Bone soup helps my pigs grow faster and fatter

For a man who spent decades in the military, rising to a Lieutenant Colonel, finding David Gikera busy boiling hooves and animal heads was the last thing on our mind. We visited his farm at Tuinuane estate, Nakuru County.

At first, we thought the retired military officer was preparing soup for sale at Nakuru town’s busy streets — where broth made from animal hooves and heads is a local favourite — later that evening.

“I wake up everyday at 4am to collect meat remnants and blood from various slaughter houses around town,” he says as he stirs the mixture.

The soup is, however, not for human consumption. Gikera prepares it specifically for his 150 pigs.

“I read a lot from the internet and I like trying new farming practices that can boost my farm’s yields,” he tells Smart Harvest.

Pigs have an insatiable appetite. Feeding them appropriately is vital. Gikera has found an ingenious way of meeting his stock’s nutrient demands. He feeds his pigs on a mixture of wheat, maize jam, cotton cake, sunflower, and limestone, fish meal, borne meal, premix and normal salt.

After mixing these components in their recommended ratio, he adds the boiled meat (chopped into small pieces), soup and blood. It is this mixture that he feeds his pigs on twice daily - morning and evening.

But why feed pigs on meat and bone soup?

Cooked meat, he says, helps in the growth of piglets and helps them gain weight. “This meal strengthens pig bones, boosts their growth and ensures they mature fast. I only feed the pigs twice a day and supply them with adequate clean water in between for digestion,” he says.

Gikera was inspired into pig farming in 2014 when he visited a friend in Thika, Kiambu County.

“I do not have experience in any kind of farming. After I retired from serving my country in the defence forces, I paid a visit to a friend. What I saw at her farm encouraged me as I wanted to venture into agribusiness to keep me busy,” says the 52-year-old.

To start off, he bought five pregnant large white sows at Sh25,000 each. But being a beginner pig farmer, all the piglets died a few weeks after farrowing.

“It was so discouraging to lose all the piglets a few days after farrowing. But a fighter never tires till he conquers,” says Gikera, ever the soldier.

He consulted a veterinary officer who told him he lost the piglets because he had failed to meet demand of the expectant sows.

Picking up the pieces, he bought a boar at Sh30,000. Less than two years later, he is the proud owner of 150 piglets.

“Pigs give birth after three months of being served. But for quality piglets and to keep the sow healthy, a farmer must regulate the birth to twice a year,” he says.

Each pig farrows an average of eight piglets which he nurtures to maturity.

During birthing, the sow is accorded the highest standards of hygiene possible. The piglets are then separated from their mother for two days. Gikera then puts the piglets on pellets and weaner meals. Once they are three months old, he feeds them on sow meals. The farmer also deworms the pigs’ monthly, alternating oral and retirement injection to curb diseases.

Two weeks after farrowing, tooth clipping is done to prevent the young ones from harming their mothers. Male piglets are castrated after three weeks.

After the weaning stage, pigs are put on sow and pig finishers for fast growth. The farmer also de-worms the pigs after every three months.

Just as they are heavy feeders, pigs are also heavy drinkers and require plenty of water.

“My pigs consume at least 500 litres of water daily,” he says. Gikera collects rain water into a 30,000 litre tank for the pigs and cattle in his farm.

With proper management practices, Gikera says, pigs are ready for sale after six months. He sells his pigs to Farmers Choice and butcheries across the country.

The pigs are weighed before they are sold. Depending on the prevailing demand, he gets between Sh240 and Sh270 per kilo for the pigs. A mature pig weighs at least 50 kilos with proper feeding and disease control. He sells an average of 10 mature pigs every month.

“Pig farming requires less labour as the animals are not infected by diseases like other livestock,” he says.

The farmer says the internet is his best friend. As a beginner, and with no one to guide him through the delicate world of pig farming, he turned to the internet for tips and best practices.

His goal is to increase his stock to at least 1,000 pigs and be a major supplier of pigs. He also plans to embrace value addition to boost his yields. “There is high demand for pigs but venturing into value addition will help me fetch better prices,” he adds.