Detailed Explanation of Key Points of Scientific Pig Farming Techniques to Help You Improve Farming Efficiency
Pig farming has a history of several thousand years in China. Except for a few ethnic groups that forbid pig farming, the vast majority of farming households have the habit of raising pigs. Hence the saying, "The poor do not discard the pig, the rich do not discard books." In rural areas, almost every household raises pigs, but most use traditional methods such as gathering pig feed and boiling pig swill, which makes farming time-consuming, labor-intensive, and low in efficiency. To change this situation, scientific pig farming techniques must be used.
Selecting Superior Breeds
1. Landrace pig: The Landrace pig originated in Denmark and is currently the most widely distributed, most numerous, and higher lean meat-yielding lean-type breed in the world, with a lean meat rate of 60-63%. Adult boars weigh 250-350 kg, and sows weigh 220-300 kg. Average litter size is 10-12 piglets, weaning weight at two months is 15-18 kg, body weight at 6 months of age reaches over 90 kg, average daily gain is 700 grams, and feed-to-meat ratio is 3.5:1.
2. Large Yorkshire pig: The Large Yorkshire pig, also known as the Large White pig, originated in England. Body weight at 6 months of age can reach about 100 kg, and over 160 kg in one year. Adult boars weigh 300-500 kg, and sows weigh 250-350 kg. Sows give birth to 10 piglets, with weaning weight at two months of over 16 kg. Daily gain reaches over 650 grams, feed conversion rate is 3-3.5:1, and lean meat rate is over 60%.
3. Duroc pig: The full name of the Duroc pig is Duroc Jersey, originating in the United States. Body weight at 153 days after birth can reach 90 kg, and 160 kg in one year, with an average daily gain of over 600 grams, feed-to-meat ratio of 2.91:1, suitable as a second sire. Adult boars weigh 340-450 kg, sows weigh 300-390 kg, weaning weight at two months is 16 kg, and lean meat rate is about 60%.
4. Taihu pig: The Taihu pig is the breed with the highest reproductive capacity and the largest litter size in the world, mainly distributed in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Taihu Lake basin at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. The Taihu pig has a medium body size, and sows have an average litter size of 15 piglets, making it a rare good maternal breed in the world's pig farming industry.
5. Rongchang pig: The Rongchang pig originated in Rongchang and Longchang counties in Sichuan Province, with a history of over 300 years. Average litter size is 12 piglets, adult sows weigh 150-200 kg, and lean meat rate is 42%.
6. Duroc pig: The Duroc pig originated in the northeastern United States and is one of the most famous and widely distributed dominant lean-type pig breeds in the world. It is usually used as a crossbreeding sire for producing commercial meat pigs, known as the golden terminal boar. Compared with boars of other breeds, the Duroc pig has a robust and sturdy constitution, and commercial pigs with Duroc bloodlines have no stress or meat quality problems, making them generally welcomed.
7. Crossbred pig: Crossbred pigs are hybrid piglets produced by mating local domestic sows with superior foreign boars. They are better used for fattening pigs, can better exhibit the advantages of both parents, and have strong vitality and growth intensity, manifested in various traits such as stress resistance, reproductive rate, development speed, physiological activity, yield, quality, lifespan, and endurance.
Composition of Compound Diets
1. Energy feed, also called carbohydrate feed, mainly provides the energy needed for pig growth and development, including corn, sorghum, rice, wheat, sweet potato, rice bran, wheat bran, etc. Here we mainly use corn and rice.
2. Protein feed is a nutrient that pigs need in relatively large amounts. Its main function is to form various tissues, maintain health, ensure reproduction, and promote development. It includes various beans and cakes, as well as animal proteins such as fish meal, blood and meat meal, feather meal, silkworm pupa meal, etc. The protein content of beans is 20-24%, cakes and meals 25-50%, and animal products over 50%.
3. Vitamin supplements account for a very small portion of the feed, but pig metabolism, growth and reproduction, sensory activities, and nervous functions are all closely related to them. Their main function is to control and regulate metabolic processes. When concentrated and green feeds are mixed at a ratio of 1:1.6-2 in the diet, deficiencies generally will not occur.
4. Mineral feed mainly functions to form bones and teeth, regulate blood concentration, promote digestive and nervous activity, muscle activity, and endocrine activity. It mainly includes salt, bone meal, shell powder, calcium carbonate, charcoal, red clay, etc.
5. Additive feed refers to minerals and various drugs (such as deworming drugs, stomachic drugs, etc.) artificially added to the feed.
Principles of Feed Formulation
1. Adapt to local conditions, use local materials, make maximum use of local feed resources, strive for diversity, and aim for the nutritional composition of the formula to achieve basic balance or full price.
2. Palatability of feed: considering only nutrition while ignoring palatability will fail to achieve the expected results.
3. Pay attention to the relationship between the volume of the compound feed and the feed intake of pigs.
4. The proportion of crude fiber in the feed must not exceed 20%.
5. Toxic cake-type feed should not account for a high proportion in compound feed and must be detoxified before use.
6. Trace elements, salt, and preventive drugs in premixes must be stirred evenly in proportion during mixing to prevent poisoning.
7. Make maximum use of feed that is low in price and can meet nutritional requirements, so as to reduce feed costs.