It is the dream of every farmer to raise a record-breaking boar up to 300 kg. But is this livestock management economically reasonable? Let's try to figure it out together.

Animals are kept on large pig farms for up to 6-8 months. Small farms are ready to feed pigs for up to a year. Fast-growing pigs (those who most likely reach weight of 100 kg) are Pietren, Duroc, Hampshire, red and white belt breed, Poltava meat breed.

And who is better to feed: pigs or boars? During the Haus Düsse experiment in 2018, technologists found that boars had the best average daily gain, carcass weight. The pigs lagged behind due to the amount of food eaten during sexual hunting, which occurred at 5 months.

Precocity and the value of the average daily growth of piglets directly depend on:
● genotype. Specialized meat breeds or commercial hybrids grow the fastest;
● sex. Boars gain weight more actively, especially after castration;
● housing conditions. Even the level of ventilation, floor, watering system and placement of feeders have an impact. For example, keeping on a lattice floor increases the absolute increase by 10%;
● feeding quality. If you feed even a high-breeding pig with cheap green fodder (pumpkin, zucchini, grass, corn stalks and silage), it will not gain 110 kg by 6 months.

If after 9 months the weight of the animal does not change for 2 weeks, it's time to kill it. The animal has reached its biological limit and further can only gain fat.

When starting to feed animals you should give preference to the fast-growing specialized meat genotypes. They intensively increase muscle mass for up to 8 months. At the appropriate level of feeding with complete feed up to 8-9 months, they get a marketable appearance, reach slaughter condition.

If you feed a pig for too long, it stops gaining muscle mass, but actively increases fat. Such an individual will be less valuable, because you will not get much meat from it, and it will be too fatty.

So we can make the following conclusion: raising pigs for slaughter for more than 1 year is not economically viable. After 9 months, the conversion of feed increases sharply (the amount of feed needed to obtain 1 kg of product), and weight gain is solely due to fat. So, by raising pigs for 12 months or more, the farmer spends much more feed and gets pork of low profitability. It is more profitable for the farmer to feed two pigs up to 6 months in 1 year than one pig up to 12 months. But this thesis is relevant in a full, balanced diet. Because on quality feed a good genotype in 6-7 months gains 110 kg with a slaughter yield of 65%.

In small farms, farmers try to shift the slaughter to the cold season: early spring, late autumn and winter. The explanation is simple: in the cold season, even without a refrigerator, meat and fat can be safely stored for up to 48 hours before selling to customers or processing into meat delicacies.

Also in the cold season, the consumption of feed by pigs increases sharply. Animals need more energy to warm themselves. And if you are not ready to spend extra feed for adult pigs, then try to kill the boar before frost.

A large number of thematic fairs, preparations for the New Year and Christmas table play into the hands of the slaughter in autumn and winter. It means that meat can be sold quickly, even among neighbours and acquaintances, without going to the market.

Animals weighing 60 kg at the age of 124-170 days are taken for feeding. Nowadays feeding in a pig farm lasts 2 months. Products that negatively affect the taste of pork and fat are completely excluded from the diet. For example, the content of meat production feed, soybeans, corn, bran, oats, cattle cake, potatoes, pulp, beet pulp, distiller’s dried grains is reduced to 5%.

The first period lasts from 4 to 6 weeks. The basis of the diet: a mixture of grains (5.5 kg), 2 kg of bran, 15 kg of succulent feed (roots, pumpkin, zucchini, beet). The second period lasts for up to a month. The emphasis in feeding is shifted to the increase of coarse grain fibers, fiber. After all, the less feed enters the stomach, the faster the physiological reactions of accumulation of subcutaneous fat and lard (intrauterine fat).

The third period lasts 3 weeks. Animal feed is completely removed from the diet.

The total diet in percentage is as follows:

• simple carbohydrates (sugar) and easily digestible starch - 50-60%;
• succulent feed - the first period (30%); the second and third - 10%;
• dry mixes - the first period (15%); the second period (40%); the third period (25-30%).

Yeast hydrolyzate has a positive effect on the organoleptic properties of lard and meat, such preparation also increases the average daily gain of the animal.

But the most proven way is the introduction into the diet of a specialized feed concentrate AVAMIX - Finish 10% - protein-vitamin-mineral supplement (PVMS) for pigs weighing 65-110 kg. The recipe of supplement fully satisfies the physiological needs of the animal during feeding. High-quality vegetable protein, mineral supplements have a positive effect on the organoleptic characteristics of the finished product.

The approximate diet using PVMS is as follows.

Another important point: at the final stage of feeding the pigs are apathetic, lose their appetite. Natural flavor additives in PVMS solve this problem. Because the entire range of feed for pigs from Feedlance has similar flavors and aromatic additives (from prestart to finish). Therefore, the animal does not experience food stress when introducing a new product into the diet.