Pigs 101 (A Start)

[thedoctor]

Regarding the thieves,,

we put an add on the local radio and the two nearest moobans morning talks,

niether has resulted in any information i also said 5000 reward for good information

now visiting other farms in this area we find out its not just us recently four places have been hit ,, one twice ,, so she has given up

we were also told the people who are doing it will tie up and gag anyone found at the farm if they are alone,,

on a different matter

i noticed a few days ago a strange action by a perticular pig/s,, and there's one in each pen i have a 9 in one and a 10 in another pen,

i feed in one of those bins with a concrete base and stainless container, sold every where,

i tip the food in to get them eating while i clean ,,

but one pig ,, the same one each time iv marked it with violate

will run to the drinker first, get a drink and run back,, get one moth full of food, and run to the drinker again and again

the pig spends most of the time running for a drink,, its the same size as all the others but it must be getting half there food intake

and there's one in each of the pens !!

the others eat some food first then start the drinking run but only slowly compaired to this pig

anyone use topfood ?

regards mick

[thedoctor]

A few weeks ago i posted about,,

some pig merchants that drove off without paying for the pigs they loaded, from memory they owed about 50,000 bht that day as they drove away

And the good news is,,

today i got the last payment from them,, for that day,, the last 15.000 bht still owing was collected today,

they told us they got the money from the Green bank yesterday

its been a nightmare but weve kept on at them every two or three days the missus has walked past them and told them how much they still owe and were not stopping until its all paid

i know they owe other farmers in this area but those guys have given up on getting the money thinking they will never get it, so they dont push

i had to keep on at the missus to harass these pork sellers every chance she got or they will not pay,

she kept saying thats not the way thai's do it,,

No but it works and thats how i want to do it,, this time anyway,

when she collected the last 15000 today she told them never to call her again because were not selling anymore to you ,

And if we find out it was them that stole the 7 two week ago they will never forget it ,,

M

[thedoctor]

First off

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to everyone

recently we bought two lots of piglets,an 8 and 11 lots the 8 developed scour in a couple of days as per usual

in respect to the weather its been very cool in the night going down to about 11 deg so i put rice straw in the pens to try help with the cold concrete floor

for the scour ,, i was on the net looking at other pig sites when i read a site from the UK and in the question and answers they talked about scour and what to use to clear it,,

one of the things was 10ml of natural yogurt put down the piglets throat, no medication

So i tried this 3 days ago, And the next morning their was a big improvement,

i did it a second day to all the 8 lot and again this morning their is no signs of scouring

Another thing they were saying was, when piglets scour they dehidrate, so what some people do is mix bread with Gatorade the sports drink

and put that in for them to eat,

it worked for me this time touch wood

Regards Mick

[thoongfoned]

hi,

any one got contact info on pig supply companies here in Thailand. looking for wet/dry feeders - piglet flooring options - dynamos - general bits n bobs. have a company that we deal with but would like some more choice. small feed shops around have bits of this and that but a lot of nothing.

looking about the net the main supply seems to be on alibaba -china. not into importing myself. looked in the pagers of the pig mags /contacted companies but its not an easy task to get clear answers on normal products.

we are based in udon thani.

cheers.

[RedBullHorn]

First off

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to everyone

recently we bought two lots of piglets,an 8 and 11 lots the 8 developed scour in a couple of days as per usual

in respect to the weather its been very cool in the night going down to about 11 deg so i put rice straw in the pens to try help with the cold concrete floor

for the scour ,, i was on the net looking at other pig sites when i read a site from the UK and in the question and answers they talked about scour and what to use to clear it,,

one of the things was 10ml of natural yogurt put down the piglets throat, no medication

So i tried this 3 days ago, And the next morning their was a big improvement,

i did it a second day to all the 8 lot and again this morning their is no signs of scouring

Another thing they were saying was, when piglets scour they dehidrate, so what some people do is mix bread with Gatorade the sports drink

and put that in for them to eat,

it worked for me this time touch wood

Regards Mick

Issan Aussie and i enjoy reading your posts, please keep posting.

[thedoctor]

RBH, & isaanA !! thanks

two week ago the missus opend her purse for the first time and paid for a bore to be put down on the block,,

Oh and power poles from the mooban, no more wires tied to trees,,

Bore = hole drilled and water now coming up through a pump,, 38mts deep

the water is clean and so far plentyfull But,, its a little salty,, but its good for washing out

the driller of the hole has pigs himself , and he said,, salty water no problem for pigs to drink,,

our food suplier said no problem with salty water it makes them eat more,,he has 400 pigs

one of the breeders who we buy off said,, no problem with salty water,, so they are now drinking it..

Or they were,,, because today i changed back to bought water until i know for sure its ok for them to drink safely

Any one know for sure,,, pigs Can drink salty water ? or anyone know that iv got bad advice and shouldnt be letting them drink salty water

Regards mike

[RedBullHorn]

Salty water will make them eat more but will also make them more thirsty...in my opinion.

It's like we drink more beers when we eat salty peanuts...

Eating more than usual for the day doesn't really mean they grow faster and better...but they will <deleted> more.

Pig have digestion system quite the same as us human...we digest only about 70% of our food intake.

They will be wasting food...

Edited January 9, 2014 by RedBullHorn

[OBCMO]

Hello pig farmers.

Near end of September I bought 100 piglets. Now the batch is done except 3. We lost 2 piglets on the way. In 2-3 weeks they developed some cough, which needed medication to all pigs. Cough sorted out and no other issues. Sold first set of 45 pigs 19th of December 63 baht/kg and next 50 pigs 4th of January 64 baht/kg. Paid salaries 24k for the period. Profit about 50k.

About to order another set for Song Kran.

-OBCMO

[thedoctor]

RBH

thats my thinking too

so i changed back to bought water yesterday and today the shit is much better formed

but i still have the fly problem ,, im working on that,

funny but true,,

im at the farm this morning cleaning ,,[ we live near kaset wasai ] 60 ks from RoiEt ,,

and a monkey walks past me ,,, bold as brass,, across the drive and out the front gate,,

well done OBCMO,, hope to do the same one day, make a profit that is

regards mike

[RedBullHorn]

Hello pig farmers.

Near end of September I bought 100 piglets. Now the batch is done except 3. We lost 2 piglets on the way. In 2-3 weeks they developed some cough, which needed medication to all pigs. Cough sorted out and no other issues. Sold first set of 45 pigs 19th of December 63 baht/kg and next 50 pigs 4th of January 64 baht/kg. Paid salaries 24k for the period. Profit about 50k.

About to order another set for Song Kran.

-OBCMO

OBCMO, What was you initial weight of your piglets ? Must be advance piglets of 25-30kg i assumed...

because your grow-out took only about 3 months. I calculated your average profit is about ฿700 plus per head.

Edited January 10, 2014 by RedBullHorn

[RedBullHorn]

RBH

thats my thinking too

so i changed back to bought water yesterday and today the shit is much better formed

but i still have the fly problem ,, im working on that,

funny but true,,

im at the farm this morning cleaning ,,[ we live near kaset wasai ] 60 ks from RoiEt ,,

and a monkey walks past me ,,, bold as brass,, across the drive and out the front gate,,

well done OBCMO,, hope to do the same one day, make a profit that is

regards mike

You can fix a mosqitoes/houseflies zapper light box or lantern, cheap houseflies sticky papers or the expensive route of fixing up blue mesh liners.

I recommend the zapper light box or 2 lanterns.

[IsaanAussie]

Hey RBH, you aren't getting itchy trotters again are you?

Good to see a few posts again guys!

[jompa67]

About salty water,

You should check your water before giving it to your pigs.

Our water have a chloride level on 667mg/L and sulfate on 195mg/L. This water is not a problem for us to use, for weaned and up. But if we mix milk on this water it will be a mixed result where some of piglets are good and other have diarrhea. So we can't use it before we have clean it first.

The solution is to use a RO-filter. A small RO system can be bougth at HomePro for less than 10K bath and it gives you around 50L drinking water/day. Enough for our youngest.

But as i said, check your water. I know other that have much higher levels than we have.

[RedBullHorn]

jompa67, how long before you change the fillers in the filter canister ? Can we drink directly from this filtered water, I'm thinking of fixing one for house use. I'm using ground water from bored hole not municipal quality water... With this filter, can i drink it directly from the tap ?

[jompa67]

jompa67, how long before you change the fillers in the filter canister ? Can we drink directly from this filtered water, I'm thinking of fixing one for house use. I'm using ground water from bored hole not municipal quality water... With this filter, can i drink it directly from the tap ?

In a typicaly RO-filter system, there is 5 different filters (4 filter + RO-filter) with a lifespan about 8 month up to 18 month. The water is clean and suitable for human.

You can read more about RO-filter here.

If you need a larger RO-sytem, i got a quotation from China, 2500 dollar and gives med 24000 liter/day. a thai company gave me another quotation for a 6000 L/day system, 180000 bath.

[IsaanAussie]

A few thoughts for all:

Have a read of the Merck Vet Manual on salt effects.

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/toxicology/salt_toxicity/overview_of_salt_toxicity.html

Our ground water is good at about 9 metres but too salty at 15 metres. Worth getting it checked if in doubt.

Flies and mosquitoes where never a problem once I started used EM (my version) in the drinking/wash water. The most logical explanation I can offer is the acidity (LAB) of the EM. You will not find many flies on any citrus fruit peels for the same reason, acidity.

[OBCMO]

Hi,

The piglets we bought were 19-20 kg. That partly explains low mortality rate. They are stronger. First 45 grew very fast and I was surpriced of the speed. Piglets were "3 blood". According to Thai experts 2 blood grow slower and are good only for breeding. I cannot argue that. Farm will be extended to 200 animals when workers have time (just before raining). I helped people to load 50 pigs to a 6-wheeler. Horrible experience for both people and pigs. We used one of our excavators to lift the pigs to the truck. Decision to make walking ramp was made instantly.

What comes to water quality I would not compromise that. Just learned that we never checked our water quality. We shower and cook with it but we do not drink it.

We had fly problem when we had sows. Solution was simple. After feeding, feed spot/bowl was filled with drinking water. BTW, I noticed that when we changed feed to Topfeed, amount of flyes exploded. Apparently one reason was used milk in the feed. Now we use Betagro and no excessive flyes. We have also blue net around the farm so it is semi closed.

Keep up the good work!

-OBCMO

[RedBullHorn]

OBCMO, all grow-out and finisher are 3 cross (3rd generation) from certified farm breeding piglet, cross-breed from generic parents. Generic stocks use for breeding are 2 cross (2nd generation), are more expensive and will not be use as a finisher in commercial platform, mainly for the production of the 3rd generation. Try not to keep and finisher for breeding program as 4 cross (to produce 4th generation). This will yield inferior growth rate.

[OBCMO]

RBH, cannot argue with you and it all makes sense. I am stepping out now and will let Thais do the rest. Quite a bit of money involved but fundament for success is there. When you actually delegate responsibility to people they start acting on it. Or not.

[jompa67]

I'm trying to implement a "Two-breed rotation cross system". Is there any1 that have try this before or have information?

I have purchase "Large white gilts" plus "Landrace and duroc boar".

If I alternate Duroc and landrace boar, what boar-breed should i use to produce finishing pigs?

Edited January 11, 2014 by jompa67

[revar]

Since the pig toppic is active again I thought I should also give you pigsters an update.

After almost 2 months cleaning, disinfecting and rebuilding after our latest prss experience we are almost ready to get back into the pig-game. But now we will raise our own piglets instead of buying them. Next week 4 landrace-large white gilts and 1 100% large white.gilt of 90+kg will be delivered. All from the Betagro farm in pak-chong. At 120 kg we will start breeding the 4 crosses with Duroc semen to breed fattening pigs and the large white with landscape semen to produce some of our future sows. Initial housing will be 2 in a 4-4 pen. When they get large the dividing wall can be removed to create a 4-8 pen. Since we won't have any large finishing pigs for at least 8-10 months I can also convert existing finishing pens if necessary. AI will be done by the local agricultural office with tested 100% pure-breed semen for 1200thb, second try free if first didn't take. Later I will build a dummy sow and use our own Duroc boar but I'll have to learn first.

For the first pregnancies I have converted a 4-4 pen into 2 farrowing pens with safe piglet area. I will wait with the others and try these out with 2 sows before building the others. If they don't work I will buy a farrowing cage and place that in a pen.

I am converting much of our existing finishing pens because I won't have finishing pigs for some time and don't have the finance at the moment by to build complete new facilities. Later I plan to build new pens but not at the moment.

For you who are keeping the sows in group pens: I assume that you are moving pregnant sows back into the group since a group pen for the short period after weaning until insemination does not make much sense. Since many sites advice moving pregnant sows to individual pens I assume the smaller group the better.

Electricity cables to our small house on the farm are in place and we are now waiting for the tabianbaan in my sons name so we can get the cheaper type of electricity (We use a small generator now, but this is expensive and you can't weld for instance.

I read the latest comments on water quality and am starting to wonder if our ' main water' is of good enough quality. Jompa, IA and others; How did you get this tested?

Exited at becoming a herdsman and not only a finisher.

Happy breeding, raising and selling to you all.

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[revar]

Are you pigsters doing the AI yourself? Doesn't look too difficult if you can get the rods and semen.

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[thedoctor]

Good to see 3 pigsters back ,,

And all the rest ,

OBCMO,

topfood, i got some very small piglets and they were on topfood 599

that was when i got the fly problem,, been thinking of changing to win

its getting less each day now , got the lights zapper the sticky glue , the tennisbat zapper,

spray outside, plants.

bought 15 piglets from local, i bought before from this thai man, when he deliverd i noticed one x.male had a hurnia in his ball sack

i showed it to the seller,, no problem,, looks like a problem in the making for me i thought at the time,

5 days later i got the vet to look because i wasnt happy with the way the sack was filling up

No problem ,, he gives injection for pain killing the piglet looked in pain and sore,

next day the affected area is all swollen even under his stomach is swollen looked like a balloon ,, the piglet is now looking thinner and sicker,,

My trouble and striff calls the thai man to come and look at the piglet with a hurnia,

today he turns up, We got the money back for that one and he took it with him,, good man

while he was there he is telling her,,pig prices up he's not selling piglets now he's keeping to finish.

where can i find the current pig per kg price iv seen it before but cant find at the moment

Revar good luck in the future

regards mike

[revar]

http://www.swinethailand.or.th/index.php

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[revar]

Www.rakbankerd.com

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[revar]

The rakbankerd pigprices are at http://www.rakbankerd.com/price.php?ic=2

I find this one more useful because it list daily prices for large farms. Find the ones in your area and you have a good negotiation tool if the buyers tell you prices are low (As they always do). I use Google translate my self and show the Thai original to buyers.

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Edited January 22, 2014 by revar

[HenkBeekhuis]

Hi, im starting a new group of pigs soon. Building a new farm etc, but i have 1 question i wanted to breed pure duroc pigs, but my m8 who has a farm with 30 sows said thats a bad idea and its better to mix them with landrace or greatwhite. Personally i like the look of durocs and there mother instincts. The main thing im scared of is that Thai people prefer pink pigs over all others. Thanks in advance.

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[thedoctor]

Welcome and good luck,

i bought 8 duroc piglets about 6 week ago and touch wood they are doing ok,

i also like the look of these piglets they are the most friendly of all my 53 at the moment

if i could get more Duroc i would,,

i also have a cough in the sty,its with the 50kg and over pigs ,, i got the vet and he vacsinated only the pigs i had marked that were coughing

now 3 days later another 4 are coughing, i asked shouldnt he inject all the pen ,, no,,?

And skin rash on one perticular group of about 8,,, all body raised rash,, ,, they were vacinated and wormed some time ago

regards mike

[revar]

Hi Mike, the vet probably did not vaccinate but gave an antibiotics (lincomycin?)

if so the coughing. Pigs should get 3 shots for 3 days. With the cold nights coughing is a problem and running noses is a problem with. Many pigs and should. Be treated with antibiotic quickly

But prevention is even more important. Are you sure there is no wind close to the floor? You could try to 'board up the gates with empty sacks . And if your pigs normally lie on the concrete floor maybe provide straw during these cold nights.

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[jompa67]

Government hot line says 76-77 in Isaan (23 Jan - 2014).