What Is The Best Equipment For Pig Farming?

You will agree with me that simple farm equipment makes work easy for farmers and trust me, it’s no different for pig farmers either.

If you are going to be successful in the piggery farming business, you will need to have the right equipment for pig production. 

Using pig farming equipment on your farm makes your daily management operation very easy to do.

The more equipment you have on your farm, the more pigs you can keep and the less labour you require.

Some of the equipment is basic and easy to source in the local market. 

In fact, you can decide to locally fabricate some equipment depending on the need of the farm.

There are different equipment for giving pigs water, food, vet services, handling, weighing and housing. 

In this article, I’ll be highlighting some of the best equipment for pig farming.

If you’re ready for it, let’s get right in

Equipment needed for success in pig farming

Generally, to start a successful pig farm, here is a list of things you need.

1. Pig farrowing crate

A pig farrowing crate is a piece of equipment you should have on your farm if you keep breeding sows.

It is a metal enclosure in which you can keep the sows you use for breeding shortly before and after parturition.

The purpose of this pig farming equipment is to keep piglets safe after they are born.

Because sows are rather massive, they are sometimes a danger to their young. 

A farrowing crate design is such that it is impossible for the sow to lie on the piglets.

It also provides the right environment for both sows and piglets in the farrowing house.

As a result, it helps to minimize mortality and maximize the growth rate of the piglets.

You may choose to construct a pig farrowing crate from wood or buy a readymade metal crate.

2. Pig ventilation and cooler equipment

Ventilation systems are important in pig production to maintain desirable environmental conditions inside the pig house.

It also helps to increase pig production. 

There are usually two types of ventilation: natural type and mechanical type.

Depending on the size of your pig farm, you may need to employ the use of the mechanical type.

The mechanical ventilation system uses several different techniques to achieve the proper barn conditions that pigs desire. 

This ventilation system is working by delivering the expected amount of fresh air to all parts of the pig house.

As a result, it helps to maintain desirable temperature, relative humidity and ammonia levels inside the barn. 

3. Piglet heating equipment

For farmers who are in the business of farrowing sows, you will need a heating unit for the young pigs. 

You should provide a supplementary source of heat for the piglets. 

Provide adequate sleeping areas for them and introduce the heater lamps or bulbs. 

Adequate heating helps resist diseases and reduces heat waste.

When pigs have ideal house temperatures, it sub­stantially influences their health and performance.

Because of that, farmers in many climate zones use adequate heating systems to maintain temperatures. 

The overall goal is to maximise the thermal yield and transfer it to the pigs in the best possible way.

At the same time, try to keep energy costs as low as possible.

Right now, many pig farms are employing high-bed pig farrowing and breeding.

At the same time, they make use of infrared heating lamps, electric heating pads, far-infrared heating pads, etc.

4. Swine Feeders and feeding equipment

Swine just like every other animal requires a sufficient amount of feed to grow.

The amount and quality of feed would determine the growth rate and health of the swine. 

You need to provide a feeding area and mechanisms for eating. 

The mechanisms could be automated or manual depending on the pen construction.

If you are using an automatic cylinder feeder you should have a means of regulating the feed input.

This will help to regulate the swine feeding time and minimize waste. 

Using a piece of feeding equipment in your pig farm makes it easy to clean out leftover foods and replace them with new feed. 

Also, it helps in the maintenance of proper hygiene in the pig farm.

Different feeder designs are available for use in the nursery, growing and finishing pigs. 

So, you must therefore evaluate feeder designs for your operation and determine the correct feeder. 

Another piece of equipment for feeding swine is a feed scale to measure the exact portion of food to give the animal.

The function of a feed scope is to move feed from the bag to a feeder unit or bucket. 

Use a bucket to carry water or feed the animals. 

A good steel or aluminium bucket with a handle will surface.

5. Watering equipment for pig farming

Just as feeders are important for pigs, another important pig farming equipment is the installation of a watering system.

The watering system for pig farming could be a nipple dispensing system or you could provide water manually. 

There are also automatic watering systems to provide adequate water throughout the day. 

Pigs require lots of clean drinking water.

1-week old piglets require 250 g water per kg weight, fattening pigs 12 L water, pregnant sows 17L water per night. 

You can introduce a corrosion-resistant duck-billed pig drinker. 

You can have a polypropylene watering bowl for piglets and stainless steel watering bowl for adults.

6. Feral pig snare

A feral snare is a type of snare you can use when you need to capture a single pig and where larger traps are impractical. 

Because snares are easy to assemble, many landowners make their own. 

Feral pig snares can be a beneficial tool for controlling feral or untamed pigs.

When left to roam, feral hogs are dangerous and could damage landscapes, agricultural production, water quality, and native plant and animal communities. 

To reduce these problems, snaring can be an easy, inexpensive part of a feral pig management strategy.

Besides being beneficial for capturing feral pigs, a pig snare also helps to effectively provide medical aid to pigs.

The snare helps restrain the animal for a procedure.

7. Wheelbarrow

A wheelbarrow is a useful tool in a  pig farm for moving large quantities of pig feed around the farm.

You can also use a wheelbarrow to carry bedding for the pig farm and for clearing manure also. 

Wheelbarrows come in handy when the farm is large and the distance between materials and where you need them to be is far apart.

8. Disposable Boots and Boot Dip

There are lots of diseases that affect swine which are caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites.

To prevent this from affecting the swine, ensure that you and visitors to the facility wear disposable plastic boots as a biosecurity measure. 

This measure prevents dangerous microbes that attach to the sole of shoes or sandals from transferring into the farm.

Alternately, you can place a dip boot with appropriate disinfectant for visitors to insert their shoes before entering the farm. 

You as the farm owner must also maintain this protocol anytime you enter the farm.

Use disinfectants between stockings to keep bacteria loads at a minimum. 

Finally, ensure that the boots and clothes you use on the farm are limited only to farm use.

9. A comfortable pig pen

When it comes to pig farming, you must ensure you provide good housing for the pigs.

This helps to provide security for the pigs and also makes the provision of food, water and medication easy for you.

There are two ways to rear pigs. It’s either a free-range pig farm or an intensive system of pig farming. 

Depending on the geographical area and weather conditions, the pen could be outdoors or indoors.

The pen needs a shelter roof and height should not exceed 5 ft. 

Free-range pigs require a sturdy perimeter fence that will not collapse easily.

You can electrify the fence to prevent escape or predators from getting into the enclosure. 

In addition, you need a power washer to remove dirt and wash away manure from the facility.

Whatever system you choose must provide security for the pigs, shade and a good resting place.

Some materials for building a comfortable pen for pigs include wood, metal concrete and blocks.

10. Loading Area

Mature pigs are huge, heavy animals and require proper handling equipment. 

Therefore, you need a loading area to transport or load them on a truck. 

The loading area should have a sliding gate adjustable to the floor area. 

Invest in a handheld hurdle of 6 x 30-inch plywood to herd pigs.

Medical equipment for pig farming 

To administer medical care to pigs, you need to have the right equipment on your farm to make the work easier.

There are many pig farming equipment for administering treatment, grooming or medical procedures. 

Some of the common equipment includes pliers, dressing, scalpel handles, blades and syringes.

All of these pig farming medical equipment have their individual uses.

For instance, 

1. Scalpel:

to prevent a condition known as boar taint in puberty the male pig is castrated with the scalpel.

Most boar piglets are castrated when they are  1 week of age. 

2. Side-cutting Pliers:

To prevent damage during scratches and avoid cuts and bruises during fights between piglets, you need to cut their teeth.

For this, you need side-cutting pliers to blunt the tips of their teeth.

3. Notching Pliers:

When you need to identify the piglets easily, then you need to introduce ear notching pliers to cut notches on piglets.

After cutting the notches, you can then clip a tag to the ear of the pigs for easy identification.

4. Syringe:

The syringe, on the other hand, is an essential tool in administering vaccinations or injections.

Syringes could either be multiple-dose syringes or disposable injections.

The syringe capacity ranges from 10cc to 50cc and needle size depends on the size of the animal.

5. Wound dressing equipment:

Pigs roll on the floor too much and may cut themselves in the process.

There may be other reasons that may cause a pig to have wounds, however, you need to dress the wounds when you see them.

Wound dressing helps to prevent infection in wounds.

Most importantly, wound dressing equipment is necessary during a medical procedure. 

6. Medical storage facility:

You need to provide a good storage area for medication like shelves and refrigeration for vaccines.

This will help keep medications and other medical equipment safe and easily accessible.

Summary

The benefits of pig farming are numerous, but you cannot harness them if you are using the wrong equipment.

There are several different types of equipment that serves different purposes on the pig farm.

It is therefore important to have many of these handy tools to make work easier for you.

Farmers who use the right tools for different needs of the farm tend to enjoy their work and are better able to manage the farm.

You may not necessarily get all of this equipment at the same time.

If you don’t have the money, start with the most essential equipment like feeders and watering systems and then build up.

To get more insight on the necessary farm tools you should have on your pig farm, you should definitely visit other farmers.

I hope this article gives you a headway to start gathering the right equipment for your pig farming business.

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Cheers.

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