Weight of pot-bellied piglets at 4 months. Vietnamese pot-bellied piglets: features of breeding and care. Proper nutrition accelerates growth

Breeding Vietnamese piglets is a fairly profitable and rational business: they eat little, and the conditions for keeping animals at home are quite simple. The weight of an adult animal after a year of keeping reaches an average of 80 kg. The meat and lard of such piglets is very tasty, juicy and tender.

In this breed, puberty begins early, at about 3-4 months, so once this age is reached, the pig can be bred. The gestation period lasts almost 4 months, the first births number approximately 10 piglets, then the number increases to 20. Sows are good mothers, as a result of which, as a rule, there are no problems with raising piglets.

This breed is quite clean: potbellies go to the toilet exclusively in one place, they do not dig holes for this. Their smell is not as strong as that of ordinary pigs. If you spread a thick layer of straw in winter, the animal tolerates the cold well, and its weight only increases. Therefore, breeding such pigs does not cause any special problems or hassle.

Vietnamese pot-bellied piglets have an easy-going nature, are not aggressive, and are smart. They rarely get sick, they are given vaccinations only at the birth of a piglet (iron supplement and complex vitamins).

Due to the lack of pickiness and increased demands on the living conditions of pot-bellied piglets, breeding Vietnamese pigs is becoming more widespread and popular.

Features of farrowing pot-bellied pigs

Signs of farrowing (birth) of a pig:

a few days before giving birth, the sow becomes restless;
the belly of the Vietnamese pig goes down;
the nipples become seriously swollen and acquire a characteristic red color.

Right before giving birth, the pig makes a kind of nest for itself, crumples the bedding underneath, and chews hay to soften it. Therefore, it is important to prepare for her birth. To do this you need:

remove all sawdust from the machine and leave clean water and hay;
make a separate corner for the kids;
place a lamp with red rays nearby so that the desired temperature is achieved;
prepare the necessary items to tie the umbilical cord, as well as diapers.

For a successful birth, it is better to be close to the sow: this way she will feel calmer. Farrowing occurs within 3-5 hours, after which the following recommendations must be followed:

The afterbirth that comes out after childbirth must be removed immediately so that the pig does not eat it.
Born piglets should eat colostrum within the next hour after birth.
It is necessary to remove all mucus and films from the piglet, clean the mouth and snout, tie the umbilical cord with a thread and cut it, lubricate the wound with iodine solution and place it near the lamp to dry. It is recommended to measure the weight of the born piglet (usually the weight is 500 grams).
The temperature in the room should be up to 32 degrees for the first few days after farrowing, otherwise the calf’s heat exchange will be disrupted, as a result of which the piglets often begin to get sick and grow poorly.
During the first 24 hours, the cubs eat frequently, every half hour, so you need to monitor the amount of their food. At about a month old, little piglets should be able to eat on their own. Within a week after a month, they must be weaned from their mother's breast. You can’t wean them abruptly, they will be stressed and have a disruption in their food digestion system, and the pig will have mastitis.
When the piglets are 40 days old, they need to be prevented from worms. From childhood they should be taken outside, first for 3-4 minutes, then gradually increase the hours when it is warm outside.

How to properly maintain it?

A pigsty for this breed should be made of brick or wood with concrete floors and a drain for flushing out waste.
There should be dry straw on the floor.
Vietnamese pot-bellied piglets do not like drafts, so cracks in the walls must be sealed, if any.
In winter, it is better to install wooden flooring (platform) on the floor; they occupy approximately 2/3 of the area in each individual cage. The pigs rest and sleep on the platform, and eat and defecate on the concrete. In such conditions, the weight of the animal remains stable.
Ceilings must be at least 2 meters.
It is better to make the size of the pen area up to 4.5 meters; 2 single pigs or a sow with cubs can fit here.
Boars love space; they need an area of at least 3.5 m2.
There must be ventilation in the pigsty. In winter, high-quality heating should be provided; you can use a gas convector, a stove, or something else that provides heat.

In addition, it is recommended to make a pool where the piglets will swim and a platform where they will walk. It should be noted that in spring and summer, piglets need to walk for a long time. The walking area should be equipped with a mud bath. It is done simply: dig a hole measuring 2 x 2 meters wide and 30 cm deep and pour water into it.

Piglets of this breed love to bathe, and baths provided in this way protect Vietnamese piglets from overheating in the sun and insects. It’s good if there are a couple of trees on the site, the pigs will rub their backs against them. Otherwise, you can put logs, just dig them well into the ground. In addition, proper maintenance of Vietnamese pigs requires the installation of a canopy from the sun and rain on the site.

Keeping Vietnamese piglets: what to feed an Asian pig?

Nutrition is an important component of breeding Asian pigs, on which the quality of meat depends. The pot-bellied pig has a slightly different food digestion system than the regular pig. They have a small stomach and small intestine. Food enters the stomach quickly.

All feeds that have a coarse grind, hard straw, fodder beets, whole cereal grains - all this is poorly digested in the stomach of an Asian pig.

Since Vietnamese pigs are a herbivorous breed, the proper feeding of the animal is hay made from herbs such as:

clover;
frog;
alfalfa;
sweet clover;
goat's rue

Many vitamins necessary for pigs of this breed are contained in such products as:

pumpkin;
apples;
pears;
zucchini;
carrot.

These vegetables and fruits should not be cooked; it is better to give them raw. Boiled potatoes can be given along with mixed feed; it is better to cook them at once (it is not recommended to store them). Feed must contain:

40% barley;
30% wheat;
10% corn, peas and oats.

A large amount of corn affects the pig’s parameters: the animal’s weight rapidly increases, so there is no need to give it a lot.

For one feeding, an adult pig, as a rule, eats 700 grams. compound feed. You should not allow it to overeat, otherwise the meat will not be as tasty, and overeating is bad for the pig. In summer and spring, pigs need to eat more fresh grass, and feed is only 20% of the total diet per day. You need to feed in the morning and evening. But in winter and autumn, compound feed should make up 30% of the total diet. Breeding animals of the Vietnamese breed should include the addition of the following components to the basic diet:

Professional and have a large herd. In Russian cities, the price of an adult pot-bellied pig ranges from 3,000 rubles and above, and the price of a piglet reaches 1,000 rubles and above. The weight of an adult animal ranges from 70 to 100 kg. The weight of a baby at one month of age reaches no more than 5 kg. In a year, the weight of the animal, as a rule, reaches 70-80 kg.

Among American and European livestock breeders, Vietnamese piglets became famous only at the end of the last century. In Russia, this variety of domestic pigs appeared even later, but the interest in unusual animals turned out to be enormous.

How do Vietnamese pot-bellied piglets differ from traditional ones, and the advantages of animals of this breed? Compared to older breeds of domestic pigs, the capabilities and potential of these animals have not been fully studied, and breeders are working to improve the available material. But it is already clear that four-legged natives of Vietnam have a great future.

Characteristic features of Vietnamese pot-bellied piglets

Asian or, as is often said, Vietnamese pigs stand out:

precocity;
stable weight gain;
unpretentiousness when choosing food;
undemanding content;
cleanliness.

Calm females are considered caring mothers and are quite fertile. Puberty in males occurs at six months of age, and in females a couple of months earlier. On average, pigs give birth to two litters per year, each of which can have up to 18 piglets.

At home, Vietnamese piglets live in humid subtropical and tropical climates, but this does not prevent the animals from successfully adapting to the harsher climate of central Russia.

Pigs have excellent immunity, they can easily resist common diseases of domestic animals, and with good care, Vietnamese piglets are even more profitable for breeding than many already established breeds. This is facilitated by the fact that the animals are distinguished by a strong physique, indicating a meat orientation, and their meat is juicy, the amount of bacon is small.

What do Vietnamese piglets look like?

Vietnamese pot-bellied piglets have a very memorable appearance. Among the characteristic features of the breed:

predominantly black coloration of animals;
wide chest, powerful back and strong short legs, making pigs stocky;
shortened muzzle structure;
medium-sized erect ears.

The breed owes its name to another feature - the voluminous, drooping bellies that appear in growing Vietnamese piglets.

Such “decoration” in an adult boar can practically reach the soil level, which, however, does not prevent the animals from maintaining mobility and enviable activity.

The funny appearance of young Vietnamese piglets, as in the photo, sometimes attracts the attention of lovers of ornamental animals. But in this case, you need to remember that, despite their cleanliness, piglets remain representatives of their species, and miniature pigs quickly turn into powerful animals. By the time of puberty, animals reach a weight of 30–35 kg, and an adult breeding boar or sow weighs up to 150 kg.

For ease of care when breeding Vietnamese piglets, the animals are given a dry, warm, ventilated room. The floor in the pigsty must be level, durable, suitable for repeated cleaning and disinfection. It is best if it is concreted. A boardwalk is made on top of such a covering.

Compared to other breeds, Asian pigs are quite small, so they do not require much space to house them. The machines are made taking into account the possibility of their daily cleaning.

The livestock breeder decides how long to keep Vietnamese piglets on the farm, but for a pen with an area of 4 to 5 square meters there should be:

a pair of adult females;
one male;
one sow with offspring.

For the winter period, heating is installed in places where Asian pigs are kept; it is especially important to maintain heat when small piglets appear, whose immunity and protection from negative environmental factors depend only on receiving mother’s milk and human care.

During the warm season, animals are provided with a free run. The yard must be protected from the wind. In case of rain, be sure to arrange reliable shelters, at the height of the pigs they fill boards on which to scratch their backs, take out feeders and containers with water.

Catering when breeding Vietnamese pigs

The novelty of the breed gives rise to a lot of inaccurate information regarding, among other things, animal nutrition. Sometimes it is advised to base the diet of Vietnamese piglets exclusively on green feed. Indeed, the volume of the stomach and the peculiarities of the digestive system of pigs allow them to absorb a large amount of grass, but in this case one cannot expect good weight gain and quality of meat. Greens will force animals to eat huge amounts of feed and produce a lot of waste, but the effectiveness of such a diet is low.

What to feed Vietnamese piglets at home? On homestead farms, the diet of piglets raised for meat is based on high-calorie grain mixtures with the inclusion of green plants, which is especially justified in the summer. Instead of the roughage that pigs usually receive, such as straw or root vegetables, pot-bellied Vietnamese piglets are offered hay.

Cereal-based feed mixtures are made with an emphasis on barley and wheat. They are easily digestible and provide bacon type weight gain. These grains should account for up to 70% of the feed volume.

Difficult-to-digest grains, such as oats, peas and corn, are included in the feed at the rate of 10% of the total:

All types of grain are pre-crushed and poured with boiling water to obtain a nutritious moist mixture.
For 8–9 liters of water there should be half the volume of cereals and a small spoon of salt.
After 10–12 hours of steaming, the food is ready.
To make the diet more effective, vitamin preparations, digestive stimulants, and fish oil are added to the food.

For sows expecting a litter and already caring for piglets, the menu is made more varied by adding fermented milk products, skim milk, and chopped boiled eggs to the mixture.

Feeding Vietnamese pot-bellied piglets with thick grain porridge gives good results. In winter, pre-prepared pumpkins and carrots are introduced into the diet. Animals love vitamin hay based on legumes, for example, alfalfa, vetch, clover. Up to 15% of the feed, especially in the cold season, can be boiled

Breeding Vietnamese pigs

Independent breeding of Vietnamese pigs requires compliance with certain rules. For mating, females over 4 months of age, who have gained weight more than 30 kg, and males from six months are selected. In this case, the animals should not be closely related.

You can place a boar with a pig when she shows signs of heat:

persistent anxiety;
swelling or discharge in the genital loop area.

Vietnamese pigs, when bred at home, are born pregnant 114–118 days after mating. A few days before the event, the pig warns about the approaching farrowing by restless behavior, attempts to crush the bedding and build the nest.

If the breeder pays attention to the appearance of the female, he will notice signs of drooping of the abdomen, clearly defined milk lobes and enlarged nipples, and the flow of colostrum.

Caring for the livestock from the first days of life plays a decisive role in the success of breeding Vietnamese piglets. During farrowing and for newly hatched piglets, the temperature in the pen is 30–32 °C. Childbirth in Asian pigs lasts from 3 to 5 hours. When the entire offspring has been born, it is important to wait for the placenta to emerge. The piglets are cleared of mucus, dried, the umbilical cord is treated and placed next to the sow so that she can feed them with colostrum. The sooner this happens, the greater the likelihood that the animal will grow strong and strong.

A good help for a novice breeder who is interested in this unpretentious breed will be a video about Vietnamese piglets, their rearing and breeding in a backyard.

Caring for Vietnamese piglets during self-breeding

From the first hours of life until approximately one month of age, Vietnamese piglets receive breast milk. But if at first this is the only product on their menu, then from the tenth day the animals are offered the first feeding in the form of drinking water, chalk, crushed charcoal and clay. Mineral supplements are designed to improve digestion processes and have a beneficial effect on bone health and immunity.

You cannot keep Vietnamese piglets on milk alone for too long. Rapidly growing young animals begin to lack iron, calcium, and other trace elements and nutrients. Long-term feeding may not have the best effect on the health of the sow.

Therefore, from the age of 20 days, sucklings are introduced into complementary feeding with thick porridge based on the addition of vitamin complexes. To prevent anemia, piglets receive injections of specialized drugs.

From the age of one month, young animals are gradually weaned from milk, transferring the feeding regime and diet to adults. By this time, healthy, active Vietnamese pot-bellied piglets weigh more than 2.5–3.5 kg.

Breeding Vietnamese pigs is not only a way to quickly and without much hassle provide your family with healthy meat, but also a profitable business. Piglets are ready for slaughter at 3–4 months, but to obtain greater weight, you can wait up to six months, when the peak growth of animals has passed.

Keeping Vietnamese piglets - video

The Vietnamese (Asian) pot-bellied breed with a hanging belly and short legs has recently become increasingly popular among Russian farmers. These pigs are less demanding in terms of housing and feeding conditions, they are clean, take up less space and have stronger immunity. Such a pig brings early, numerous offspring, and its meat is more tasty and tender. This breed should be raised differently from ordinary pigs, since their weight gain is different.

The Importance of Weight Control

When commercially raising piglets of any breed, one of the main indicators is their weight. The Vietnamese pig breed is characterized by rapid weight gain, so it requires particularly close monitoring, especially in the first month after farrowing.

It is very important to know the exact weight of suckling piglets, since if it is gained poorly (or, conversely, too quickly), the pig may have health problems.

For example, if the weight of a young pot-bellied boar is too different from the indicators of how much a pig should weigh at 3 months, you need to pay attention to its appetite, amount of sleep and activity.

Vietnamese piglets

It is also very important to know the weight of piglets in order to correctly calculate the amount of food additives, vitamins and medications given to them, which are determined per kilogram of live weight.

Weight gain in Vietnamese pigs stops after surviving to 20-24 months. If after this period it continues to grow, we can talk about obesity, which also needs to be combated by increasing the pig’s mobility and adjusting the diet.

Piglet weight table by month

Interesting! For newborn piglets and before they reach one year, there are standard indicators that depend on age in months; the average weight for an adult pig is also dictated by its size.

The weight of Vietnamese piglets by month is determined using a table. So, at the time of birth, the cub does not reach a kilogram - it weighs 350-600 grams. The relationship between the age of Vietnamese piglets and their weight can be schematically represented as follows:

one month – from 3.5 to 5 kilograms;
two months – 10 kilograms
three months – from 20 to 25 kilograms;
four months – from 30 to 35 kilograms;
five months – from 40 to 45 kilograms;
six months – from 50 to 60 kilograms;
seven months – from 61 to 70 kilograms;
eight months - from 71 to 80 kilograms;
nine months – from 80 to 85 kilograms;
ten months - from 85 to 90 kilograms;
eleven months - from 95 to 100 kilograms;
one year – one centner;
two years - from 135 to 160 kilograms.

Important! One-month-old pot-bellied boars and pigs must gain 5 kilograms, feeding mainly on mother's milk.

At the turn of 1-2 months, piglets begin to gradually wean from the sow, chalk and clay, grain porridges enriched with vitamins A and D are added to the diet. Eating mother's milk for as long as possible is not justified, since it leads to a lack of iron in the piglet's body and, as a result, retardation in height and weight. Vietnamese piglets are given mixed feed to grow. With proper nutrition, the weight of the cubs at two months should approach 10 kilograms.

Calculation of the weight of piglets at 3-4 months

Vietnamese piglets gain weight very quickly, as can be seen from the previous table. However, this happens up to a certain age. So, at three months, pigs experience puberty and a particularly explosive jump in weight. According to pig breeding experts, according to the tables, Vietnamese piglets at three months will weigh from 20 to 25 kilograms, with females being slightly smaller than males. The diet of such babies differs little from the diet of adult pigs - grass, hay, feed, vegetable mixture and cake, legumes, kitchen cleaning. For boars, the food must contain a sufficient amount of bone meal (more than five percent) for proper development. In some farms, it is at this age that pigs begin to be fattened for meat or lard.

On a note! Mini-pigs, raised in conditions as close to natural as possible, grow strong and healthy and gain about half a kilogram of live weight every day. To obtain tender and tasty meat, as well as thin fat with a meat streak, pot-bellied fattening pigs are slaughtered at the age of four months.

Due to the sharp increase in muscle mass, the average weight at this age in Vietnamese piglets is very significant and ranges from 30 to 35 kilograms (on average, 33 kilos). At slaughter, the yield of clean meat from each slaughtered animal is more than 80 percent (while for other breeds this figure does not exceed 65%). As a rule, farmers believe that further keeping and fattening pigs of this breed for meat (breeding work is not taken into account) becomes unprofitable.

Calculation of the weight of piglets at 3-4 months

Calculation of the weight of an adult pig

After six months, the piglets are already considered gilts and continue to gain weight by consuming the diet of adult animals (grass, feed, vitamin and mineral supplements). With such a menu, they grow tender lard, two fingers thick.

Important! The weight of a pig at 6 months ranges from 50 to 60 (for lard-fed boars) kilograms. At this age, animals can also be slaughtered to produce tender bacon with reduced fat and cholesterol.

Knowing how much a pot-bellied pig weighs at 6 months, you should decide: further fattening will be done for meat or lard, since until this age “Vietnamese” pigs grow into meat, and then into lard. Further weight gain must be regulated by adjusting the diet: for example, if the food contains more than 10 percent corn, the piglets will become excessively fat.

Purebred dwarf pigs, kept in proper conditions, gain up to 110 kilograms of live weight by 10-11 months, which gives about a hundredweight of pure gourmet meat. Those animals that are kept after this age (as a rule, breeding boars and sows) gain weight from 135 (females) to 160 (boars) kilograms before two years of age.

On a note! Not all farms have scales for weighing pigs, and this is a troublesome task. There is a technique for determining the weight of an adult animal without their help: using a special table for farmers and livestock specialists, without using any tools, but only by making some measurements using a flexible centimeter tape.

body length, which is measured from the center of the nape (at the back of the animal’s head) to the main point of the tail (the place where it connects to the spine);
girth of the pig along the shoulder blades - the tape is wrapped around the animal to capture both of the most prominent points on the shoulder blade bones.

Interesting! Some pig breeders may argue that this method is not applicable to the pot-bellied breed due to its anatomy. However, according to numerous checks, the results obtained using measurements followed by calculation from a table and direct weighing of pigs are the same.

Calculation of the weight of an adult pig

In order to obtain reliable indicators, when taking measurements you must follow the following instructions:

It is best to carry out procedures in the morning, since the active “Vietnamese” are even less active at this time, and it is possible to obtain more accurate measurements;
boars and pigs should be measured on an empty stomach, since in this case it is easier to interest them in the delicacy;
you will need an assistant with something tasty for the animal to help him take the most convenient position for measurement - it is advisable to place the pig motionless;
when measuring the length of the body, one end of the measuring tape is held near the middle part of the back of the animal's head, gradually stretching it to the base of the tail, while it is imperative that the pig's head is on the same horizontal line with the body, directly in front of the person measuring;

Note! Mathematical methods for determining the weight of pigs have errors within 10 percent, however, farmers are satisfied with this due to the ease of use.

when measuring the “circumference” of a pig, the tape should not be pulled too tightly, nor should it be loosened too much;
due to the mobility of the animal, errors of 1-2 centimeters are allowed;
Having received the necessary data, using the horizontals and verticals of a special table, they find the cell of their intersection, in which the approximate average weight of the pig with these parameters is located;
Using the measurement results, the weight of the animal can be determined using certain formulas, where special coefficients are used that take into account the fatness of pigs;
sometimes the Kluwer-Strauch method is used for measurement, where the table shows the oblique size of the pig carcass (it is used not only for them, but also for measuring large animals).

The fashion for Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs has come into domestic pig farming. A sow of this breed can give birth to up to 20 babies twice a year. They grow up quickly, and you can monitor how Vietnamese piglets gain weight month by month using a special table known to every pig farmer. For adults that grow up to 2 years old, weight can be calculated based on the pig's body measurements.

Pig farming is the most popular type of business, which is engaged in by thousands of people in our country. But raising Vietnamese pigs has become popular not so long ago. Meanwhile, this breed has a lot of advantages over others: Vietnamese pigs grow quickly and are unpretentious in food and care. But to successfully breed these animals you need to have certain knowledge.

This breed of pigs has many unique features that you must pay attention to when breeding, caring for and feeding them:

Even novice breeders can breed these pigs. Some new pig farmers often encounter problems such as indigestion as a result of introducing unsuitable grass into the diet. Because of this oversight by the owner, the pig may even die if veterinary care is not provided in a timely manner.

Vietnamese pigs, unlike many other breeds, are able to independently distinguish between beneficial and harmful plants, and will never eat anything that is bad for their health.

How to choose Vietnamese pigs

Choosing a piglet is the most important aspect of this pig farming business. The quality of the piglets will determine the growth rate, weight gain, health and fertility of the animals, which ultimately determines the success of the entire event.

When choosing piglets for breeding, you should pay attention to the following points:

If you plan to take piglets of different sexes for subsequent mating, in no case should you buy children from the same sow. Kinship ties in the animal kingdom also produce bad results, just as they do in the human world. It is also not recommended to take piglets from a seller who has only one boar for many sows. In this case, the piglets will definitely turn out to be relatives.
You need to ask the seller about the weight of the piglets at birth and weight gain every 10 days.
In order not to be deceived by the withered age of the piglet, it is recommended to look at its parents. It is best to adopt piglets from 1-2 months of age. At the age of one month, a Vietnamese piglet weighs about 3.5 kg, while the sow looks emaciated, and her nipples should be pronounced and droopy. If the pig is nimble and plump, and the mammary glands are barely visible, the seller is probably lying about the age of the piglets.
It is advisable to examine several piglets from the litter from which the selected piglet is purchased. A pig will grow up healthy if the piglets have developed muscles, strong and strong legs, a wide head, curved nasal bones, an elastic body, and clear, sparkling eyes. If the pig is inactive, eats poorly, has bald spots on its fur, and has caked feces under its tail, it means there are problems with its health and it is better not to adopt such a pig.
It would be a good idea to inquire about the diet of piglets. If they are accustomed to one food, they will need to switch to another very carefully and gradually.

Vietnamese pigs have a very fast growth rate. With proper management and a properly formulated diet, a piglet can be slaughtered at the age of 4-5 months. But it is still recommended to wait at least six months, since before this period they gain weight most intensively.

Content Rules

Before you go shopping for piglets, you need to find a suitable place to keep them. If you plan to breed Vietnamese pigs for a long time, it is recommended to carefully arrange the premises for them. Since representatives of this breed are not very large in size, a full-fledged farm can be built in a small area.

Bricks or cinder blocks are best for building a pigsty, but wood can also be used. The main requirements for a pigsty are dryness and warmth. The area of the pigsty is calculated in advance, depending on the planned number of animals to be raised. Five square meters of space can accommodate two females or one sow with piglets. Three square meters will be enough for a wild boar.

The premises for keeping pigs must be divided into several pens with an area of about 5 square meters. m. Metal or wooden partitions are installed between the machines. The height of the partitions should be such that an adult pig cannot jump over them. The passage between the machines should be such a width that it is possible to move freely along it with a wheelbarrow for manure.

Pigs love to dig in the ground with their nickels and quickly deteriorate wooden floors. At the same time, they can tear off entire boards, and when walking, get their feet stuck in them, getting injured. Therefore, it is recommended to make the floor from concrete. A cemented ball has another advantage - cleaning the machines will be much easier.

Vietnamese pigs are distinguished by their exceptional cleanliness, so it is recommended to build a small wooden platform in each pen on which they will sleep. In addition, wood retains heat better and pigs will not freeze in the cold season.

It is also important to ensure good ventilation. If fresh air is not supplied to the barn, the pigs will have to constantly breathe in the fumes emitted by manure and urine, which will have an adverse effect on their health. In winter, it is recommended to heat the pigsty, especially if one of the pigs has farrowed. Low temperatures can lead to the death of newborn piglets and the sow herself, whose body is weakened after childbirth. You can heat the room using a conventional stove, potbelly stove, or by installing special heating devices.

In order for piglets to grow faster, they need to be walked during the warm months of the year. Fresh air, physical activity and sunshine help pigs grow and stay healthy.

For each pig it is necessary to allocate 10x10 meters of free space in the open air. The walking area must be fenced with strong boards nailed to powerful logs.

What to feed Vietnamese pigs?

There are many conflicting rumors about feeding Vietnamese pigs. Some novice pig farmers believe that these animals are omnivores and there is no fundamental difference between different types of feed for them. To some extent this is true, but for rapid growth and weight gain it is necessary to adhere to strict feeding rules.

Video - experience in breeding Vietnamese pigs

Vietnamese pigs are a bacon breed, so their diet should be dominated by foods that help store fat. These pigs are distinguished by a unique digestive system (small stomach and short intestines), which ensures the rapid passage of food through the esophagus.

Hard feed containing dense fiber is poorly absorbed by the body of Vietnamese pigs. Legumes and greens are considered the best feed option for these animals. It is better not to give food in liquid form to pigs, since they will immediately swallow such food without chewing it in their mouth. Thick porridge, as well as fruits and vegetables, work well. It is allowed to feed pigs with food waste - potato peelings, apple cores, banana peels and other food scraps from the table. The more varied the diet, the better.

Little piglets should be fed mother's milk for up to 1-1.5 months, but it is advisable to introduce complementary foods from the second week after birth. At one month of age, you can take them away from their mother and place them in a separate pen. The diet of piglets up to 1 month should contain porridge with milk (barley, wheat, corn or oatmeal); from the age of one month, fresh hay can be given. For small pigs, herbs such as nettle, clover, sainfoin, quinoa, and acorn are best suited.

Adult pigs need to be fed according to the season. In the summer, it is enough to feed twice a day, and it is recommended to feed more greens and vegetables. In the winter months, tops and hay are suitable, and feed should be given 3 times a day. If mixed feed is used, it must be mixed with bran - in this form it will be absorbed much better.

Vietnamese pigs should not be fed any grain. For example, it is better not to feed them corn and oats, since these products will provoke the accumulation of fat and will be bad for the health of the pigs. In addition, excess fat deposits will negatively affect the quality of meat. Recommended grains for adults are barley, rye and wheat.

Table - standard requirements for pigs in basic nutrients

Pregnant sows can be fed the same food as regular pigs, but it is recommended to enrich the feed with vitamins - for example, add 1 raw egg, 2 tablespoons of fish oil or whey per 10 kg of feed. If you plan to slaughter a pig, you should switch to a special diet a month before slaughter. The following daily diet promotes maximum weight gain: (50%), oats (10%), wheat (20%), corn (10%) and peas (10%).

Mating and farrowing

Vietnamese pigs become ready for mating at the age of 4-5 months, but it is not recommended to breed a pig weighing less than 35 kg, as it will be difficult for her to bear offspring.

There are a number of signs that will help determine the animal’s readiness for mating: swelling of the genital loop, restless behavior, and sometimes discharge. For mating to be successful, you need to place the boar with the pig for one day.

Gestation lasts about 120 days. A week before giving birth, the pig becomes restless, begins to build a nest, her nipples swell, and her stomach drops. Before farrowing, the pig will not eat anything, and a clear liquid will be released from the mammary glands - colostrum. If such phenomena are observed, you need to carefully prepare - clean the machine, put fresh straw, refresh the water in the drinking bowl.

There is no need to interfere with the birth process - the sow herself knows what and how to do. In some cases, when a pig is giving birth for the first time, you can help it a little by wiping the newborn piglets with a clean cloth and cutting the umbilical cord. The duration of farrowing is usually about 4 hours and it ends with the release of the placenta, which must be removed from the pen.

At the age of 40 days, Vietnamese piglets are pierced with deworming drugs (for example, brovandazole). Additional vaccinations against various diseases may be necessary, but this issue is already being resolved with the veterinarian.

Video - keeping and feeding Vietnamese pigs

How to properly raise pot-bellied Vietnamese pigs to make the business profitable? Vietnamese pigs are no longer a new product on the meat market. Many households have experience raising Vietnamese pigs, but many were dissatisfied with this breed, despite all its advantages. But this is not just a new breed for households, but a new type of farm animal, which requires a completely different approach to growing technology. And if you raise Vietnamese piglets, just like ordinary ones, most likely nothing good will come of it.

Breeding Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs as a business

One of the main problems that has disappointed pig farmers with Vietnamese pigs is the myths and exaggerations of the benefits. Sellers of pot-bellied piglets have embellished them too much in order to increase sales of young animals at inflated prices. The farmers’ expectations were not met, and most importantly, distorted information prevented them from immediately starting to act rationally using a different technology. In business, all it takes is one false indicator and you will have to change your entire strategy. Therefore, the first thing to do in our analysis of a business idea is to dispel myths and rely only on facts:

Vietnamese piglets gain 10 kg in a month - NOT TRUE! In 5 months, the largest pig from the brood barely reaches 45 kg. And in the first month of life, his weight is only 5 kg. They gain weight of 10 kg no earlier than in 60 days. At 3 months – weight is 20-23 kg. Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs gain slaughter weight at 4 months - this is 35 kg on average. It is neither rational nor cost-effective to maintain them until they weigh more! Despite the fact that a pot-bellied Vietnamese pig weighs 50 kg at 6 months, and 60 kg at 7 months. After a year of keeping, the weight reaches 100 kg. For comparison, the “Estonian Bacon” breed gains 100 kg of weight in 6 months. And at 4 months, “Estonian Bacon” weighs 40 kg, but the meat is still too young for slaughter. At this age, it is inferior in taste and quality to Vietnamese.
Their main diet is grass, so they are very cheap to feed - NOT TRUE! They love grass, but for good meat growth they need complete feed. Vietnamese pigs eat less feed than ordinary pigs, but their daily weight gain during the fattening period is less - 400g/day. For comparison, the heavyweight breed “German Landrace” during the fattening period gives a weight gain of 863 g/day. But the feed ratio (the ratio of the amount of feed consumed to obtain 1 kg of live weight gain) is slightly worse for the German Landrace: 2.69 kg of feed, versus 2.55 kg per 1 kg of live weight gain for the Vietnamese.
Pot-bellied Asian pigs have a strong immune system and are more resistant to diseases - this is already true. But prevention against worms must be carried out, like all other types of “piglet”. In addition, they are prone to depression if they are poorly cared for in the pigsty.
Early puberty is incomplete, really. On the one hand, pigs are ready to mate at 3 months, but good and strong offspring can only be obtained when they weigh at least 25-30 kg. And this is not earlier than in 4 months.
Vietnamese pig meat contains almost no fat - NOT TRUE! They have plenty of lard, weighing 50-60 kg (2-3 fingers), although it tastes great. But growing them for lard is not profitable. More on this below.

Thanks to reliable information, you can now correctly assess the prospects of a business idea.

How to properly breed Vietnamese pigs at home

Raising Vietnamese pigs for more than 4-5 months is not profitable. It is better to slaughter them when they weigh 25-35 kg. At this age, their meat tastes no different from adults. It contains less fat, and the carcass is almost fat-free.

Let's analyze business opportunities for breeding Vietnamese pigs, highlighting their main advantages compared to ordinary pigs:

Early slaughter age. After keeping the piglets for 4 months, you can already get your first profit. This factor significantly affects the rate of production of finished products.
Low feed costs. An excellent indicator of feed ratio during the fattening period. It is better than the largest breeds of pigs. Although Vietnamese pigs are omnivores, they love grass and hay more than ordinary piglets. A distinctive feature of the technology is the power mode. The digestive system of pot-bellied Asian pigs is more productive compared to ordinary pigs. This is due to their anatomy: the stomach is smaller and the intestines are smaller in diameter. Therefore, they need additional feeding (in winter - 3 times a day, in summer - 2). Feeding mainly includes hay, zucchini or pumpkin. In summer there may also be green grass. On the other hand, overeating should not be allowed in the diet, otherwise there will be overconsumption of feed and increased fat gain.
High immunity. Every pig farmer will confirm this. No one has ever complained about the health of these pigs, which cannot be said about many other breeds.

Taking into account the main advantages in the characteristics of the breed, we can immediately conclude that breeding technology will be based on quantity, not quality. That is, the main thing is not the weight, but the number of goals. Moreover, pot-bellied Vietnamese pigs are very prolific. Even their pot-bellied body geometry speaks to this. They seem to be created by nature to bear a large number of offspring.

The female brings 10-20 piglets. Only in the first brood of 5 pieces. Piglets should be weaned 50 days after farrowing. After which, after 7-12 days, the female is again in heat and ready for mating. Some farms practice earlier weaning - at 35 days. But in this case, little piglets need to add milk to their diet for some time.

A business strategy should be built from these indicators. A mini farm for breeding Vietnamese pigs at home, every 4 months produces at least 10 piglets ready for slaughter. For this, 1 boar and 2 sows are enough. A compact boar that does not require much space, feed or special conditions is also a significant advantage in pig farming. Moreover, artificial insemination is unrealistic even for small farms.

At what age is it reasonable to slaughter a Vietnamese pig?

The meat yield of pot-bellied Vietnamese pigs is much better if their pre-slaughter weight does not exceed 35 kg. The average piglet at the age of 4 months weighs 30 kg. Feed consumption during this time is 80 kg (in terms of money, maximum $15) for one 30-kilogram piglet.

After slaughter, a carcass weighing 20 kg is left (this is without entrails and without the head, which weighs 3 kg). The carcass of a young pig produces up to 15 kg of meat.

In fact, every 4 months there is one mini-farm, where 2 sows and 1 boar produce 150 kg of meat of the highest quality! Plus additional and sought-after pork products: head, bones, heart, liver, kidneys, some bacon lard and fat.

This volume of products can be sold to your friends in less than a month. But if demand grows, it is worth increasing the number of females on the home farm.

Many people are interested in the question: “Is it possible to cross a Vietnamese pig with a regular pig?” It will be possible to cross, but nothing good will come of it. For example, if a Vietnamese boar breeds a Landrace pig, the result will be a much smaller pig than a Landrace pig and with a lot of fat. Despite the fact that Landrace is a bacon breed. Especially a lot of fat in relation to meat can be obtained if you cross Asian boars with “White” sows. So it’s impossible to combine the advantages of different breeds of pigs. The working concept of a business should not be complicated; it is easier to develop.