Pigs 101 (A Start)

[chrisnouy]

WS,

Yours is a valuable story for anyone thinking of seriously investing in the pig industry here. As in any industry, often circumstances will stop the best of plans and personal application dead in their tracks. Those of us in pig farming here have had a rare opportunity to get a good return for 9 or ten months, some did, RBH for instance. I am just one of the struggle town guys I'm afraid but already ready to learn and adjust.

Good luck in your current activities. Hang tough.

IA

Hi have been off the air for a while

I was in touch in january but been v busy and a few trips to uk have taken up time

i got my pig thing up and running but have just been flooded and had to move pigs (90 odd )three times a night mare but we dint lose any PIGS BUT LOST ALL FISH

I am interested to know if any body has made bacon? What do you use for cure and does anybody know of sausage presevative available here/

[chrisnouy]

Hi TO ONE AND ALLi have been off the air for a while

I was in touch in january when trying to start up but have been v busy and had to make a few trips to uk which have taken up time

i got my pig/fish thing up and running and going really well but have just been flooded. It was a real two month setback and we had to move pigs (90 odd )three times building temporary bush pens ,a night mare, but we didnt lose any pigs but lost all of our fish. cat fish. tilapia and carp

I am interested to know if any body has made bacon? What do you use for cure and does anybody know of sausage presevative available here/

[Brabo]

a few pics

[COXYATCITY]

Two questions for Fruity or others who know more about Betagro.

1) My betagro dealer has a new poster on the wall where the weights you have to start the different food types on are different then the ones in his folders. Acoording to him this is the 'new' food. The bags he sells are still 'old food' (the weights on the bags are the same as in the folder). Is the Betagro food changing? (normal green bags).

2) I am still confused by the 3 types of 301. According to my dealer I have to mix the first 2 ones 60%-40%. and one pig eats 20kg from the first and 10 kg from the second. after this they start eating the third 301 (301B). Should I start them on 301B when they are 15kg? and use the mix of the other 301s until 15 kg? (afetr they have eaten 5kg of 300).

Revar

Hello mate, the new Betagro food is called Balance,and comes in purple sacks.the numbers are different, BA951 , BA 951 L ,BA 952 ,BA 953 ,BA954; BA 955 it is a little more expensive,i have just started to give this a try with 20 piglets,,the rest of my pigs are fed on JoJo feed,i am waiting for the results of the new Betagro Balance.good luck

Ian.

[lucky2103]

Two questions for Fruity or others who know more about Betagro.

1) My betagro dealer has a new poster on the wall where the weights you have to start the different food types on are different then the ones in his folders. Acoording to him this is the 'new' food. The bags he sells are still 'old food' (the weights on the bags are the same as in the folder). Is the Betagro food changing? (normal green bags).

2) I am still confused by the 3 types of 301. According to my dealer I have to mix the first 2 ones 60%-40%. and one pig eats 20kg from the first and 10 kg from the second. after this they start eating the third 301 (301B). Should I start them on 301B when they are 15kg? and use the mix of the other 301s until 15 kg? (afetr they have eaten 5kg of 300).

Revar

Hello mate, the new Betagro food is called Balance,and comes in purple sacks.the numbers are different, BA951 , BA 951 L ,BA 952 ,BA 953 ,BA954; BA 955 it is a little more expensive,i have just started to give this a try with 20 piglets,,the rest of my pigs are fed on JoJo feed,i am waiting for the results of the new Betagro Balance.good luck

Ian.

That confuses me.

coincidentally, I am the Betagro dealer for my area, but to my knowledge, Balance feed is on the market for more than 5 years already.

As to the three kinds of 301 feed:

- 301 is for pigs weighing 10-25kg (grain size 3mm, Protein 20%)

- 301 L is for pigs weighing 15-30kg (grain size 3mm, Protein 20%)

- 301 B is for pigs weighing 15-30kg (grain size 4mm, Protein 18%)

So what is the trick ?

Basically, a breeder can feed his pigs in many ways. For my herd at home, I choose 301 until 10kg, 301 L until 20kg and 301 B until 40kg.

This ensures that the average weight of the herd reaches 100kg after 4 months and 10 days.

However, some customers at my store choose to omit 301 L, some others feed 301 B until 60kg.

Generally, 301 and 301 L are the same, but 301 comes with some additional "medicine". I once tried to omit 301 and yes, the whole herd showed indeed signs of diarrhea for about 3 days.

Furthermore, during the first 6 weeks of a pig's life, it is crucial to add as much protein as possible, because during this time, added weight will be red meat.

This contrasts to a more grown up pig, which tends to ad weight in form of fat.

According to a Betagro representative, there are two ways of feeding pigs: The cheap way (feed according to what is written on the sack) and the "professional way" (stretch 301 B until 60kg, 302 until 90kg and switch to 303 just a few days before slaughtering.

This should ensure the the pig won't be fatty and grows up fast. However, I have yet to try this.

[jompa67]

This ensures that the average weight of the herd reaches 100kg after 4 months and 10 days.

Is it really possible to have an average on 130 days? We use to have an average around 150 days on our farm (open wall building). Some reach 100kg in about 130 days but the average is still around 150. Are you raising all piglets from the litter or just the healthiest of them?

[lucky2103]

Sorry for the confusion which arose.

When I stated "4 months, 10 days", I didn't include the 28 days the piglets stay with their mother.

According to a spreadsheet issued by Betagro, a pig should be ready to be slaughtered after 170 days, but we managed to get them ready after just 158 days.

[RedBullHorn]

Delivered a hamper to my wholesaler today, drove 200km to & fro, good news...Price is @ ฿58/kg, next stop ฿63/kg...coming very soon ( price quoted is Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai Region only)

RBH... jub jub~*

[revar]

Two questions for Fruity or others who know more about Betagro.

1) My betagro dealer has a new poster on the wall where the weights you have to start the different food types on are different then the ones in his folders. Acoording to him this is the 'new' food. The bags he sells are still 'old food' (the weights on the bags are the same as in the folder). Is the Betagro food changing? (normal green bags).

2) I am still confused by the 3 types of 301. According to my dealer I have to mix the first 2 ones 60%-40%. and one pig eats 20kg from the first and 10 kg from the second. after this they start eating the third 301 (301B). Should I start them on 301B when they are 15kg? and use the mix of the other 301s until 15 kg? (afetr they have eaten 5kg of 300).

Revar

Hello mate, the new Betagro food is called Balance,and comes in purple sacks.the numbers are different, BA951 , BA 951 L ,BA 952 ,BA 953 ,BA954; BA 955 it is a little more expensive,i have just started to give this a try with 20 piglets,,the rest of my pigs are fed on JoJo feed,i am waiting for the results of the new Betagro Balance.good luck

Ian.

That confuses me.

coincidentally, I am the Betagro dealer for my area, but to my knowledge, Balance feed is on the market for more than 5 years already.

As to the three kinds of 301 feed:

- 301 is for pigs weighing 10-25kg (grain size 3mm, Protein 20%)

- 301 L is for pigs weighing 15-30kg (grain size 3mm, Protein 20%)

- 301 B is for pigs weighing 15-30kg (grain size 4mm, Protein 18%)

So what is the trick ?

Basically, a breeder can feed his pigs in many ways. For my herd at home, I choose 301 until 10kg, 301 L until 20kg and 301 B until 40kg.

This ensures that the average weight of the herd reaches 100kg after 4 months and 10 days.

However, some customers at my store choose to omit 301 L, some others feed 301 B until 60kg.

Generally, 301 and 301 L are the same, but 301 comes with some additional "medicine". I once tried to omit 301 and yes, the whole herd showed indeed signs of diarrhea for about 3 days.

Furthermore, during the first 6 weeks of a pig's life, it is crucial to add as much protein as possible, because during this time, added weight will be red meat.

This contrasts to a more grown up pig, which tends to ad weight in form of fat.

According to a Betagro representative, there are two ways of feeding pigs: The cheap way (feed according to what is written on the sack) and the "professional way" (stretch 301 B until 60kg, 302 until 90kg and switch to 303 just a few days before slaughtering.

This should ensure the the pig won't be fatty and grows up fast. However, I have yet to try this.

Thanks for your very clear answer,

I fed mine on 300 until approx 8-10 kg and then switched to a mix of 60% 301 eand 30% 301-L., They are between 13 and 16 kg now and I will now switch to 301-L only until they are 25 kg, after whcih I'll switch to 301-B.

One of the tynhings which confused me is the amount of bags a pig eats according to the flyers and poster from Betagro. Especially since they don't mention the 300. Since I feed them 5 kg of 300 each they tend to hot 15 kg with a lot less of 301.

Revar

[COXYATCITY]

Delivered a hamper to my wholesaler today, drove 200km to & fro, good news...Price is @ ฿58/kg, next stop ฿63/kg...coming very soon ( price quoted is Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai Region only)

RBH... jub jub~*

good to hear this news from you RBH last week in Surin 52 baht, this week 55 baht,but could not get more than that,but the 3 sharks were very keen to buy,,roll on the next couple of weeks ,when my next batch will be ready.

[jompa67]

good to hear this news from you RBH last week in Surin 52 baht, this week 55 baht,but could not get more than that,but the 3 sharks were very keen to buy,,roll on the next couple of weeks ,when my next batch will be ready.

I think the price is closer to 60 right now. I just got a batch of 30 sows with a price of 62 Bath/Kg.

[lucky2103]

Here in Phayao the price is still at 56 Baht/kg...and I'm having trouble to find a buyer for 15 pigs (ready to be slaughtered) belonging to a customer of my store.

I called a few wholesalers but they said they could not buy because they have more than enough pigs.

I suspect there's an oversupply of pigs in the market ?

[RedBullHorn]

Maybe...because when the bubble brust, those who jump on the wagon at 70-72/kg are stuck now.

Those who analyze the market pattern and forcast ahead are the people in the clear.

[RedBullHorn]

Just got news...฿64/kg already~

[Scully]

The piglets are realy growing. I think I can see them getting larger every day. Although there are still two groups all of them are getting bigger. When I come with the bananas they recognize me and get crazy. This is helpfull for those who do not run to me are probable sick. One of them did not come today and sure enough, swonllen eyelids. a little amoxyl should take care of the infection. I also gave a vitamin B complex injection, which should stimulate his appatite. My two 'runts' are staying behind the rest but are putting on weight. I am being carefull to ensure they gettheir share of the vtamin enriged (c-tonic) bananas.

Prices here have dropped to 45 bath a kg so I am happy I have sold the big ones.

Revar

You don't know me, not posted as away from LOS for other reasons. In the 4 or so years of little experience a shot of oxycontin is the wonder drug.

Banana's are filling your pigs stomach with a, giving a product which does little and b, fills the pig up so doesn't eat your growing food so sorry bananas do little except fill your sty with sh1t.

45 kg is too low be aware of those cunning dealers find one that is fair and deals with plenty of live stock. These that buy 3 pigs a week try every trick in the book i.e. bring back a cut of meat with fat on it, pigs should have a layer of fat but try and tell that to a man who is trying to sell a pig every two days and all he wants is red meat.

Good luck for the future and I don't mean to offend, just offer advice. I am back in LOS and have been for 4 months my GF bought a sow and it's first litter was 13 piglets. We have three pregnant sows and running out of room but hopefully produced piglets at the right time for the general price fluctuations. You sound like you are enjoying it and that.s the whole point oh and make the "family" a bit of cash.

[RedBullHorn]

Latest...฿67/kg this week

(CPF.....฿68/kg)

Piglet 1st 16kg = ฿2000+ 67/kg

[revar]

The piglets are realy growing. I think I can see them getting larger every day. Although there are still two groups all of them are getting bigger. When I come with the bananas they recognize me and get crazy. This is helpfull for those who do not run to me are probable sick. One of them did not come today and sure enough, swonllen eyelids. a little amoxyl should take care of the infection. I also gave a vitamin B complex injection, which should stimulate his appatite. My two 'runts' are staying behind the rest but are putting on weight. I am being carefull to ensure they gettheir share of the vtamin enriged (c-tonic) bananas.

Prices here have dropped to 45 bath a kg so I am happy I have sold the big ones.

Revar

You don't know me, not posted as away from LOS for other reasons. In the 4 or so years of little experience a shot of oxycontin is the wonder drug.

Banana's are filling your pigs stomach with a, giving a product which does little and b, fills the pig up so doesn't eat your growing food so sorry bananas do little except fill your sty with sh1t.

45 kg is too low be aware of those cunning dealers find one that is fair and deals with plenty of live stock. These that buy 3 pigs a week try every trick in the book i.e. bring back a cut of meat with fat on it, pigs should have a layer of fat but try and tell that to a man who is trying to sell a pig every two days and all he wants is red meat.

Good luck for the future and I don't mean to offend, just offer advice. I am back in LOS and have been for 4 months my GF bought a sow and it's first litter was 13 piglets. We have three pregnant sows and running out of room but hopefully produced piglets at the right time for the general price fluctuations. You sound like you are enjoying it and that.s the whole point oh and make the "family" a bit of cash.

Thanks,

Noy offended at all, I apreciate all the advice I can get.

There are only a couple of guys here who buy pigs and there is no slaughterhouse I know of. There is sickness in the area (prrs suspected) and a lot of pigs died and many of the small farmers here are selling at 60+ kg at a loss because they are affraid their pigs will die. The sharks bennefit and this causes the extreme low prices (They sell the meat at high prices). Now prices are back to 57 bath, still too low in my oppinion, so close to new year.

I have had no deaths but there is a little caughing (could als be the cold mornings). I had to move my pigs out to my new sty hurriedly while three of the pens are not finished yet, because the pigs of friens in whos pens the were staying were getting sick. However 14 of my 69 pigs have hardly grown in the last month, s I think they have been affected

My new sty has 6 4x4m pens, 3 of which are now finished. Finishing the other 3 now while the pigs are staying in the first 3. I now have a pen between 25-30 kg, one with 18-25 and one for the small ones which I have start feeding extra milkpowder,

Enjoying it all very much.

[Brabo]

Just sold at 65 Baht/kg :-)

[Scully]

The piglets are realy growing. I think I can see them getting larger every day. Although there are still two groups all of them are getting bigger. When I come with the bananas they recognize me and get crazy. This is helpfull for those who do not run to me are probable sick. One of them did not come today and sure enough, swonllen eyelids. a little amoxyl should take care of the infection. I also gave a vitamin B complex injection, which should stimulate his appatite. My two 'runts' are staying behind the rest but are putting on weight. I am being carefull to ensure they gettheir share of the vtamin enriged (c-tonic) bananas.

Prices here have dropped to 45 bath a kg so I am happy I have sold the big ones.

Revar

You don't know me, not posted as away from LOS for other reasons. In the 4 or so years of little experience a shot of oxycontin is the wonder drug.

Banana's are filling your pigs stomach with a, giving a product which does little and b, fills the pig up so doesn't eat your growing food so sorry bananas do little except fill your sty with sh1t.

45 kg is too low be aware of those cunning dealers find one that is fair and deals with plenty of live stock. These that buy 3 pigs a week try every trick in the book i.e. bring back a cut of meat with fat on it, pigs should have a layer of fat but try and tell that to a man who is trying to sell a pig every two days and all he wants is red meat.

Good luck for the future and I don't mean to offend, just offer advice. I am back in LOS and have been for 4 months my GF bought a sow and it's first litter was 13 piglets. We have three pregnant sows and running out of room but hopefully produced piglets at the right time for the general price fluctuations. You sound like you are enjoying it and that.s the whole point oh and make the "family" a bit of cash.

Thanks,

Noy offended at all, I apreciate all the advice I can get.

There are only a couple of guys here who buy pigs and there is no slaughterhouse I know of. There is sickness in the area (prrs suspected) and a lot of pigs died and many of the small farmers here are selling at 60+ kg at a loss because they are affraid their pigs will die. The sharks bennefit and this causes the extreme low prices (They sell the meat at high prices). Now prices are back to 57 bath, still too low in my oppinion, so close to new year.

I have had no deaths but there is a little caughing (could als be the cold mornings). I had to move my pigs out to my new sty hurriedly while three of the pens are not finished yet, because the pigs of friens in whos pens the were staying were getting sick. However 14 of my 69 pigs have hardly grown in the last month, s I think they have been affected

My new sty has 6 4x4m pens, 3 of which are now finished. Finishing the other 3 now while the pigs are staying in the first 3. I now have a pen between 25-30 kg, one with 18-25 and one for the small ones which I have start feeding extra milkpowder,

Enjoying it all very much.

Don't let anyone on your farm get the missus to put signs up. Make sure you worm them as this causes them to cough, cheap powder just added to feed, this maybe why they are also not growing?.

Everyday is a school day pig farming in Thailand but the best thing is you are doing something and not just propping up a bar like many, keep it going it will come good.

[revar]

HELP!

Any advice is appreciated

We are realy getting hit by the combination of the cold ( 7 degrees celcius at night with a lot of wind) and PRRS. The same is the case with some other small farmers around here.

10 pigs have died so far. The symptons are diarea, coughing and the bigger ones (20kg) get the PRRS symptoms of Purple ears.

The sty is now wrapped up in sewed together food bags to keep the wind out and I have made sleeping quarters with the cloth rice bgs. inside it is nice and warm. We also replace the rice-husks daily and clean the pens every day.

They are dying at a rate of one to two a day now. Some seem to recover but others are healthy one day and dead the next. Have been treating the diarea and coughing with Amoxil and vitamin B12 shots as well as adding medice to the food against worms and swine-dyssentery. Locals are giving lots of advice and suppliers trying to sell different medicines. If I would follow their advice I woould have to give each pig 4 injections each day. Don't think that's right especially since some medicines may use the same ingredients and an overdose treatens.

Do any of you have experience with handling PRRS and what medicines do you use for diarea and coughing/lung problem? If so I appreciate the help.

Revar

[jompa67]

HELP!

Any advice is appreciated

We are realy getting hit by the combination of the cold ( 7 degrees celcius at night with a lot of wind) and PRRS. The same is the case with some other small farmers around here.

10 pigs have died so far. The symptons are diarea, coughing and the bigger ones (20kg) get the PRRS symptoms of Purple ears.

The sty is now wrapped up in sewed together food bags to keep the wind out and I have made sleeping quarters with the cloth rice bgs. inside it is nice and warm. We also replace the rice-husks daily and clean the pens every day.

They are dying at a rate of one to two a day now. Some seem to recover but others are healthy one day and dead the next. Have been treating the diarea and coughing with Amoxil and vitamin B12 shots as well as adding medice to the food against worms and swine-dyssentery. Locals are giving lots of advice and suppliers trying to sell different medicines. If I would follow their advice I woould have to give each pig 4 injections each day. Don't think that's right especially since some medicines may use the same ingredients and an overdose treatens.

Do any of you have experience with handling PRRS and what medicines do you use for diarea and coughing/lung problem? If so I appreciate the help.

Revar

Hi,

We have same problem in our farm and not only the small pig are effected. We had this problem 3 years ago. We solved it by mixing antibiotics into there food. For diarea we use CTC (CloroThetraCycline) and for lung problem we use Tilmicosin. 20% tilmicosin cost about 1000 bath/kg. 1 Kg per ton feed. U can also use tiamulin, it is cheaper than Tilmicosin but not as strong.

We also got 1 sow with purple ears and the body look like she have been burned, but i don't think it is PRRS because she was the only effected.

We isolate all pigs with coughing problems and then sell them as soon as possible.

[revar]

HELP!

Any advice is appreciated

We are realy getting hit by the combination of the cold ( 7 degrees celcius at night with a lot of wind) and PRRS. The same is the case with some other small farmers around here.

10 pigs have died so far. The symptons are diarea, coughing and the bigger ones (20kg) get the PRRS symptoms of Purple ears.

The sty is now wrapped up in sewed together food bags to keep the wind out and I have made sleeping quarters with the cloth rice bgs. inside it is nice and warm. We also replace the rice-husks daily and clean the pens every day.

They are dying at a rate of one to two a day now. Some seem to recover but others are healthy one day and dead the next. Have been treating the diarea and coughing with Amoxil and vitamin B12 shots as well as adding medice to the food against worms and swine-dyssentery. Locals are giving lots of advice and suppliers trying to sell different medicines. If I would follow their advice I woould have to give each pig 4 injections each day. Don't think that's right especially since some medicines may use the same ingredients and an overdose treatens.

Do any of you have experience with handling PRRS and what medicines do you use for diarea and coughing/lung problem? If so I appreciate the help.

Revar

Hi,

We have same problem in our farm and not only the small pig are effected. We had this problem 3 years ago. We solved it by mixing antibiotics into there food. For diarea we use CTC (CloroThetraCycline) and for lung problem we use Tilmicosin. 20% tilmicosin cost about 1000 bath/kg. 1 Kg per ton feed. U can also use tiamulin, it is cheaper than Tilmicosin but not as strong.

We also got 1 sow with purple ears and the body look like she have been burned, but i don't think it is PRRS because she was the only effected.

We isolate all pigs with coughing problems and then sell them as soon as possible.

THanks fo your reply and goodluck yourself!

I will try to find tilmicosin (have ben using tiamulin). I also rhave replaced the rice husks with two layers of brown cloth rice bags. The dust in the rice husks was also causing caughing.

I will try CTC as well if they don't improve (I have injected all 65 pigs with AMoxil yesterday so I have to wait at least 48 hours).

Two more of th 25+ kg pigs got purple ears this morning. My pigs are all between 15 and 32 kg, so I can't realy say if bigger ones are affected. I do know that at other farms pigs as large at 70 k+ kg have died.

Luckily this morning all our pigs were still alive (the first time in a week, I hope this will stay so the rest of the day.

[bazmlb]

Just sold at 65 Baht/kg :-)

Prices are down to 55baht/kg now is there an online page for the farm gate prices?

[RedBullHorn]

Where is your location for this price ? We're doing 65/kg in Chiang Rai.

Here is the link for price update,

http://ptg.igetweb.com/index.php?mo=3&art=494930

have it Google Webpage translate to English for furthen reading...

http://www.google.co...age_tools?hl=en

Scoll down to translate webpage section.

[jompa67]

Prices are down to 55baht/kg now is there an online page for the farm gate prices?

We sell at 62 baht now, in Isaan. Does anyone know why the price did not go back to normal levels? We are almost at production cost. One of the buyers told me that both CP and BetaGro sell pigs at 80 kg. Does anyone know why?

[bazmlb]

Where is your location for this price ? We're doing 65/kg in Chiang Rai.

Here is the link for price update,

http://ptg.igetweb.com/index.php?mo=3&art=494930

have it Google Webpage translate to English for furthen reading...

http://www.google.co...age_tools?hl=en

Scoll down to translate webpage section.

Udonthani, Ban Dung

[sam505]

Price today in udonthani 55b kg,when i got the wife to ask as to why the price is so low they responded with it is village price, which they say is 10/12 baht below what the big producers get!!! Can anyone verify if this is the case or is it just in our provience??

many thanks

sam

[jompa67]

Price today in udonthani 55b kg,when i got the wife to ask as to why the price is so low they responded with it is village price, which they say is 10/12 baht below what the big producers get!!! Can anyone verify if this is the case or is it just in our provience??

Sometimes there is purchaser that want to buy cheap pigs, with the argument that we are a farmer, not producer.

What this is about, is that the farmer usually raise their pigs with broken rice, cassava and Ramm. This tends to the pigs are fatter and therefore of inferior quality.

These arguments are used by buyers to get the pigs as cheaply as possible.

We have a purchaser who usually buy from us. The last few times he has tried to force the price to less than 60 baht/kg. So we sold off all the big pigs to a purchaser in Korat for a bad price. So when the purchaser came and wanted to buy pigs again, we told him that we have sold the big pigs because we got a good offer.

He got very angry because now he had to buy pigs from CP/Betagro at a higher price. We know that both he and other buyers will continue to buy from us, but to a normal price. They know now that there are other buyers who pay better. They also have learn that if they want to buy from us at a better rate than CP/Betagro, then they must give us a fair price.

If we were aceptera purchaser's price, we will be dependent on him and he will push the price next time too. Think of that many of the purchaser's are working together and tell each other what price they should offer.

[IsaanAussie]

Hi guys,

Still off the air, no new wire yet. So finally got a seat at the local cafe. Sorry to hear about the problems with PRRS a few of you are having. Prices are comng back and 60 plus is about what I expected and 70 odd what I had hoped for. Muck or money guys as always.

IA

[sam505]

Hey guys,has anyone got any prices to share we have 30 that are ready for selling and when the wife got in contact with 2 buyers they have offered between 48/50 bht we cannot produce for this price,has anyone sold in the past 2 days.

Another question we were using Betagro balance but have switched to using Select food does anyone have comments about this food,our pigs seem to be doing well on it or so i am told !! as still working overseas,and does anyone one were to buy CTC in Udonthani the wife has asked at the local feed supplier but they have never heard tell of it!!

Many thanks,

sam