Pig farming business in Nigeria: Make 500k to a million monthly

The piggery farming business is one of the best husbandry businesses to venture into in Nigeria as many people have made millions from it and still making it.

In this article, I will not only be showing you how to start a pig farming business in Nigeria but also the things you must look out for before you decide to start

With knowledge comes the power to make wealth

The pig farming business is very profitable. As a beginner, you can make up to N300,000 from your first sales.

But to start with, let me offer this very straightforward advice; “pig farming is not usually the way the media carries it, and it is not usually the way you hear it from people”.

Just like Football matches, spectators see football matches differently from the players.

For spectators, football is entertainment and it is a game. But for the players, football is not a game nor is it entertainment, rather, it is a very serious business.

The same thing can be likened to the way people talk about agric business (pig farming in particular) in Nigeria.

Because people see it as a means of producing and selling meat (pork). But when you get into it, you will discover that it is more than just swine production.

The most common aspect people talk about when it comes to pig farming is;

“If I have like 10 million Naira, I could get like two plots of land, build my pig pens, and employ somebody to manger it. After seven months I can sell my pigs at 50kg, 60kg, and make money.”

If it was as simple as that, nobody would have been working as an employee❗️

It involves actually having the right mindset and knowledge from the onset.

What is this mindset all about?

The mindset tells you this enterprise you are going into is not farming but a serious business.

That must be the foundation upon which you can fully start a piggery farming business in Nigeria.

Having concluded the introductions, let’s go to the Practical and technical parts of the pig farming business in Nigeria.

Things to look out for Before starting your Pig farming business in Nigeria

1. Religious Sentiment

The religious sentiment in your state plays a lot in whether the pig farming business will be profitable to you or not.

We all know Muslims don’t eat pigs and it will be foolish for anyone living in the north part of Kano; “I mean the Muslim-dominated part of Kano” to start his or her pig-rearing business there.

First, you will be hated for it. And second, you will not have the right market for it.

But in most parts of the West, South, and Eastern part of the country, you can find endless demand for pig production.

In most parts of East Nigeria, just forget it, people are eating a whole lot of pigs.

So the most important thing is to identify those places where religious sentiment doesn’t hinder your business.

2. Legislation that could be against pig farming in your area

Take for instance in Lagos it is outlawed to rear your pigs in residential areas or even close to residential areas.

The reasons are that pigs generate loud noise and a very bad odor.

So what you do in that case is to look for a place far from the residential areas

When you are done with securing a place “which could be a plot (120 by 60) or an acre depending on your project size”, you move to the next on the list.

How to start a pig farming business in Nigeria?

1. Pigpen

Pigpen also refers to the pig house

There is how we construct a pig pen to make the pen house safe for the pigs.

Take, for instance, if you look at the direction of the sun, there is how the sun rises in the morning and there is how it is in the afternoon.

The pig house is constructed in such a way that the pigs are comfortable in their homes no matter how hot the sun could be.

The reason for focusing mostly on the sun positioning while constructing the pen house is that pigs are not sweating animals.

Let me explain further, you have been aware that pigs play and swim in the water a lot.

The reason is not that they are dirty “as most people will think”. The reason is that they are not sweating animals.

If you check yourself, you will notice holes all over your body “sweat glands”, and through those holes, you sweat. Pigs weren’t made with holes fixtures.

So when they have heat, they want to keep themselves in the water to cool off. That is the reason you always see them in water.

In conclusion, when constructing the pigpen, two things must be considered.

1. The direction of the sun has to be considered
2. Their pens must have space filled with water; “drinking and bathing”, and also feeding.

Or possibly if you find a place with a constructed pen, you can take it for lease or buy the land and the pen if is for sale.

2. Piglet

Piglets are small pigs. Just like saying our babies. Pigs babies are called piglets.

On this point, you have to be very careful in getting your piglets as there are diverse breeds of pigs.

Not just different breeds but also healthy and unhealthy ones.

The different breeds are classified into 3 categories

1. White (foreign) breeds
2. Local breeds
3. crossbreeds

I believe they are self-explanatory.

The white breed is actually very expensive, you can get a white breed for at least N30,000. While the local breed goes for at least N5,000.

The choice is yours on which to go for.

Also note, it is very important that you get the right breed from the right source because they must be healthy.

If by any chance they are not healthy is like building a house on a wrong or faulty foundation. It is definitely going to affect their growth.

3. Feed

Feeding is a serious aspect of pig farming.

If you are into animal husbandry in Nigeria, you are going to discover that probably 70% of your entire expenditure is going toward feeding.

The reason is that when your pigs wake up in the morning they eat, the same thing in the afternoon. You must feed them.

Vaccination is there but feeding is actually a serious aspect of this business.

There are foreign feeds that actually are very good for your pigs, but they are expensive. So it is advisable to know when and how to go local when the need arises.

4. Management

Management is a core part of any business in the world.

If you are the one that will manage the farm yourself, you must go for training.

But if it is someone else that will manage it for you, you must get him or her the essential training and it must be very comprehensive.

To get that training, it is best you look for somebody who has been in the business for a couple of years(above 3 years).

The reason for the minimum 3years benchmark is because at that level the person must have acquired all essential knowledge needed to minimize losses.

With that kind of tutor, you wouldn’t have many headaches running yours.

After that is done, you want to go ahead and get your piglet.

5. Vaccination

Vaccination is very serious.

There are vaccinations from day one till their maturity.

There are vaccinations for every stage of the pig, even when they are okay.

And when something is wrong too.

6. Clipping the teeth of the pigs

This is done to the piglets who survive mainly on the breastfeeding of their mothers.

At that very young age of still breastfeeding, they start growing teeth which gets to injure their mothers during their feeding process.

And biting their mother during breastfeeding is like hurting her also. And she would want to resist them.

Resisting them means they wouldn’t be able to feed well, which will definitely affect their health and growth.

That is the whole essence of teeth clipping the piglets.

By clipping the teeth, we mean cutting the teeth.

This clipping on the piglet can only be done by someone who has been on the farm for a couple of years.

How much does it cost to start a pig farm in Nigeria?

Pigs are raised commercially either for breeding (selling to those breeding) or for fattening for meat consumption.

Pigs are prodigally prolific in reproduction, and they give birth twice a year.

The gestation period is three months, three weeks, and three days; about 120 days in all.

Having two pigs of reproductive ages (male and female) at the beginning of a year can imply having about 20 and above by the end of that year.

Weaning is done after two months. And each weaned piglet at two months old is sold for about N6,000 to N7,000, depending on the breed and feeding.

Rearing pigs for meat require adequate feeding with nutritious feeds to have a good result at the expected time.

A well-fed pig with a balanced diet of feeds would attain about 60 to 80kgs in eight months. A kilogram is sold to off-takers at the rate of N500. This would give the farmer about N40,000.

The estimated cost it will take to rear a single pig is about N20,000

From the above calculation, N20,000 will be left as the profit margin.

N20,000 X 10 pigs would give the farmer about N200,000.

Rearing 50 pigs for meat purposes and having a few for reproduction can imply a sustainable small-scale pig farming business if the management of the business is good.

Good management means providing balanced diet feeds at the right time and de-worming the animals regularly; budgeting adequately to prevent starvation and good sanitation of the pen.

Adding value to the pigs by slaughtering and selling at a branded outlet would give additional profit to a farmer.

A kilo at the retail end of the business is sold at N900 or N1000. Additional ways to add value will be by purchasing a medium-sized freezer, a power generator or solar power gadgets, and an outlet to sell the pork.

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• Goat farming business in Nigeria
• Poultry farming business in Nigeria 

Conclusion
There are many other things you must know about the piggery farming business before you can start it in Nigeria.

But you only get this extra knowledge through practical training.

So, I advise that after having this theoretical knowledge which is a sign that you are good to go, you must sign up as a trainee or employee at any farm close to you, that you know the person has been in this business for at least 3 years.

With the knowledge acquired from the practical training, you will get to understand better everything discussed in this article.

I hope you benefited from this article; “Pig Farming Business in Nigeria”

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