64 guides on backyard farming for Philippine pig farmers.
A backyard sow lasts five or six parities, so a 5-sow herd needs about two replacement gilts every year. The cheapest-looking source, your own boar's daughter, is the most expensive: 25% inbreeding costs 0.6 to 1.0 piglets a litter and 7.5 kg at 160 days, roughly ₱17,600 to ₱24,300 a year. That is a bought gilt's price, annually.
Oct 24, 2026
Free livestock insurance for backyard pig raisers exists. Most never claim it. Here is the registration sequence, the 21-day waiting period, and the exact documents you need to file when an animal dies.
Oct 23, 2026
A Philippine sow's full cycle runs 147 days, which is exactly 21 weeks and exactly seven three-week slots. That is the whole grid a small herd needs. Here is how to build it for 3 to 10 sows, why group weaning is a free synchroniser, and the February service date that lands finished pigs in mid-December.
Oct 16, 2026
Getting water right is one of the cheapest ways to improve pig growth. Nipple drinkers waste less water but cost more upfront. Troughs are cheap but breed bacteria fast. This guide compares all the options for Philippine conditions, plus how to keep pigs cool when it hits 35°C and your water supply runs low.
Oct 13, 2026
One sow eats roughly 1,000 kg of feed a year no matter how many litters she gives you. That is 20 sacks and ₱23,900 to ₱36,600 depending on your feed tier. Split across the 13 to 19 piglets she actually weans, her own feed costs ₱1,280 to ₱2,690 per weaner sold. Here is the whole programme, and what it costs.
Oct 8, 2026
Keeping a boar costs ₱42,000+ a year at July 2026 feed prices. AI costs ₱400-1,000 per sow per heat and gives you better genetics. Here's how the math works for backyard operations and how to access the LGU service.
Oct 3, 2026
Treating a sick pig costs 5-10x more than preventing the disease. Biosecurity does not require expensive equipment, it requires discipline. Here is a prevention-first approach for Philippine conditions.
Sep 23, 2026
Bad breeding decisions compound over years. One wrong boar can produce hundreds of slow-growing, poor-converting piglets. Here are 7 mistakes that quietly drain profit from Philippine pig farms.
Sep 13, 2026
A pen you stop cleaning and start composting. The Korean Natural Farming deep litter system uses indigenous microbes to digest waste in place, with no smell, no flies, and minimal labor.
Sep 3, 2026
About 20 tropical cyclones enter Philippine waters a year and 8 or 9 cross the country, most of them between July and October. A backyard piggery either has a written storm plan or it improvises at midnight in the rain. This is the plan, hour by hour, with materials, peso costs and the PCIC paperwork you need ready before the wind arrives.
Sep 3, 2026
Not all skin problems are mange. Crusty ears usually are, but diamond-shaped red patches are erysipelas, greasy flaking is staph infection, and red skin on white pigs may just be sunburn.
Aug 24, 2026
Most bad piglets show themselves in the first two minutes if you know what to check. Twelve tests you can do at the seller's pen, in order, before you commit to a single peso.
Aug 14, 2026
Do not breed at first heat. Wait until the 2nd or 3rd cycle, at least 8 months old and 120+ kg for improved breeds. Breeding too early means smaller litters and harder farrowing.
Aug 4, 2026
Five pigs produce 25-30 kg of manure daily. Composted properly, that waste becomes organic fertilizer worth real money, or biogas that replaces your LPG.
Jul 25, 2026
June to November in the Philippines means flooding, mud, respiratory disease spikes, moldy feed, and parasite surges in piggeries. Most of these problems are preventable with preparation done in April-May. Here is your complete rainy season survival guide with a pre-season checklist.
Jul 15, 2026
The floor of your pig pen affects drainage, pig health, and your daily workload. Concrete with a 3% slope is the most practical choice for most Philippine backyard farms.
Jul 5, 2026
Most backyard pig farms fail not because the farmer lacks skill, but because there was no plan. A simple business plan forces you to face the real numbers before you spend your first peso.
Jun 7, 2026
Many backyard pig farmers operate without permits, until a neighbor complains or the LGU cracks down. Here is what you actually need: barangay clearance, MAO registration, environmental compliance, and the distance rules that vary wildly between rural and urban LGUs.
Jun 1, 2026
Raising the pig is half the job. Selling it at the right price, to the right buyer, at the right time is where you actually make or lose money. Here is how small Filipino farmers can maximize sale value.
May 26, 2026
Most backyard pigs do well on 2 feeds per day, morning and late afternoon. But weaners need 3-4, and lactating sows should eat as much as they want.
May 20, 2026
The last 30 days before selling is when you maximize weight gain. Add coconut oil, increase energy feeds, and time your sale for peak market demand.
May 20, 2026
Not every farmer should scale up. Here is an honest breakdown of what it costs, what you earn, and what breaks even at 5, 20, and 50 heads in Philippine pig farming.
May 20, 2026
At minimum, every pig needs classical swine fever (CSF) vaccination at 6-8 weeks with a booster at 10-12 weeks. Many municipalities provide this free. Here is the complete schedule.
May 20, 2026
Glove up, isolate the sow, and figure out if it is just one or the whole herd. The cause changes everything; in PH, leptospirosis tops the list.
May 19, 2026
Fever above 39.5°C plus piglets crying nonstop after a fresh farrow is MMA until proven otherwise. You have 48 hours before the litter starts to die.
May 15, 2026
Eggs hatch within a day. Pull them out, dust with Negasunt, inject ivermectin, and stop the next batch of flies. Most adult-pig wounds clear in a week.
May 14, 2026
Backyard 10-pig operators look at semi-commercial 80-pig farms and think scale equals more money. The math is harder than that. At some scales, adding pigs makes your per-pig margin worse, not better.
May 13, 2026
An 8m³ biogas digester on a 10-pig backyard piggery pays back in 10-20 months at 2026 LPG prices. The math works for most farms above 5 pigs. Cheap plastic units degrade fast and concrete units cost 3x more upfront. Here is which one fits your scale.
May 13, 2026
The all-in cash cost runs ₱13,000-₱16,500 for backyard and ₱14,300-₱19,400 for commercial setups in 2026. Full itemized breakdown with current prices.
May 13, 2026
SAAD gives free pigs, but only to organized farmer associations in covered municipalities. Most groups stall in the first cycle because nobody budgets the follow-on feed bill and the pen sits on bare dirt.
May 13, 2026
Five real capital tiers from ₱20K to ₱500K, with what each one buys, how many pigs you can run, and where each tier stops working. Built on verified PSA and DA prices, not the numbers YouTube videos skip.
May 13, 2026
Most pig farming guides start from herd size and tell you the profit. This one starts from your monthly income target and tells you what scale you actually need.
May 13, 2026
A swollen vulva can mean breed her, expect piglets in a week, or check the corn for mould. The trick is the timing and what comes with it.
May 13, 2026
Five tested pig pen layouts scaled from a simple 3-head backyard setup to a 50-head semi-commercial operation. Includes dimensions, materials, PHP cost estimates, and what works in Philippine weather.
May 12, 2026
In one big study 2.9% of first-litter gilts killed piglets. Get the piglets out, sedate the sow, and decide. Most gilts deserve a second chance.
May 12, 2026
When does the capital you sank into pens, biosecurity, septic, and equipment actually come back? Philippine payback math by tier, plus what an ASF event does to your timeline.
May 11, 2026
A 10-pig backyard batch ran from a ₱20,500 loss to a ₱75,700 profit per cycle on PSA's June 2026 regional prices. At the DA's August 2026 national ₱150/kg, the same three scenarios run from a ₱13,500 loss to a ₱34,300 profit before labour, and an average-cost farm loses money.
May 11, 2026
When tissue comes out, you have hours not days. Sugar shrinks the swelling, but some cases are slaughter cases. Here is how to tell them apart.
May 11, 2026
Most pig limping comes down to six causes. Here is how to tell trauma from infection, when penicillin is the right drug, and when it does nothing.
May 10, 2026
The hidden CAPEX nobody warns first-time pig farmers about. Permits, septic, deep well, biosecurity, generator. Twelve cost categories with 2026 peso ranges and a planning rule of thumb.
May 9, 2026
Most Philippine backyard pig pens are either too small or built the wrong way, causing disease, slow growth, and neighbor complaints. This guide covers pen sizing, materials costs for Visayas and Davao, drainage design, typhoon-proofing, cooling systems, and the one component worth spending money on even in a low-budget build.
May 7, 2026
When you raise someone else's pigs (or lend yours out), the split looks fair on paper. The math often tilts hard toward one side. Here is how to compute the real numbers before signing anything.
May 7, 2026
You do not need expensive commercial feeds to raise healthy pigs. A home-mixed ration using rice bran, copra meal, corn, and local greens costs 30-40% less and works well for backyard operations.
May 6, 2026
When disease hits your piggery, the first 24 hours determine whether you lose a few pigs or the whole herd. Here is the step-by-step response guide every Filipino farmer needs.
May 2, 2026
When typhoons cut supply lines or feed prices spike beyond what you can afford, your pigs still need to eat. Here are emergency rations using ingredients available in most Philippine provinces.
Apr 30, 2026
Most backyard pigs need just three supplements: a vitamin-mineral premix, salt, and limestone. Everything else is optional. Here is what actually matters.
Apr 30, 2026
Piglets are born with only enough iron for 3-4 days. Without supplementation, they develop anemia by day 7-10, pale, weak, and growing 20-30% slower. One injection at day 3 prevents this.
Apr 22, 2026
A pig that refuses feed is losing weight and money every day. The cause is usually one of 6 things, and the first thing to check is always the water supply.
Apr 18, 2026
The back pressure test is the most reliable method: press firmly on your sow s back. If she locks her legs and stands rigid, she is in standing heat and ready to breed.
Apr 7, 2026
Inject in the neck behind the ear, never in the ham. Use 18-20 gauge for piglets, 16 gauge for finishers. This guide covers IM and SC technique, needle selection, common medications, and costs.
Apr 4, 2026
No scale? No problem. Measure heart girth and body length with a tape measure, plug into the formula, and get an estimate within 3-5% of actual weight. Reference table included.
Apr 3, 2026
Castrate at 7-14 days for least stress and fastest healing. Wait too long and you get more bleeding, slower recovery, and risk of boar taint in the meat.
Mar 28, 2026
You do not need to buy full commercial feeds. A properly balanced home-mix of rice bran, copra meal, corn, and a real protein source cuts grower feed cost by about a third, if you keep the protein right.
Mar 26, 2026
The ideal age to buy piglets for fattening is 8-10 weeks — fully weaned, eating solid feed, and past the most vulnerable period. Here is what to look for and what to avoid.
Mar 22, 2026
Internal parasites are a top cause of slow pig growth in backyard farms. Deworming every 3-4 months with ivermectin or fenbendazole costs little and recovers most of the lost weight gain.
Mar 22, 2026
The most reliable early sign: if your sow does not return to heat 21 days after mating, she is likely pregnant. Gestation is 114 days, or 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days.
Mar 22, 2026
Yes, you can raise 1-5 pigs in most Philippine backyards, but you need to check local ordinances, manage waste properly, and keep your neighbors informed.
Mar 22, 2026
If your pig is growing slower than expected, the cause is usually one of 5 things: parasites, poor feed quality, heat stress, disease, or overcrowding. Here is how to diagnose each one.
Mar 22, 2026
A pig that stops eating is telling you something is wrong. Here are the signs every backyard farmer should watch for, and what each symptom usually means.
Mar 20, 2026
Nearly half of all piglet deaths happen within 24 hours of birth. Most are preventable with simple management changes that cost under ₱500.
Mar 19, 2026
In Philippine heat, pigs need 30-50% more water than temperate climate guidelines suggest. A lactating sow needs 25-35 liters per day. Most backyard farms underestimate this.
Mar 18, 2026
A commercial-cross pig reaches market weight (80-100 kg) in about 5-6 months from weaning. Native pigs take 6-8 months to reach 50-60 kg. Here is the complete timeline.
Mar 16, 2026
Native pigs average 4-7 piglets per litter, but the PCAARRD-developed Markaduke breed averages 10 by its third litter. Here is what the research actually shows.
Mar 15, 2026
How Filipino farmers use copra meal, darak, kamote tops, and fermented feeds to slash feed costs by 30-40%. Includes ration formulas, cost tables, and brand comparisons.
Feb 15, 2026
