Selecting the Best Pig Dealer: Brief Guide for Livestock Owners

You can make a lot of money when you raise pigs on a farm. This is all the more true if you have a knack for managing a piggery as a business. Pigs can be a very profitable investment as long as you get them from a trusted source. Pig dealers are important business contacts since they supply the pigs you need for your livestock farm. If you are looking for a pig dealer, take heed of the following tips so that you can make the best choice.

Ask for Recommendations

The best person to ask for recommendations is a veterinarian who often works with pig dealers. Contact your local vet and ask if he or she can recommend a good pg dealer to you. Vets can give you valuable information such as which pig dealers raise the healthiest pigs as well as those with poor sanitation practices on their pig farms. They can also tell you which dealers have pigs that are suffering from health problems. 

Tour the Pig Farm

Check the facilities if they are adequately equipped for taking care of pigs. Is the pig farm clean and free of unpleasant odor? 

The healthiest pigs can be found in open-spaced farms since they can freely move and roam around, even though they tend to get muddy. Such a setup allows the pigs to exercise and interact well with other pigs.

Check the License and Permits

A reputable pig dealer can show you its permits and licenses required for operating a business. Choose a pig dealer that is affiliated with trade associations and animal husbandry councils. It should also be accredited by several organizations. 

Aside from being duly licensed, a good pig dealer raises its pigs in a humane manner, making sure that they receive vaccines against diseases.

Choose a Knowledgeable Dealer

A good dealer is someone with enough knowledge and experience about pig farming. Contact a pig dealer and ask him about anything related to raising pigs such as dealing with sick pigs and feeding pigs properly. If he was not able to answer all the questions adequately, then look for other dealers.

Ask for Guarantees

You can tell if a pig dealer is a good one if it gives guarantees on the pigs that it sells. If the pigs you have purchased from that dealer get sick within a certain period, then you can take it back to the dealer and ask for replacement or a refund. Just make sure that the disease of the pigs in question was not a result of something you did or fed to them. 

Ask for the return policy of the pig dealer you are considering so that you can be sure that you won’t suffer from big losses because of your livestock purchase. In some cases, there are pigs that look healthy at first but may show signs of chronic diseases after a while. If you don’t get a guarantee from your dealer, chances are your money will be wasted. Worse, the other pigs in your farm may be infected by a newly purchased set of pigs. 
