems that there are only a handfull of poeple who actually know how to manage a pig farm properly and do so profitably. (Yes one can make a pig farm efficient if done PROPERLY).. First things first: capital is needed to set up proper disease free unit, then of course a healthy diet (also costly) and lastly (but not least!) proper waste management. From my experience, the better the food, the better pig. Starting pigs off healthy and maintaining proper growth yields a faster turnaround of pigs (because they grow to the required weight quicker and healthier) meaning less time in the units, less shit (better food, better FCR's), less labour and cleaning required. One can't cut corners and expect to get results.

Very true:)

[Steve9167]

Hello 'fruity'.

very many thanks for your comments ; most interesting indeed! Here are a few of my own comments to you.

Eric, Unless, you really 'love' Pigs; save your time & most importantly , your money!

The costs of the set up you describe, new housing, digging pools etc, will take years to recover.

Absoloutly! We fully inderstand the long-term nature of this venture, as well as the labour-intensive nature of pig-farming having raised wild-pigs before. We do like keeping pigs!

We have a similar set up here, breeding & rearing of litters to slaughter weight. Unless you breed the piglets, it isn't worth the bother to buy in & rear.

We intend to buy 8 gilts to start off with, followed by AI after they reach maturity (6-8 months approx.). I believe each sow can produce 2 litters per. year for up to 10 years.

We use the same waste system, the waste is flushed down drains into a pool via connecting pvc piping, similarly, we have fish in the pool feeding on the waste although, they DO NOT thrive as fish we have in clean pools. There are, however, no odours & the water can be pumped & used on fruit trees etc.

What type of fish do you keep? We intend on using CatFish (Plra-Dook). Do you use EM1 (Bokashi) to add to your feed? This is what we plan on doing.

There are a thousand & one things to get right with pigs, breeding is very labour intensive, farrowings must be supervised, teeth removal, docking tails, injecting / vaccinating,castrating males etc. Piglets are not pleasant things to work with, screaming & struggling all the while.

Yes! We're quite aware of the amount of hard labour this will entail, having had prior expericence raising wild-pigs.

Not all females are suitable as breeders, there are several factors to consider when selecting breeding gilts. You plan on mixing your own feed, at a guess, this will be in meal form? This is very wasteful, pelleted stuff is more economical, the meal ends up on the floor, then down the drain.

We do intend on mixing our own feed; combination of EM1, dryed cassava, rice husk, corn(maize), cabbages,carrots etc.

AI is not as reliable as natural service & will likely cost more for a small number of pigs.

Really? We do not want to raise boars simply to service our sows occasionally. I would have thought that AI using the seeds of local boars would be much more economical ?

Personally, I like my Pigs, I enjoy having them even though the financial rewards are negligable.

Very important point! We do like keeping pigs; they are clean and intelligent animals.

At the moment prices are 44-45 baht per kilo liveweight, a big improvement from last year when the price was 38 baht. We are lucky in so much as we can sell out batches to one guy, also there is a very steady demand locally for a pig or two for funerals, weddings, monk parties etc:)

I look on my pigs as a hobby & a savings scheme. I get my money back with a little bit of interest.

6am & time for their brekkie & the first clean out of the day........

Absolutely! It's also a great way of staying fit and active, while at the same time earn a few extra Bob in the process. Luckily, whe have other forms of cash-generating businesses(fruit-farm, bungalows-for-rent, mini-mart) so the pig-farm venture will not be our ONLY source of income.

Hi Eric,

I am also just living outside Nakhon Ratchasima and i am in the process of setting up a small pig farm. The ponds have been dug and the housing is currently being built.

We plan on buying 10 sow's and 1-2 boars with the idea of selling the pigletts. If not we will have enough room to fatten around 40 pigletts at one time.

However to be perfectly honest i have little knowledge of how to raise pigs. The wife's family will be doing most of the work as i hope to go back to my work within another month or so.

What would be nice would be if we could meet up somewhere to discuss the whole business and maybe we could give each other some ideas.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Steve