Pigs 101 (A Start)

[pigeonjake]

Hi all has anyone ever worked out how much one pig costs per upbringing ( birth to slaughter house ) and second question what's the average weight of pig going to slaughter.

are you joking?

of course we have,,

and its average 100 kilo

[nutterz64]

Hi all has anyone ever worked out how much one pig costs per upbringing ( birth to slaughter house ) and second question what's the average weight of pig going to slaughter

This will vary from farm to farm and largely depends on total feed costs, number of births, deaths and general operating costs including power, maintenance, medications, AI, boar/sow feed etc.

Many people just look at feed cost from weaning to sale and include medications etc. However the real cost is total operating costs divided number of pigs finished over a year.

At the moment we are operating at about 4170 baht per finisher. Of this, 3750 baht is feed from creap to finisher. The remainder is feed and medications for the sows/boars and general operating costs. This, in my opinion is too high (especially given current market prices) so will be working to bring this down. Reducing feed costs through better buying is an obvious way but will also be working diligently at births/sow/year. Part of your cost of a finisher is the food and medications you are giving the sow through gestation and lactation. This is a cost that I see many forget to factor in to their calculations. If you keep a boar or two then this is also part of the cost of raising your herd. Improving cover % also helps because if your sow is not pregnant or lactating then she is costing you unproductive money. Number of weaners per sow also affect the end result as her costs get amortised over more or less piglets.

Of course, overall profitability is dependent on finishing weights and market price as well. At the moment we are averaging 90-100kg at sale weight. I really want to improve this and there are many things I can tackle this coming year to see this figure head north a little.

Hope this helps.

Peter

[nutterz64]

By the way, clearly, I am running a farrow to finish operation so cost base is different to someone buying weaners and finishing. I sometimes think they are the smart ones....

[pigeonjake]

By the way, clearly, I am running a farrow to finish operation so cost base is different to someone buying weaners and finishing. I sometimes think they are the smart ones....

morning peter,

great posting again,

as you know we dont have sows, we had a go at it and it was ok, but i thought a bit risky, like you say you could have a sow not come into season, you might have one that only has 1 or not to many piglets to offset her costs,

i personaly would sooner just buy them in and rear, but thats just me, i think its easier work, i dont have to sit up waiting for births, mind you saying that, we once had a sow have them all in the night on her own i just found 9 healthy piglets running round in the morning,

again there is many ways to skin a cat and as long as we all enjoy doing what we are doing and making a little money this at the end of the day is what we want,

i agree again with you feed feed feed is the main expence,

we had our feed deliverd yesterday 135 bags, and it cost 59.995bht, all different stages of feed, as we have on the farm piglets through to market wieght,

20bags No 1 feed 11.100bht for pigs 7-15kilo

35bags No2 feed 16.205 bht for pigs 15-30kilo

30 bags No 3 feed 13,890bht for pigs 30-60kilo

30 bags No4 feed 11,580bht for pigs 60-90kilo

20 bags No5 feed 7,180 bht for pigs 90 to go,

this is the expence,

[thoongfoned]

cost per piglet: im not sure on money cost but here is whay we use:

gilt into farm 200 day old. (cost to buy or raise) say the gilts AI in first 21 day, say day 10. = days day food. 1.9kg day.

cost of seamen/ cathaters.....

food day 1 - 28 . 1.9kg

food day 29 -79 2.5g

food day 80 - 100 3kg

food day 101 - 115 2kg - higher protein level.

116 - 223 - increase by 1kg aday. (start at 1kg day 116)

224 - 335 full feed could be upto 15kg aday.

meds tape needle ect........ the list goes on. electric. labour costs. fixing farm costs. oh and creep food..........

then wean day 19. mum back to stalls. food say arounf 2.5kg aday. four five day average wait then AI again.

thats a basic for our farm, all we do is raise piglets. (add the costs of the mums that dont get pregnate first time too)

a mum at the mo is averaging 2,62 ish litters a year. with a bit of luck this year we might (hope) to see 30 plus weaned per mum per year.

what does a piglet owe you guys that raise them yourselfs at say "wean day"

[thoongfoned]

edit. then think how long the mum takes to pay for herself, (parity) then minus the mums that get culled early- ie loss making mums.......... then you can get an idea of how much money you make over "what" period of time on piglets.

[revar]

we operating at at average cost of 3826 for 100kg pig.

This includes depreciation of bought sows (asuming 70 piglets in her lifetime), feed of pigs, sows and boar, water,electrucity, medication, AI, materials

It does not include depreciation of buildings.

my costs per pig are much lower then when I bought piglets. not because i bought expensive. (cost of a new piglet now is higher then i bought for). but because i can get them to 100kg much faster now by better control of their first month and because of sow quality. FCR is much better now and i get them to 100kg in around 130 days from birth. faster if i want a bit more fat.

[Robert24]

By the way, clearly, I am running a farrow to finish operation so cost base is different to someone buying weaners and finishing. I sometimes think they are the smart ones....

morning peter,

great posting again,

as you know we dont have sows, we had a go at it and it was ok, but i thought a bit risky, like you say you could have a sow not come into season, you might have one that only has 1 or not to many piglets to offset her costs,

i personaly would sooner just buy them in and rear, but thats just me, i think its easier work, i dont have to sit up waiting for births, mind you saying that, we once had a sow have them all in the night on her own i just found 9 healthy piglets running round in the morning,

again there is many ways to skin a cat and as long as we all enjoy doing what we are doing and making a little money this at the end of the day is what we want,

i agree again with you feed feed feed is the main expence,

we had our feed deliverd yesterday 135 bags, and it cost 59.995bht, all different stages of feed, as we have on the farm piglets through to market wieght,

20bags No 1 feed 11.100bht for pigs 7-15kilo

35bags No2 feed 16.205 bht for pigs 15-30kilo

30 bags No 3 feed 13,890bht for pigs 30-60kilo

30 bags No4 feed 11,580bht for pigs 60-90kilo

20 bags No5 feed 7,180 bht for pigs 90 to go,

this is the expence,

that's very cheap food. I can't get anywhere near those prices. I pay about 650 baht per bag for 60-90 kilo and buy my ready mix food from Hyfeed. I mix it with rice though which makes it a lot cheaper but to buy ready mix pig food for 386 baht per bag is extremely cheap. I would drive very far if I could buy any food at this price given that food is the main cost driver.

[nutterz64]

Thanks Jake,

These are pretty keen feed prices you have. Obviously you are happy with the quality and are getting the growth rates you want. How far does your supplier deliver? By my calculations this would reduce my feed costs by about 22% (on my growers).

[pigeonjake]

i dont have a supplier as such,

i buy it direct from the mill,

i sell some to some of the small thai farmers round here to help them out, yes i make a profit on it, but im cheaper then the feed shops,

[pigeonjake]

By the way, clearly, I am running a farrow to finish operation so cost base is different to someone buying weaners and finishing. I sometimes think they are the smart ones....

morning peter,

great posting again,

as you know we dont have sows, we had a go at it and it was ok, but i thought a bit risky, like you say you could have a sow not come into season, you might have one that only has 1 or not to many piglets to offset her costs,

i personaly would sooner just buy them in and rear, but thats just me, i think its easier work, i dont have to sit up waiting for births, mind you saying that, we once had a sow have them all in the night on her own i just found 9 healthy piglets running round in the morning,

again there is many ways to skin a cat and as long as we all enjoy doing what we are doing and making a little money this at the end of the day is what we want,

i agree again with you feed feed feed is the main expence,

we had our feed deliverd yesterday 135 bags, and it cost 59.995bht, all different stages of feed, as we have on the farm piglets through to market wieght,

20bags No 1 feed 11.100bht for pigs 7-15kilo

35bags No2 feed 16.205 bht for pigs 15-30kilo

30 bags No 3 feed 13,890bht for pigs 30-60kilo

30 bags No4 feed 11,580bht for pigs 60-90kilo

20 bags No5 feed 7,180 bht for pigs 90 to go,

this is the expence,

that's very cheap food. I can't get anywhere near those prices. I pay about 650 baht per bag for 60-90 kilo and buy my ready mix food from Hyfeed. I mix it with rice though which makes it a lot cheaper but to buy ready mix pig food for 386 baht per bag is extremely cheap. I would drive very far if I could buy any food at this price given that food is the main cost driver.

wow that is expencive,

i sell No 4 feed at 430bht

i had forgoten how expencive feed is

[Snoozy]

My girlfriend just asked me if I could ask my friends who raise pigs if they knew why or what would cause a piglet to be coughing and vomiting a yellowish material, this piglet also has diarrhea. It is 12-13 days old at this point. So far, this is the only sick piglet, and she is wondering if someone could give advice as to what medicine to give the piglet. Maybe there is some general type of medicine?

[revar]

a little diarya and vomiting is not uncommon. it iscaused by drinking too much milk. if it goes on for more than a day it might be

serious. i recommend colistin/enriflaxin . you can get it as injectible, but also with a pump. to administer oraly. this combats most causes of diatea and vommiting. i would also inject 1 cc of penstrep (antibiotic) to combat the coughing.

you can also get amoxilin/colistin mixes to put in the water. (one sachet in 200liters)many do this preventivaly.

Edited June 27, 2015 by revar

[Falang Nang Fa]

Maybe you talk all ready about this, but what product do you use to clean your pens.

I use now Tornado, but the shop where I normally buy it, don't have it anymore, so I must find another product.

This was a very good product because it disinfect and was harmless for the sows or piglets.

Also what do you against the flies?

Thx

Chris

[revar]

water lol.

for a great fcr intestinal flora is xtremely important.

any disinfectant u use the piglets can lick up and it will kill of the good bacteria in their intestines.

So if a pen has piglets or pigs in itI only use water and occasionally some EM.

If there is sickness I use antitane,but only if its realy serious.

I also clean empty pens with Antitane

like tornado it is harmless to piglets and sows. but no disibfectant can differentiate between good and bad bacteria

Edited June 30, 2015 by revar

[jompa67]

So quiet here. Where did everybody go?

Following link contains a short video from when our 16 kg piglets enter the building where we keep 16 - 60 kg pigs. Stupid TV didn't let me post a MP4 file here on the forum

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzDRnnPh4m7_b3pCWVpoS0VjV28/view

[pigeonjake]

hi jumpa,

i cant open the video i just get a picture,

they look like new pens, no muck on the walls,,lol

so you keep them there from 16 to 60 kilo, then you move them again?

we just move ours once, they come to us, stay in the quarentine pen with lights and a heat box, given milk if i think they need it,(young)

when i have finnished with them and they are good and strong they move into the growout pens and thats them till they go to market,

but each to there own my friend it takes all sorts to make this lovely world go round,

there must be a shortage of pigs round here, our main dealer as been ringing and another one who we havnt delt with, the price round here is 63bht but i can see that going up if there is a shortage, ill have 25 ready next week, so that will be nice,

happy piging guys

jake

[jompa67]

Ok, new try. Uploaded to YouTube

First they stay 4 weeks with sow. Then we move them to nursery where they use to stay up to 25 kg, depending on space. Next step is to move them to a barn for pigs in range 16 kg up to 60 kg. Then we move them to another barn where we have better control over how much feed they eat. When they reach 100 kg, we move them to a "sell out" building that is located in the far end of our land.

Edited July 23, 2015 by jompa67

[pigeonjake]

nice looking pigs and place jompa,

[CHRISTIANa9]

Seems like pig prices in Australia is getting firm and better, no traditional dip during winter like in the past. Farmers there should be happy lot. Early Xmas I guess.

[claynlr]

I had the bright idea to get my GF started in something so she could earn some money to take care of her family on her own. So pigs it is!

She built stys about 6 months ago and there are in the range of 45-50 pigs now. Some of the pigs are 5 months now and only 60-70 kilo. She does buy food (bagged) but also feeds the pigs chopped up banana plants in some mixture as a cost savings that has ended up not being a cost savings evidently!

Can someone tell me or lead me to a post on what should be feed at different stages of growth? And for the present problem, what can be feed to these 60-70 kilo pig to get them to 100 kilo so they can be sold?

I am not there as I work in the Middle East but will try to relay a plan to her.

[pigeonjake]

hi,

well arnt you in a pickle,

i would say they have had something wrong with them too, to be only 60 kilo in 5 months,

but its the thai way to save cost, give them ram,banana and that other stuff they cut at the road side, but in the end it costs them more, but you cant tell them,

if you g/f goes to the feed shop and tells them she has pigs at 60 kilo they will tell her what feed she needs,

its no good us telling you the feed as most feeds have different numbers on them depending on brands, my feed would be No4 feed,

they good be stunted and take a long time to get to 100kilo,

its hard when you arnt there mate, i too, well i try not to now, but i still go on the odd job, offshore or abroad, but my wife has been doing the pigs with me for a long time and she knows the score now, but it is hard work for her, but she does it and soes a good job of it too,

hope it turns out ok,

might be cheaper for you just to give a little money to her,

take care

jake

[revar]

chopped up banana tree explains the slow gain. its ok for ducks. not pigs.

quality/bloodline of piglets makes a big difference too.

for me it used to.be 4.5-5+ monsths from 10-100 kg with bought piglets.

Now I breed my own from quality bloodline sows and get from birth - 100kg in 4-4.5 months.

if u go to betagro shop at 60 kg they would need 2 bags of 302 and 1 of 303 each to get to 100 kg.

how long it would take depends on many circumstances.

cool temperature, enough room, lights on long time all help.

[claynlr]

Thanks guys...I think you both hit the nail on the head. She did tell me she was using Betagro product (besides the banana!) She sent me a photo today of new food she bought...Champion

Jake, your web site and home look great...maybe I need to come to Pig101 classes!

[pigeonjake]

mate your more then welcome, but im no expert,,lol

we are still learning its learning all the time here in thailand,

the thing i read into it, and i could be wrong,

they feed good baged food when they have a few quid, then it runs out, they go back to ram and other stuff, they get a rew quid again and its back onto good feed, this is no good for the pigs,

ive just set a english bloke up with 10 pigelts and advice, he contacted me through our site, emailed me a few times for advice, then took the leap and buit some pens now he wants 10 a month, ive told him im at the end of the phone for anything,

like when he came for the piglets, they had been with me for 2 weeks and good and strong, so i said to him you should buy a bag of my feed to take with you,

he said im getting feed from a shop near our house,

i said i understand that, but what have i been telling you on the phone and email about changing feed,

he said shit i forgot, you dont just change feed, brand or number, so he took a bag of our No 1 to mix with his,

when i change from 1 number to another i do it over a weeks time else most of the times it upsets there tummy and they get tong dern,

its little things like that you have to be on top of,

youll get there mate, we all on here will help if we can, there a good bunch on here

jake

[claynlr]

Photos from yesterday

[pigeonjake]

what about worming? has that been done,?

[revar]

born on 10 april.

[revar]

born 11 april

[revar]

only use pure betagro feed.

drink milk at sow for 1 month, between 12-15kg when weaned. eat 5-6 bags of feed. (3x 301b, 2x302, .1x303) to 100kg. 303 only for the ' small ones'