After we realized we cannot solely depend on our farm generated organic produce to feed our growing population of hogs, we did a market survey of commercial feeds. Among the locally available feeds, only one brand seems to be aligned with our philosophy of sustainable agriculture and natural farming. This brand is Feedpro.
PIGS
Curiously enough, we also found out that Feedpro is advocating almost the same hog raising technique as the one we adopted from Australia and Korea. They called their system Profitable Innovative Growing System (PIGS). What I liked about their system is it is totally adapted to local conditions. Instead of using sawdust, which we are already running out of, PIGS uses a common farm by-product we have not thought of – rice hull. We were initially reluctant to use rice hull because it normally attracts blood sucking flies we locally refer to as alimuon. However, we were assured by the technical resource person from Feedpro that alimuon will not thrive in a constantly disturbed bedding of rice hulls. We had our doubts but we gave it a try. True enough, we did not have problems with alimuon.
The PIGS method is exactly the kind of sustainable and natural farming system that we are after when we first ventured into the livestock business. It is a technology that ensures that your hog business produces safe and healthy meat in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner. In a nutshell, it gives the following benefits to the natural farmer:
· Solves bad odour and health risks in piggeries
· Easier to manage, cleaner, and cost-effective
· Reduces antibiotic dependency in swine
· Environment and community-friendly
· Health protection for both humans and animals
· Promotes humane animal treatment
Guidelines In Constructing Your Natural Pig Pen
· Avoid lowland where flood incidence is high during rainy season
· Soil or earth flooring must be above the highest possible water level in case of flood
· Piggery must have adequate wind and sunlight penetration
· General bedding requirement is at least one and a half (1.5) square meters per pig
· Place 2 to 3 foot deep newly milled rice hull or other organic materials above the earth/soil flooring to act as bedding for the pigs
· Wallowing pond should be 1 meter wide spanning the length of the pen with water depth of 1 to 4 inches deep depending on the size of the pig
· Feeding trough should be constructed opposite the wallowing pond and should be 11 inches from the wall of the pen
· Use concrete hollow blocks for the lower fencing around the pen, for the wallowing pool, and feeding troughs
· Use iron bars or matured bamboos as upper fencing to allow for wind to pass through and to prevent pigs from jumping out of the pen
Managing Your Natural Pig Pen
· Change the water in the wallowing pond everyday
· Provide unlimited clean drinking water
· Follow the prescribed feeding guide
· After harvest, the rice hull bedding can be used as compost or plant fertilizer
Modifications to PIGS System
When we adopted the PIGS system, we made the following minor modifications as these can be accommodated by our farm.
· We have enough space so instead of just 1.5 square meters per hog, we use 3.0 square meters as basis for determining the size of the succeeding pens that we built. This allowed the hogs to have a bigger area to roam further mimicking a free range environment.
· We use a combination of hay (bottom material) and rice hull (top material)
· We piped a continuous supply in fresh spring water coming from a nearby falls. This allowed us to do away with changing the water several times a day.
· The used hay and rice hull are not used directly as compost. We give these to our vermiculture in the farm for further composting thus reducing the actual bulk of the compost while improving its quality. The vermicompost serves as our organic fertilizer.
· Once the pigs reaches 2.5 months of age, they are transferred to the free range area. There are three fenced free range areas in the farm. These free range areas can collectively accommodate more than 150 pigs at any time. There are sheds inside the fenced free range areas where the pigs can sleep at night or take cover from adverse weather conditions. Within one of the free range areas is a live spring that feeds a small and shallow creek. The spring is the source of the drinking water of the pigs. During hot sunny days, the pigs cool themselves by wallowing in the creek. The two other free range areas have two small creeks where the pigs can also wallow in during hot sunny days.
(Reference and acknowledgement is made to the Feedpro Website (http://www.feedpro.ph) for the details of the Profitable Innovative Growing System (PIGS) that was discussed in this blog.)
Mid afternoon snack
PIGS
Curiously enough, we also found out that Feedpro is advocating almost the same hog raising technique as the one we adopted from Australia and Korea. They called their system Profitable Innovative Growing System (PIGS). What I liked about their system is it is totally adapted to local conditions. Instead of using sawdust, which we are already running out of, PIGS uses a common farm by-product we have not thought of – rice hull. We were initially reluctant to use rice hull because it normally attracts blood sucking flies we locally refer to as alimuon. However, we were assured by the technical resource person from Feedpro that alimuon will not thrive in a constantly disturbed bedding of rice hulls. We had our doubts but we gave it a try. True enough, we did not have problems with alimuon.
Lemon grass are planted around the pig pens to ward off insects
The second pig pen. The roof is higher to allow morning and afternoon sun to shine inside the pig pen.
Sawali was used as ceiling material to insulate the pigs from the heat coming from the galvanized iron roof.
The pigpens as seen from the trellis walkway
The PIGS method is exactly the kind of sustainable and natural farming system that we are after when we first ventured into the livestock business. It is a technology that ensures that your hog business produces safe and healthy meat in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner. In a nutshell, it gives the following benefits to the natural farmer:
· Solves bad odour and health risks in piggeries
· Easier to manage, cleaner, and cost-effective
· Reduces antibiotic dependency in swine
· Environment and community-friendly
· Health protection for both humans and animals
· Promotes humane animal treatment
Guidelines In Constructing Your Natural Pig Pen
· Avoid lowland where flood incidence is high during rainy season
· Soil or earth flooring must be above the highest possible water level in case of flood
· Piggery must have adequate wind and sunlight penetration
· General bedding requirement is at least one and a half (1.5) square meters per pig
· Place 2 to 3 foot deep newly milled rice hull or other organic materials above the earth/soil flooring to act as bedding for the pigs
· Wallowing pond should be 1 meter wide spanning the length of the pen with water depth of 1 to 4 inches deep depending on the size of the pig
· Feeding trough should be constructed opposite the wallowing pond and should be 11 inches from the wall of the pen
· Use concrete hollow blocks for the lower fencing around the pen, for the wallowing pool, and feeding troughs
· Use iron bars or matured bamboos as upper fencing to allow for wind to pass through and to prevent pigs from jumping out of the pen
Managing Your Natural Pig Pen
· Change the water in the wallowing pond everyday
· Provide unlimited clean drinking water
· Follow the prescribed feeding guide
· After harvest, the rice hull bedding can be used as compost or plant fertilizer
Modifications to PIGS System
When we adopted the PIGS system, we made the following minor modifications as these can be accommodated by our farm.
· We have enough space so instead of just 1.5 square meters per hog, we use 3.0 square meters as basis for determining the size of the succeeding pens that we built. This allowed the hogs to have a bigger area to roam further mimicking a free range environment.
· We use a combination of hay (bottom material) and rice hull (top material)
· We piped a continuous supply in fresh spring water coming from a nearby falls. This allowed us to do away with changing the water several times a day.
· The used hay and rice hull are not used directly as compost. We give these to our vermiculture in the farm for further composting thus reducing the actual bulk of the compost while improving its quality. The vermicompost serves as our organic fertilizer.
· Once the pigs reaches 2.5 months of age, they are transferred to the free range area. There are three fenced free range areas in the farm. These free range areas can collectively accommodate more than 150 pigs at any time. There are sheds inside the fenced free range areas where the pigs can sleep at night or take cover from adverse weather conditions. Within one of the free range areas is a live spring that feeds a small and shallow creek. The spring is the source of the drinking water of the pigs. During hot sunny days, the pigs cool themselves by wallowing in the creek. The two other free range areas have two small creeks where the pigs can also wallow in during hot sunny days.
(Reference and acknowledgement is made to the Feedpro Website (http://www.feedpro.ph) for the details of the Profitable Innovative Growing System (PIGS) that was discussed in this blog.)
