PIG FARMING

• Most extensively used exotic breed in India
• Body colour is solid white with occasional black – pigmented spots
• Erect ears, snout of medium lengths and dished face
• Excellent breed for the purpose of cross breeding
• Prolific breeds
• Mature boar 300-400 k.g
• Mature sow 230-320 kg

• White with black skin spot
• Long  body, large drooping ears and long snout
• Prolific breeding and efficient in utilizing feed
• Carcass quality equal to Yorkshire
• Excellent breed for crossbreeding
• Mature boars weigh 270-360 kg
• Mature sow weighs 200-320 kg

• Used in some areas in India
• Grows rapidly gives good dressing percentage
• Not so prolific as large white Yorkshire
• Males 250-340 kg
• Females 180-270 kg

Pig farming is very important component in North East India. Out of total pig population in India, 28% are grown in this region. Following are the commonly grown breeds. Good quality breeds are available at ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani – 793 103, Meghalaya.

Hampshire		HS X I		Large White Yorkshire
Duroc		Landrace		Indigenous

Ghungroo an indigenous strain of pig first reported from North Bengal is popular among the local people because of high prolificacy and ability to sustain in low input system. This breed/strain produces high quality pork utilizing agricultural byproducts and kitchen wastes. Ghungroo are mostly black coloured with typical Bull dog face appearance, with a litter size of 6-12 piglets, individually weigh about 1.0 kg at birth and 7.0 – 10.0 kg at weaning. Both sexes are very much docile and easy to handle. In the breeding tract they are maintained under scavenging system and mainly act as insurance to the rainfed agriculture.

At National Research Centre on Pig, Rani, Guwahati, Ghungroo pigs are being maintained under intensive system of rearing with standard breeding, feeding and managemental system. Their evaluation for genetic potential for use in future breeding programmes is in progress and this indigenous strain is performing very well in terms of productive and reproductive efficiency. Some of the selected sows have delivered litter size of 17 piglets at birth as compared to the other indigenous strains of pigs maintained at the Institute farm.

Source: http://www.icar.org.in/en/node/2766

             Yorkshire gilt (female)

• Selection of gilts for the breeding herd should be made at market weight ie. When the animals weigh about 90 kg
• Select gilts from sows which have consistently farrowed and weaned large litters
• They have reached market in minimum time and have desirable market type
• It would be desirable to choose gilts whose litter mates and other fullsibs have given good performance in daily weight gain and feed conversion efficiency

        Yorkshire boar (male)

• Selection of boar is extremely important, particularly for a small breeding farm or unit
• The boar should be purchased from a breeder or a farm maintaining adequate information on its performance
• The boar should be selected from a dam which has consistently farrowed and weaned high litters
• A good boar will weigh 90 kg in about 5-6 months will be of good type and will be strong on feet and legs
• The feed conversion from weaning to 90 kg weight would be the most desirable.

• The mother of the pig to be selected should have had large litters of 8 piglets or more. The weaning weight (at 56 days) of a litter in case of a gilt selection  should have been 120 kg and in the case of sow it should not less than 150 kg
• The gilt or the boar should have reached a body weight of about 90 kg in about 6 months
• The pig should have adequate length and depth of the body, thick well muscled hams should be firm and trim
• The pig should have sound feet and legs
• The back fat prove in live animals is not yet being practiced in this country. For gilt back fat thickness of  4 cm or less, boars 3.2 or less
• Gilts should have a minimum of  12 evenly spaced, functional teats. An animal with blind teats should be avoided as there will be little or no milk from these teats and the defect is heritable
• Negative blood test for both brucellosis and leptospirosis should be made during selection and the pigs should be vaccinated against swine fever
• Pigs should be free from other diseases and physical defects

The flooring should have a rough finish and should be be of a regular masonary type made up of water proof cement mortar. Proper drains should be provided so that the effluents are disposed off.  Generally under village conditions the housing can be made up of pens measuring 3 m X 2.4 m or 3 m X 3 m with an open yard of nearly the same dimension or in some cases slightly longer. Walls should be 1.2-1.5 m high from the floor. For the purposes of farrowing some of the pens could be converted into farrowing pens by providing guard rails made up of G.I pipes of 5 cm diameter, along the walls, 20-25 cm from the ground and the wall. In addtion to guard rails, creep space can be provided for the piglets along the wall by making a partition or in one of the corners with separate entrances for the piglets. This space usually of 0.75 m X 2.4 m area. In many of the farms the yard is provided with regular flooring. 

Prolonged exposure of exotic breeds of pigs to bright sunshine may cause pigs to become overheated even during moderate weather. Shade helps in preventing deaths and increasing production effeciency during hot weather. While it is desirable to plant trees in the neighbourhood of pens for reducing the intensity of heat. But it is not desirable to plant trees for giving regular shade because they permit rapid build up of parasite levels.

Pigs have very few sweat glands. In areas having warm weather mature breeding animals and fattening animals need a wallow during summer months. Instead of permitting unsanitary wallows a masonry wallow with proper drainage would be desirable. The size of the wallow will depend upon the number and size of the animals.

Well developed gilts may as a general rule bred to farrow when 12-14 months old. This depends more on development than on age. Gilts should weigh at least 100 kg before breeding. Ovulation rate increases during successive oestrous periods (up to fifth) following puberty. Thus it is advantageous to delay the breeding of gilts until the second or third oestrous. Litter size increases on an average in succeeding pregnancies up to 5th or 6th litter. It is therefore advantageous to cull the sow from a breeding herd or a commercial herd after her fifth or sixth litter as the litter size goes down thereafter.

The average length of oestrous cycle in pigs is 21 days. The oestrous symptoms last for five to seven days beginning with vulvar swelling and vaginal discharge. In true oestrous there is frequent urination, reduced appetite, mounting and standing for service detected by the erection of ears and immobility when normal pressure is applied to the back.  The application of pressure on the back is used to determine the correct breeding time. Animals with a predisposition for weak oestrous should be brought near the boar to exhibit heat symptoms a little more clearly.

Best time for breeding is during the latter half of  the first day or early on the second day of oestrous. In many cases the gilts and sows continue to exhibit the standing heat on the next day. In these cases the animals should be rebred and the interval in the case of rebreeding should be 12-14 hours. This procedure will ensure a high conception rate in the herd.
            Sows come into oestrous one to four days after farrowing but they should not be bred at this time. Sows may also come into heat two to ten days after weaning and may be bred at this time. But better results can be obtained by breeding them in the second post lactational oestrous. The animals which have been bred should be observed for the appearance of subsequent oestrous. If sows not conceived even after successful mating with a boar in two continous oestrous cycles it is desirable to cull them from the herd.

It is the method of feeding sows and gilts before breeding. A good grower ration fed to sows and gilts seven to ten days before breeding is helps in increased ovulation rates in them. After breeding sows and gilts should be fed a limited but well balanced ration until the last six weeks of pregnancy and then full feeding should be resumed.

The gestation period of sow varies from 109-120 days with an average of 114 days. Pregnant animals should be housed in groups in separate enclosures and should not be mixed with new animals to avoid fighting which at times may result in abortion. It would also be advisable to house pregnant gilts and sows in separate groups during gestation. About 3 m2 of dry housing should be available for each sow. The pregnant animals should be allowed to move about every day in the morning on a free range or a pasture if available. A pasture area is presumed to be clean if a cultivated crop was raised.

Farrowing time is the critical time in pig production. Death rate is high during farrowing and the first week after farrowing. Sows may be farrowed in pens equipped with guard rails and a creep space in farrowing crates or in farrowing stalls. A pen equipped with guard rails and a creep space is adequate. The pen should be maintained at 24ºC to 28ºC until the piglets are three or four days old and at 18ºC to 22ºC until the piglets are approximately six weeks old. The heat lamps should be hung 45 cm from the floor and suitably protected. The farrowing pens should be thoroughly cleaned before the sow is brought in. This will prevent a large number of diseases of piglets. The sow should brought to the farrowing pen atleast one week prior to farrowing so that it becomes familiar with the surroundings. She should be washed thoroughly before being brought to the farrowing pen.  The feed ration should be made bulky by substituting one-third of the regular ration with wheat bran. The amount of ration fed should also be reduced by one third till the sow farrows. The sow should be watched closely for determining the approximate time of farrowing and feed should not be given 12 hours before farrowing.

An attendant should be on hand when the sow farrows. Otherwise many piglets will die. It takes generally 2 to 4 hours for complete farrowing to take place. The piglets should be removed as they are farrowed and kept warm in the creep space until farrowing is complete. Each piglet should be cleaned of all mucus to ensure that the breathing passages are clear. The navel cord should be tied 2-5 cm away from the navel, cut with a disinfected pair of scissors and the stumps painted with iodine. Piglets should be allowed to be nursed after birth. In about 2 days they settle down to their individual teats. They nurse 8-10 times in 24 hours in the initial period. Trampling by the sow should be prevented during the first two weeks.

Piglets are born with four pairs of sharp teeth, with two pairs on each jaw. They are of no practical value to the piglets and they may irritate the sow’s udder during nursing or cause injury to other piglets. Clipping of these teeth shortly after birth will prevent the injury of the udder caused by the needle teeth.

In Mizoram, the main ingredients of feed provided to the pigs are, locally available grasses, Colocasia, Tapioca and sweet potato leaves and tubers along with small quantity of concentrate. The average feed offered by the farmer/pig/day is 1.53 kg kitchen waste, 1 kg locally available grasses and 200 g concentrate. The concentrate mixture comprised mainly of wheat bran and rice polish. The concentrate mixture along with grasses and kitchen waste is boiled together as slurry and then the prepared feed is offered to pigs twice daily in nearly equal amounts. No additional feed supplements are given to the pigs by the farmers.

The pig must always be provided with fresh clean drinking water. A sow with young will need 20 – 30 liters of water.

Though, the pig is omnivorous and can eat grass and plants, but, pigs will grow and get fatter quickly if they are fed concentrate feed. Grain, which has been well ground into meal, is a good feed.

Average feed consumption of pigs at various age groups

Pig can be kept alone or in small groups in pig sty, a concrete or solid floored pen with a low shelter. When building a sty, one should choose an area, which is never flooded in the rainy season. It should not be too near to houses as it smells and flies are a nuisance. The floor should be concrete and sloping away from the sleeping area so that urine flows out and away. The concrete floor should be laid on a good foundation and will need to be 5 -6 cm thick. If the concrete is too thin and cracks, the pigs will soon start to dig it up. An earthen floor cannot be kept clean and will lead to problems with parasites and other disease.

The walls of the sty need to be fairly smooth so that they can be kept clean. Cracks in the walls will allow dirt and germs to accumulate. The dung can be removed every day allowing the pen to be kept clean and avoiding the build up of waste and smell.

Whatever the housing method is used, piglets should have access to a warm area, where the sow cannot reach. This is called as creep and piglets can be given feed here and can lie down without the risk of the mother lying on top of them. The sow is prevented from entering the creep by placing a temporary wall of boards or strong rails across part of the shelter. The bottom rail is about 30 cm from the ground allowing the small piglets to pass under it.

Space requirement for pigs

• All the newly born piglets should be vaccinated atleast against Swine fever at the age of 2 months.
• Pigs can be infected with a number of worms, which results in poor weight gain in adults. In young pigs, infection with roundworms can cause diarrhea, weight loss, lung problems and death. Hence, the piglets should be dewormed regularly once in every there months. Worms from pigs can cause disease in human. The eggs of these parasites infect new hosts and can stay in the ground or the pigsty for up to 5 years. Infected pigs can be easily treated with a suitable drug. The pregnant sow should be dewormed before giving birth; otherwise she will pass on infection to her litter.
• The next commonly occurring ailment is skin infection, which may be caused by several organisms like bacteria, lice, ticks, mites and results in thickening and crusting of the skin. Mange occurs around the head, ears, legs and tail but will spread over the body if not treated. The lice feed on the skin and irritate the pig, which will scratch and can cause wounds, which become infected. The ticks may carry other infections to the animals.
• Mange is controlled by spraying, dipping or painting the infected areas with a suitable preparation. The pen and shelter should also be thoroughly cleaned out and washed down. Treatment should be repeated after 2 weeks. Affected pens should be thoroughly cleaned.
• In general, illness in pig is characterized by dullness, inappetite, disinclination to move, rough coat with loss of bloom, constipation or diarrhea. Once, these symptoms are noticed, veterinarian should be contacted for treatment

Production depends largely upon reproduction. Pigs usually attain puberty around 6-11 months of age. It is best to leave one or two initial estrus periods and breed the gilt in third estrus. The estrus period usually lasts for 3-4 days. The major factor behind the successful pig reproduction is proper detection of estrus.

Estrus detection needs to be carried out slowly and methodically each and every day. The general signs of estrus are vocal, frequent urination, elevation of tail, swollen vulva, pink vaginal mucous membrane, sticky mucus at vulva, bar biting, climbing, restlessness, pricked ears, loss of appetite, arched back, tail upright and flicking up and down. Not all the above mentioned signs will be exhibited by a single female. Different sow exhibit estrus in different way. The best way to identify heat is to press with palms of both the hands over the loin region and see the response of female (Backpressure test). If the sow stands motionless with cocked ear like a sawhorse, it indicates that the sow is in proper heat. The best time to mate the sow is 12-36 h after onset of heat and if she is still in heat next day also, rebreeding on second day is advocated to get higher conception rate and litter size.

The average gestation period of sow is usually 114 days. It is better to keep the pregnant sows separately. During pregnancy sow will need plenty of feed with high nutrient (grain and green stuffs) and water. The pen should be kept clean and the sows should be shifted to farrowing pen 3 weeks before the expected date of farrowing. The sow should be provided with plenty of clean bedding materials when farrowing is close. It is better to avoid feeding sow with in 12 h of farrowing. The sow becomes restless and starts to make a nest within 24 hours of giving birth. The teat will produce milk when gently squeezed. Blood stained fluid may be passed from the vagina 1 to 2 hours before birth begins and if small greenish pellets appear, the first piglets will appear within an hour. The sow should be closely watched during farrowing. In case of any difficulty in parturition, the veterinarian should be contacted immediately.

The piglets should be removed as they are farrowed and they should be cleaned off all mucus to ensure that the breathing passages are clear. Weak piglets should be guided to suck the mother’s teat. After weaning the piglets, the sow exhibits estrus with in a week. Hence, early weaning of piglets at about 3-4 weeks may help in reducing the inter farrowing interval.

The following points must be taken care to get the maximum benefits out of pig rearing

• Proper Feeding
• Proper Housing
• Proper Estrus Detection and Mating
• Proper Care of Pregnant Sow
• Hygienic Farrowing pen
• Proper care of new born piglets
• Early weaning
• Early post partum mating
• Proper health coverage