Construction Methods and Technical Key Points for Fragrance Pig Housing

The fragrance pig (English: fragrance pig) belongs to the order Artiodactyla, family Suidae, genus Sus, and is famous nationwide for its small body, early maturity, and fresh-tasting meat. The fragrance pig is also known as the mini pig. Among them, the Congjiang fragrance pig and Jianbai fragrance pig from the Qiandongnan region of Guizhou, which was awarded the title of "Hometown of Chinese Fragrance Pigs" by the national agricultural department, and the Bama fragrance pig from Guangxi near the Qiandongnan region of Guizhou are the most famous. There are also other breeds such as the Huanjiang fragrance pig and Tibetan fragrance pig, all of which belong to dwarf pig breeds. The fragrance pig has a short and small build. Its coat is black, with fine, glossy hair; a long head; a flat forehead; crisscross wrinkles on the forehead; an obvious hairless area around the eyes; thin ears extending flat to both sides; a slightly sunken back and waist; a large, round, drooping belly; short, thin legs; and a small, thin tail with white hair at the tip. At 6 months of age, male fragrance pigs have an average body weight of 14.2 kg, body length of 65 cm, body height of 33 cm, and chest circumference of 55 cm; at 8 months of age, female pigs weigh 30 kg, with a body length of 70 cm, body height of 47 cm, and chest circumference of 73 cm. The slaughter rate of fattened fragrance pigs is 63.6%, and the lean meat rate reaches 52.2%. <p>The fragrance pig (English: fragrance pig) belongs to the order Artiodactyla, family Suidae, genus Sus, and is famous nationwide for its small body, early maturity, and fresh-tasting meat. The fragrance pig is also known as the &ldquo;mini pig&rdquo;. Among them, the Congjiang fragrance pig and Jianbai fragrance pig from the Qiandongnan region of Guizhou, which was awarded the title of &ldquo;Hometown of Chinese Fragrance Pigs&rdquo; by the national agricultural department, and the Bama fragrance pig from Guangxi near the Qiandongnan region of Guizhou are the most famous. There are also other breeds such as the Huanjiang fragrance pig and Tibetan fragrance pig, all of which belong to dwarf pig breeds. The fragrance pig has a short and small build. Its coat is black, with fine, glossy hair; a long head; a flat forehead; crisscross wrinkles on the forehead; an obvious hairless area around the eyes; thin ears extending flat to both sides; a slightly sunken back and waist; a large, round, drooping belly; short, thin legs; and a small, thin tail with white hair at the tip. At 6 months of age, male fragrance pigs have an average body weight of 14.2 kg, body length of 65 cm, body height of 33 cm, and chest circumference of 55 cm; at 8 months of age, female pigs weigh 30 kg, with a body length of 70 cm, body height of 47 cm, and chest circumference of 73 cm. The slaughter rate of fattened fragrance pigs is 63.6%, and the lean meat rate reaches 52.2%.</p><p></p><p>Design and Construction of Fragrance Pig Housing </p><p>In the design and construction of fragrance pig housing, on the basis of complying with the process flow, regional differences must be considered. The emphasis in the design and construction of fragrance pig housing differs by region. For example, areas north of the Yellow River should focus on cold prevention and warmth retention, moisture prevention and dehumidification, while areas south of the Yellow River should focus on moisture prevention and heat insulation, and heatstroke prevention and cooling. </p><p>(1) Building forms of fragrance pig housing </p><p>① Single-row fragrance pig housing. Single-row fragrance pig housing is suitable for rural areas or small farms with a smaller breeding scale. Its characteristics are: low investment, good ventilation, convenient maintenance, and simple structure. The disadvantage is low labor efficiency. According to its building form, it can be further divided into open style and semi-open style. </p><p>Open style: Open-style fragrance pig housing is composed of gable walls on both sides, a rear wall, a roof, and supports. Its characteristics are: low investment and simple structure; the shortcoming is that it is greatly affected by natural conditions. According to its building form, the open style can be further divided into single-slope style and double-slope style. </p><p>Semi-open style: In addition to the gable walls on both sides, the rear wall, and the roof, the front wall of semi-open fragrance pig housing is mostly a half wall about 1 m high. In northern regions, in order to prevent cold, some are fitted with glass windows, while in southern regions windproof curtains are generally hung. In addition to the single-slope style and double-slope style, the building forms of semi-open fragrance pig housing also include bell tower style and arch style. </p><p>② Double-row fragrance pig housing. Double-row fragrance pig housing is suitable for larger-scale, collective, or large farms. Its characteristics are: convenient management, not limited by natural conditions, and able to effectively control the production environment and improve labor efficiency. The disadvantages are: relatively large investment and relatively complex structure. According to its building form, it can be further divided into windowed enclosed fragrance pig housing and fully enclosed fragrance pig housing. </p><p>Windowed enclosed fragrance pig housing: The so-called windowed enclosed fragrance pig housing is one with windows left in the front and rear walls for regulating indoor air and ventilation. It is suitable for lactating female fragrance pigs, weaned piglets and growing-finishing fragrance pigs, etc.</p><p>Its characteristics are: relatively convenient management, and good heat preservation performance, and house utilization rate. Fully enclosed fragrance pig housing: The so-called fully enclosed fragrance pig housing is one with no windows left in the front and rear walls, and ventilation openings installed on both gable walls, with exhaust fans installed on the ventilation openings. At the same time, heating, cooling, waste removal and other mechanical equipment are also installed inside the house to create an excellent living environment for the growth of the fragrance pig herd. The shortcoming is that the investment is relatively large, the structure is complex, and an adequate power supply is required. </p><p>(2) Cold prevention and warmth retention, and heatstroke prevention and heat insulation of fragrance pig housing. The heat preservation and heat insulation performance of fragrance pig housing mainly depends on the building materials and building structure of the fragrance pig housing. In northern China, the single-row fragrance pig housing rearing method should especially be adopted. In winter, the form of a solar greenhouse can be used, which is both economical and practical, with good heat preservation performance. </p><p>① Solar greenhouse fragrance pig housing. Solar greenhouse fragrance pig housing is mainly aimed at the part of the exercise yard exposed outside the house in single-row fragrance pig housing. In winter, especially in northern regions, the cold climate affects the normal growth and reproduction of fragrance pigs. For this reason, plastic film is set up and covered, thereby raising the temperature inside the house and achieving the purpose of increasing temperature and preserving warmth. The covered area is generally from the front pen wall to the roof in front of the rear house wall. </p><p>② Heat-insulated fragrance pig housing in summer. The heat source in summer comes from the sun's heat radiation. The main heat insulation measure is the treatment of the roof, such as adding a layer of glass fiber or other lightweight insulation materials such as wheat straw, chopped rice straw, and sawdust on top of the ceiling. At the same time, installing a suspended ceiling inside the house to add an air insulation layer can also achieve a good effect.</p><p>3. Internal equipment of fragrance pig housing </p><p>(1) Fragrance pig pens. Apart from open pens, partitions generally need to be set up in ordinary fragrance pig housing. The materials needed for the partitions can be obtained locally according to local conditions, to reduce production costs. The partitions for male fragrance pigs and fattening fragrance pigs should be built in the form of low walls to avoid mutual interference. For partitions used by other fragrance pig groups, the longitudinal partitions should be fixed fences, and the transverse partitions can be movable fences, so as to adjust the pen area. Depending on production needs, they can be used for single-pen rearing or group rearing. In large-scale farms, for ease of management, fragrance pig pens are generally divided relatively finely, including boar pens, empty and mating fragrance pig pens, pregnant female fragrance pig pens, farrowing female fragrance pig pens, piglet nursery pens and growing-finishing fragrance pig pens, etc. </p><p>① Boar and empty and mating fragrance pig pens. The layout of this kind of pig pen should consider facilitating fragrance pig mating and the full use of the fragrance pig housing. They are generally single-row fragrance pig housing and can be divided into front and rear rows, with a mating area in the middle. Their characteristic is that they can mutually induce estrus, making it convenient to discover and check estrous fragrance pigs. </p><p>② Pregnant female fragrance pig pens. There are many forms of pregnant female fragrance pig pens, and the rearing methods are also diverse. There are pens housing multiple fragrance pigs (2-5) in 1 pen, and there are also pens with 1 fragrance pig housed alone in 1 pen. Housing a pregnant female fragrance pig alone in 1 pen can avoid mutual biting and fighting, squeezing and collision, and competition for food between strong and weak among female fragrance pigs, reduce miscarriage of pregnant female fragrance pigs, and improve the survival rate of piglets. The pig pens are made of steel pipes or wood. Their disadvantages are high material consumption, large construction investment, restricted activity of female fragrance pigs, small amount of exercise, easy occurrence of leg and hoof diseases, and also shortening the service life of female fragrance pigs. </p><p>③ Farrowing female fragrance pig pens. The farrowing pen is divided into two parts: the farrowing frame and the farrowing bed. The farrowing frame is installed above the farrowing bed. The farrowing frame is 1 m long, 0.3 m wide, and 0.5 m high. The farrowing bed is 1 m long, 0.8 m wide, and 0.2 m high from the ground. The mesh at the bottom of the farrowing bed can be woven with iron wire with a mesh size of 0.5 sq cm. The middle part of the farrowing pen is the female fragrance pig restriction area, and the two sides are piglet activity areas. The front end of the restriction area is provided with a female fragrance pig feed trough and drinker, and the rear end should be equipped with a horizontal bar to prevent the female fragrance pig from backing up. At the same time, the piglet activity area should also be equipped with heat preservation devices, such as heat preservation boxes, infrared lamps, electric heating floors and other measures, and be provided with feed troughs and drinkers. </p><p>④ Piglet nursery pens. Newly weaned piglets have not yet fully developed various physiological functions and have poor adaptability, yet they are in a vigorous stage of growth and development. Therefore, they still need a nursery period to provide them with a clean and warm excellent environment. Nursery pens generally mostly use welded steel-bar net beds. A nursery pen is generally 1 m long and 0.8 m wide, with an area of about 0.8 sq m. The mesh size of the bottom net is generally preferably 0.5 sq cm. Such a nursery pen can raise about 10 weaned piglets. Feed troughs and drinkers are then installed at the front and rear. </p><p>⑤ Growing-finishing fragrance pig pens. The construction forms of growing-finishing fragrance pig pens are diverse. There are forms with relatively large investment such as aluminum alloy partition boards combined with cement floors and metal slatted floors; there are also forms with relatively convenient maintenance and disinfection such as metal partitions combined with cement floors and water-flush slatted floors; and there are also forms with relatively low investment but inconvenient maintenance such as cement partition boards combined with cement floors and cement slats. Different regions, especially the north and south, differ greatly, and the breeding scales are also not the same. According to local conditions, in line with the principle of spending less money, doing more, and doing things well, one can adapt to local conditions and choose a breeding model suitable for oneself.</p>