Piggery Profit & Pig Farming Economics

Profit = revenue − total cost. Piglets born = sows × litters a year × piglets per litter; pigs sold = born × (1 − mortality). Revenue = pigs sold × market weight × price per kg. Costs are mostly feed plus stock, labour, housing and health. This tool does the whole chain and shows your annual profit, profit per sow and margin.

Each productive sow farrows two or more litters a year, and each litter brings several piglets, so profit scales directly with sows × litters × piglets per litter. A sow that gives more litters and larger litters with fewer losses produces far more pigs to sell from the same housing and labour — which is why sow productivity drives the whole business.

Feed typically makes up around 60–70% of the cost of pig production. Pigs grow fast and eat a lot relative to their final weight, so the price and efficiency of feed dominate profitability. Buying or formulating feed well, and getting a good feed conversion ratio, is the single biggest lever on a piggery's margin.

Pigs are efficient converters of agro by-products and kitchen/food waste, which can cut feed costs substantially where such feed is available and safe. Many smallholders rear pigs largely on swill and crop residues. Commercial units use balanced rations for fast, uniform growth, but the ability to use waste is a real cost advantage.

Pre-weaning piglet mortality is the biggest loss — often 10–20% depending on management, with overall losses lower in well-run units. Good farrowing care, warmth, hygiene and nutrition cut it sharply. Enter a realistic mortality for your setup; the tool reduces pigs sold by (1 − mortality) so the revenue reflects actual marketable pigs.

With a gestation of about 114 days plus weaning, a well-managed sow can give roughly 2 to 2.4 litters a year. Shorter weaning and tight breeding management push it toward the higher end. Enter your own rebreeding interval; more litters a year is one of the strongest drivers of annual profit.

Market weight is commonly 70–100 kg depending on breed and market, reached in around 6–8 months on good feed. Use your local live-weight or dressed price per kg consistently with the weight you enter. The tool multiplies pigs sold by weight and price, so keep both on the same basis.

Yes — the economics (sows × litters × piglets, less mortality, times weight and price, minus costs) are universal. Choose your currency and enter local prices and feed costs. Whether you run a backyard unit or a commercial farm, the same structure gives a sound profit estimate.

No — they're planning estimates. Real results swing with disease, feed prices, breed, market price and management. Use the tool to compare scenarios — more sows, better litters, lower feed cost — and to build a budget, then validate against your own records and local prices before investing.

Lift sow productivity (more litters, bigger litters), cut piglet mortality with good farrowing care, and above all manage feed — the dominant cost — through good rations, feed conversion and using safe by-products. The tool lets you test each change and see its effect on annual profit, margin and profit per sow.