Producing piglets: Part 2

High-quality animals and patient, meticulous management are at the heart of successful breeding and farrowing. One boar should be mated with one sow per week, and the sow and piglets looked after with care.

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The successful pig farmer always uses good breeding animals. The piglets produced should grow fast and produce quality carcasses with a high percentage of meat and a small quantity of fat.

When buying pigs for the first time, take someone along who has the necessary knowledge and experience.

SMALL-SCALE BREEDING PROGRAMME

If you are a small-scale farmer with 20 or fewer breeding sows, use the following selection and breeding programme:

• Buy good (above-average) purebred boars from a reputable farmer who keeps accurate records. You can then be better assured of the performance of the boar and its parents.

• Buy boars from prominent breeds used in South Africa, such as the Landrace or Large White.

• When buying gilts (young female pigs) for the first time, get them (as with the boars) from a breeder with good pigs and who keeps accurate records. The gilts need not be purebred; they can be bred from Landrace or Large White sows crossed with boars from the other breed.

• Later, when selecting your own gilts for breeding, apply strict selection measures and keep accurate records of growth and feed conversion. If you don’t have a record system, rather buy replacement gilts.

•  Always buy gilts from the same breeder or farm, and make sure that the seller has a breeding plan. Consult an expert if necessary. If you always buy pigs from the same breeder, let him or her dictate the breeding policy.

FARROWING

The farrowing process should be managed with great care. You need to be hands-on!

• Assist the sow only when necessary.

• Be on the lookout for the MMA (mastitis, metritis, agalactae) syndrome.