Pig farmers advised to invest in feeds
“It all starts with sourcing raw materials like maize, soya, premix/vitamins or concentrates. For quality feed, you should buy from a trusted trader because if the quality of raw materials is poor, you are going to get substandard quality feed,” explained Dr Buwembo.
r Micheal Buwembo, a piggery expert from Kafiika Feeds said it is important for a farmer to take a keen interest in all the feed processing stages.. (Photos by Herbert Musoke)
By Herbert Musoke
Journalists @New Vision
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Invest money in feeding your pigs and get cash into your pockets! This was the message to piggery farmers during the Vision Group’s Master Class, as experts trained farmers on feeding management.
Today was the first day of the televised virtual Master Classes. It will be running up to Friday, 12 September 2025, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am on Bukedde TV.
Today's class, which was facilitated by Dr Micheal Buwembo, a piggery expert from Kafiika Feeds, was about piggery management.
Buwembo explained that in feed production, it is important for a farmer to take a keen interest in all the feed processing stages.
He advised farmers to mix their own feed to be sure of the qualities and quantities of the raw materials they use in their feed.
“It all starts with sourcing raw materials like maize, soya, premix/vitamins or concentrates. For quality feed, you should buy from a trusted trader because if the quality of raw materials is poor, you are going to get substandard quality feed,” he explained.
He explained that you must be sure of the quality of maize before you buy it, because if it has less starch and fibre, it will produce less energy. Also, soya with less nutrients will contain less proteins and thus your pigs will produce less meat.
“Don’t only look at the prices while buying the raw materials. Consider the differences in weight, colour and other qualities. Remember, the heavier the maize/soya, the more nutrients it contains,” he stressed.
He advised farmers to take a critical look at the quality. Here you can take samples to analyse it's quality or take it to a company like Kafiika, where machines are used to determine the nutrient and other contents in your products.
"Buy enough raw materials because your animals must get enough feed at the right time to allow them to have a consistent growth rate."
Storage is another aspect to consider while processing feed. Your storage facility should be free of rodents, birds and insects that may contaminate your feed. Also, protect your feed from rain, he said.
“You also need to measure the moisture content of the feed because higher moisture in grains produces suitable conditions for the development of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus fungi that produce aflatoxins, which are poisonous to animals," he said.
Buwembo said farmers should opt for concentrates because all the nutrients are incorporated in one bag.
The raw materials must be resized and modified to be homogeneous. This makes the feed easy to mix and digest.
“The suitable size for the pig’s feed should be between 0.5mm and 0.7mm. This is because pigs have a monogastric or nonruminant digestive system just like humans. This, therefore, means that they need to eat feeds with small particles or else, they will not extract the nutrients from the feeds.
“After processing and mixing your feeds, package and label it, this will help you feed your animals right and also save the feeds. Feeds which would be consumed within two weeks will now take you through the month,” explained Buwembo.
He advised farmers to always follow the feed intake of their animals because if it drops, there must be an issue with the quality of feed resulting from either the raw materials or the storage facility.
Time table for the master classes
Tuesday, September 09: De Heus Aqua - Ivan Ssabwe, fish farming and good Farm management practices.
Wednesday, September 10: Koudijs Uganda - Poultry _ Geoffrey Mukama -Housing, biosecurity, and vaccination.
Thursday, September 11: Koudijs Uganda – Poultry; Geoffrey Mukama -Housing, biosecurity, and vaccination.
Friday, September 12: Poultry - Francis Baguma - Economics of Layer poultry farming.