Hello Doc,

Thank you for responding. I'm glad you have suggested this. I was considering to have a local shop build an equipment that would process my own feeds recently, but the price for this custom made design is just incredible. I was afraid that if I will invest in this machinery I might not be of much use if in case it does not serve what I need for the processing my feeds. I'm only limiting my capacity to 10 sows & so far, I am satisfied with what I am doing for the time being. I am still exploring the possibilities of making ROI a priority from the these sows which basically was an idea that you have suggested last time.

Anyway, weren't it for your ideas, I wouldn't have much success in my venture.  I will be updating you in the future how things turned out. Thanks again & more power to pinoyagribusiness.com.

Hello Doc Nemo,

I posted a formula a few months ago located in this site http://pinoyagribusiness.com/forum/feed_formulation/grower_mash_formulation-t687.0.html;msg9664#msg9664.

You said that I remind you regarding your opinion, but I guess it has probably been overlooked since I haven't heard from you about this. Two of my sows have given birth to very healthy piglets & I intend to move on by applying the said formula, but this time you are suggesting that I cook the formula in order to aid in the digestion?

My question is, should cooking be the only option in lieu of processing it by way of milling, will this not affect the nutrient consistency expedient to the piglet's growth?

Thanks Mikey. Your posts make true & valuable information effective for us. I have learned much from your posts since I am getting the feel of what to do with my hogs. To be honest, I do not have any background in hog raising because I grew up in the city. Ironically, my parent's family are farmers & left us with much to do. I only manage farmers & try to see to it their well being is provided for. So I have provided some livelihood for them so they can likewise take care of my parent's farm. In the past few months, my sows are beginning breed. I did not loose a single stock because of good workers & constant monitoring. But I have to also credit your valuable contribution for me & to everyone's success as well. More power to you & good health to your family.

Wow, this is probably 79% to 86% cost of feeds. Opo nga Yuan, can you elaborate how we can make money from this?

Doc, if I can find an efficient miller to to grind my feed ingredients, what would be the ideal sizes so that the pig could be able to effectively & efficiently take advantage of the nutrients available in these? You see Doc, as posted, droppings of my pigs make me doubt that these have not been thoroughly digested & sayang naman kung hindi magagamit nga hayop ang mga available nutrients -di ba po Doc?

Anyway, I am about to consume all my feeds that I harvested for the summer. By mid august or early September, my corn would then be harvested. I am hoping for a good harvest BUT, I have a major problem that often occurs perennially. The wet season's continuous pouring unable us to dry our produce to the desired moisture level for long time storage. Besides, our corn crops become damp where molds & insects compromise the quality  because of the continual downpour.

In relation to this, may you advice, or anyone for this matter, how we can effectively, store our feeds in good condition until the next harvest?

Thank you for your valued suggestion

You’re right yuan.ai.centrum. I have to look for my files & correct it. Unfortunately, I was not able to follow-up on this formula because I was not so sure if I was going to compromise by experimenting this method. Another is that I have not received any scientific endorsement from anyone who would dare to try out this formula.
My apologies goes to those who asked me to respond to their emails regarding the feed formulation. I have not done so because I was & am still skeptic that this might not work out. I had problems with the way the pigs digested myh formula –for whatever possible reasons, I had to abandon this formula.
Instead, I ventured on experimenting on Doc Nemo’s Feed formulation- Square method. It would be interesting to note that this formula needs to be supplemented with very effective energy boosters & vitamins which are readily available from our veterinary shops. It might be worth to share my experience this summer regarding the 7 sows that I had been developing.
My first among 7 sows just went on heat. The square method that I chose to follow did not bring about the expected weight though, which should fall around 85 kg in 5 months from birth, in lieu of growth feeds readily available. Instead, my sows reached only an average of 76.3 kg in almost 8 months' period with the square method. I feel that this is not so bad because I have noticed that sows increase in weight tremendously after mating. Gestation does an incredible job to the pigs’ natural growth as though it recuperates for the loss it earlier lost, so long as adequate injectable energy boosters are provided.
It is not bad at all because I have consumed only 4 sacks of growth formula to augment the growth redundancy & about 20 sacks of rice bran & yellow corn (bt variety) for all 7 sows. I am happy to tell everyone that with prevailing prices based here on Iloilo I have only spent at more or less, P15, 800.00 in feeds for 7 sows to grow to full maturity which is only  P2,257.14 per sow. A pig averaging 75 kg thereabouts should gross at least P6,000 which, on my observation is not so bad because I only spent 37.6% cost of feeds.
I might experiment on the the feed formulation that I altered based on Doc Nemo’s formulation as soon as I could look for a good miller for my raw ingredients. My first experiment failed because I have noticed that these weren’t digested well based on the pigs’ droppings. But with Doc Nemo’s Nemo’s Feed formulation- Square method, I am now quite confident about the feasibleness of going into serious hog raising. If my gutt feel is right, there in money in hog raising.

Hi Nemo & Mikey,

I find the articles you post interesting. Although I have to admit that I do not have any educational background about it (...that's probably why I find it fascinating... ). Another is because your topics deal primarily with nutritional formulation and breeds of hogs (which I have no idea at all) And to be honest, I have to catch up with everything written there. One thing I find positive is that the inputs written in your article is somewhat similar to my recent experiments/observation. I had been looking for cheaper sources of Lysine and other amino acids to cope with my basic feeds. Your posts give a detailed recored however. It challenges me to apply their studies in order to attain high efficiency at minimal costs. But the main reason why I try to find time absorbing these two papers you posted is because I am in pursuit of ways to look for agriculturally viable feed materials for the hogs with minimum cost without compromising their growth pattern. I am positive that there are a lot of secrets just waiting to be discovered.

Last year I experimented by raising 10 piglets and have come about 6 "breedable" sows in my family's farm lot. I was not successful with the 4 & I had to cull them last Christmas & my daughter's birthday. But I am impressed with my 2 sows out of 6 remaining. Mind you, these are expensive projects. However, these 2 remaining sows have encouraged me to pursue further my hog raising project because I could be able to cut 50% cost and hopefully to a staggering 70 % compared to the commercial feeds with rice bran, finely ground corn, food scraps & an ingredient I applied to these sows. With Nemo's advice of selling/culling non performing pigs/piglets, I am in pursuit of raising 6 piglets to become sow breeders from of those 2 original breeding sows.

I have bumped into several websites recently that eventually led me to discover how I could be able to attain a financially viable hog raising project. Your posts (& those that are apparently available for reading) I find important because curious surfers can interact in a Filipino setting about our projects. Thanks for taking time posting these articles & to those who have in a way contributed in asking & answering questions. I'm looking forward interacting in this topic.

In this topic to quote: "Twenty-five per cent energy restriction during development delays sexual maturity of gilts but has no effect on reproductive rate to parity 1 of those reaching sexual maturity..." This leads me to 2 basic questions: First, when they say 25% restriction, does this means that 25% as to volume or weight of food intake? When Mr. RK Johnson et. al. says “reproductive rate to parity 1 of those reaching sexual maturity” what does he mean? What does reproductive rate to parity 1 mean?

Hello Mikey,

This is an interesting research. Wished I could catch up as a newbie, really. I was tracking the ad libitum and the ones that were restricted (R), to quote:
     "ad libitum regimen (A) were allowed ad libitum access to a corn-soybean meal-based diet (0.70 per cent lysine, 0.70 per cent Ca, 0.60 per cent P) until they were moved into the breeding barn. Gilts treated with the restricted intake regimen (R) received a corn-soybean meal"

Rodger K. Johnson and co-authors in a paper published in the 2009 Nebraska Swine Report seem to have been silent as to the outcome of these 2 groups. Is it assumed that both had the same characteristics because they are silent regarding the results of the gilts?

Hello Doc,

Is it safe to say that combining 1 part rice bran and 1 part corn would result to an average of 21% to a maximum of 23.7% Crude Protein? How about the calcium content? What would be a good, safe & cheap source of calcium?

Hope anyone to reply as well.

gunder_3910

Name: Gunder Aragona
Farm's Location: Brgy. Yawyawan, Lemery, Iloilo
Email: gunder_3910@yahoo.com.ph
Contact No.:0906-2259-222
Sow Level you want to start: currently with 2 breeding sows & developing 6 more in a 1 har property

Thanks. In case I would be interested to get serious in the hog business, is it possible that you send me a proposal? I would appreciate a detailed schedule from your end.

That is so true... My other business survived because I was able to use rice husk & wood trims for fuel.... Cost cutting is the key to survival; thus, with numbers you're no longer surviving only but thriving.

Ok.. Thanks

Hello. I'm just starting a mini micro pig farm & I am still learning in the past year. So far, I can see a lot of prospects if no problems would arise from my workers and the expected market that I perceive to be viable until Dec 2011. Your costing of P500K Pig Housing: FOR STARTING A PIGGERY BUSINESS, does this include the building construction? If so, do you have any financing terms -say payable in amortized basis? Is it possible for your company to send me a pro forma of your proj proponent?

Thanks