If you own a piggery farm, know that you need to find a way to produce a lot of piglets each year for profitability. However, this goal is not easy to achieve today because of high piglet mortality rate. There are a lot of factors that lead to piglet mortality. One of those factors is the absence of an important unit in the production center called a farrowing crate.

If you are just starting out, you may not have any idea of the importance of farrowing crates for female pigs. After birth, piglets struggle to survive and many of them die. As a result, you suffer a lot of financial loss.

So, if you are investing in pig farm equipment, we suggest that you get farrowing crates. Some of their benefits are listed below:

Cannibalism

If you have aggressive gilts, know that they may eat their piglets after giving birth … Read more

In considering this business for investment, one must be conscious of religious sensitivities particularly as about 12% of Uganda’s 35m population is Muslim. This is about 4.3m people and thus fairly significant as it would almost be haraam (loosely translated means taboo or “forbidden” in Arabic) to start this business in a neighbourhood which has a sizeable Muslim population, like say Mbale – my home town.

Whilst on the religious subject, it is worth remembering that Matthew 7: 6 says; “do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.”

I have recently invested in a 50/50 joint venture with a family friend to start a piggery project in Mbale. I provided the start-up working capital and he provided the land and housing. I am still unsure whether I have thrown my pearls (i.e. money) … Read more

There is nothing more stressful than finding oneself responsible for caring for a litter of orphaned pups in the event the mother dies or refuses to nurse for whatever reason. While this is going to require time and commitment, never fear – this is something you CAN do.

Supplies You Will Need:

• Shoebox
• Water bottle
• Insulating materials like towels, old socks, etc
• Additional cloths to wrap babies in when handling
• Wash cloths
• A scale – either postal or kitchen to weigh the babies
• A chart to track their weight
• Special food like Oxbow Critical Care (can be obtained from a veterinarian)
• A small needless syringe
• A selection of real food like hay, grass, veggies, greens, etc.

Supplies You Will Not Need

A number of resources recommend using milk, milk blends, or diluted evaporated milk as a replacement for mother’s milk. This is not necessary as babies are able to consume … Read more

“Dr. Smart Pig was a famous inventor, but he didn’t have any friends…”

This is a Halloween book that can be enjoyed all year long. Most kids are fascinated with The Three Little Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf. So if you’ve read The Three Little Pigs a million times and need a bit of a change, then this is the book for you. You’ll be happy to have a little variety in your life, and your young reader will be happy to still be hearing about the Big Bad Wolf.

The story begins with Dr. Pig who feels alone ever since the Big Bad Wolf ate his two brothers. Then he realizes, he’s a famous inventor, so he can invent a friend. He sprints to his lab where he mixes up concoction after concoction. Kids will love the illustrations of his results–a pig fish, a pig bat. He just … Read more

I spent a few years of my early childhood living on a farm. I don’t remember very much from that period but I do recall being attached to many of the animals, mostly the babies. The animals were outside most of the time, when I noticed one of them missing I just figured they ran off to be with their friends in the wild. I also remember that we ate a whole lot of chicken.

Now I’m a big girl with two kids of my own. I wanted my children to have a pet but I’m not a dog person and cats make me sneeze. I read that people have been bringing miniature pot-bellied pigs home as pets and the farm girl in me got excited. Since I already ruled out having a cow in my living room, we got the pig.

Our pig, that my kids named Piggy, was … Read more