✅ Iron-Clad Price Check
Before you buy a boar, a sow, feed, or build housing, call 3 suppliers and compare. Prices and breed availability vary widely between regions and seasons. This course teaches you the method and the real biology — you confirm the local prices and market demand.
The numbers this course is built on, sourced and dated:
- Gestation is fixed by pig biology at 114 days — three months, three weeks, three days — regardless of breed or country.
- Pre-weaning piglet mortality typically runs 10–20%, and can reach 25% in poorly managed systems. Crushing by the sow is the single biggest cause, responsible for roughly 55% of liveborn deaths.
- A sow returns to fertile heat 4–7 days after weaning if she is in good body condition — this "wean-to-service interval" is the number that decides how many litters she gives you per year.
- Smallholder litters in East and Southern Africa commonly run 10–14 piglets born; well-managed commercial herds elsewhere reach considerably higher.
- African Swine Fever has no vaccine and no cure. It can wipe out a herd in days. Biosecurity is not optional reading — it is survival.
The twelve modules
MODULE 1 The Business of Pigs6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Decide between farrow-to-finish, farrow-to-weaner, or weaner-to-finisher as your business model, and know which suits your capital
- Read the real economics: farrow-to-finish farms show meaningfully higher margins per pig than buying-in weaners, but need more capital and skill up front
- Calculate startup costs for your chosen model: breeding stock, housing, feed reserves, veterinary budget
- Understand herd productivity math: litters per sow per year, and why 2.1 versus 2.4 litters changes your whole income
- Choose a realistic starting herd size for your land, water and labour
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- Farrow-to-finish vs farrow-to-weaner vs finishing-only: which business is yours
- The real startup budget: stock, housing, feed, vet costs, region by region
- Litters per sow per year: the single number that predicts your income
- Reading a smallholder pig business case study, numbers included
- How much land, water and labour one sow actually needs
- Setting your first-year targets honestly
Capstone piece: a written one-page plan stating your chosen model, target herd size, and 12-month budget.
MODULE 2 Breeds & Genetics6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Compare Large White, Landrace, Duroc, Hampshire and local/indigenous breeds on growth rate, mothering ability and hardiness
- Understand why crossbreeding often outperforms purebreds for smallholders — hybrid vigour in litter size and disease resistance
- Know why the local indigenous breed, while a poorer feed converter, may still be the right economic choice in a low-input system
- Judge a pig's conformation before buying: legs, teats, temperament
- Avoid the most common beginner mistake: buying related boar and sow stock by accident
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- The five breeds you will actually find for sale, compared honestly
- Why crossbred pigs often out-earn purebreds on a smallholding
- Judging conformation: legs, teat count, temperament, in the flesh
- Reading a breeder's pedigree paperwork, or knowing when there is none
- Avoiding accidental inbreeding on a small farm
- Choosing your foundation boar and sow, side by side
Capstone piece: a comparison sheet of three breeds available near you, with real local prices.
MODULE 3 Housing & Biosecurity6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Design housing that separates boars, pregnant sows, farrowing sows, weaners and finishers — mixing groups spreads disease and causes fighting
- Build biosecurity that actually blocks African Swine Fever: footbaths, visitor limits, no bringing in unknown pigs, controlling wild pig and tick contact
- Choose flooring and drainage that keeps pigs clean without expensive concrete everywhere
- Plan ventilation to prevent respiratory disease, the second-biggest cause of losses after ASF
- Budget housing in phases: temporary structures first, permanent pens as income allows
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- Zoning your farm: boar, gestation, farrowing, weaner, finisher pens
- African Swine Fever: what it actually does, and why there is still no vaccine
- A real biosecurity checklist you can build for under $50
- Flooring and drainage that does not need full concrete on day one
- Ventilation that prevents respiratory disease in confined housing
- Building in three phases as your herd and income grow
Capstone piece: a hand-drawn farm layout showing every zone and your biosecurity entry point.
MODULE 4 Breeding & Heat Detection6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Spot the signs of standing heat reliably: vulva swelling, restlessness, the "stand" reflex when pressed on the back
- Time mating or insemination correctly against the heat cycle to actually get the sow pregnant
- Decide between natural mating and artificial insemination for your scale of operation
- Understand the 4–7 day wean-to-service window and why missing it costs you a whole cycle
- Confirm pregnancy reliably, including the low-cost methods available without a scanner
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- Spotting standing heat: the signs, demonstrated
- Timing mating correctly against the cycle
- Natural mating versus artificial insemination for a small herd
- The 4-7 day wean-to-service window explained
- Confirming pregnancy without expensive equipment
- What to do when a sow returns to heat unexpectedly
Capstone piece: a heat-detection log kept for one full cycle on a real or observed sow.
MODULE 5 The 114 Days: Gestation Care6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Feed a gestating sow correctly through the full 114-day period without over- or under-conditioning her
- Adjust feed as she approaches farrowing — overfeeding late in gestation causes its own problems
- Monitor body condition score and correct it before it costs you litter size
- Prevent the vitamin and mineral deficiencies that cause premature farrowing and stillbirths
- Prepare the farrowing pen a week before the due date, calculated precisely from day one of gestation
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- The 114-day gestation calendar, and how to count it correctly
- Feeding through gestation without over-conditioning the sow
- Body condition scoring, demonstrated on real sows
- Riboflavin and other deficiencies that cause stillbirths
- Preparing the farrowing pen one week before due date
- Warning signs that gestation is not going normally
Capstone piece: a full gestation calendar for one sow, farrowing date calculated and marked.
MODULE 6 Farrowing: The Birth Itself6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Recognise the signs that farrowing is imminent: nesting behaviour, restlessness, milk let-down
- Understand the birth process itself: average piglet birth interval is roughly 20–30 minutes, and a farrowing that drags on far longer sharply raises stillbirth risk
- Know when a farrowing is normal and when you must intervene — and the limits of what to attempt yourself before calling a vet
- Reduce crushing, the single largest cause of piglet death, through pen design and simply being present during farrowing
- Handle a stuck or difficult birth safely, understanding real risk to both sow and piglets
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- Signs farrowing is starting: nesting, restlessness, milk let-down
- A normal farrowing from first to last piglet, explained stage by stage
- Why farrowing duration matters: the stillbirth-risk link, with real numbers
- Preventing crushing: the biggest single cause of piglet death
- When to intervene, and when to call a vet instead
- The first hour after the last piglet is born
Be honest about your limits. Farrowing complications can kill the sow, the piglets, or both. This module teaches you to recognise a problem early and to know exactly when a call to a vet is not optional. It does not replace veterinary training.
Capstone piece: a written farrowing-day plan: what you watch for, in what order, and your vet's number written down before you need it.
MODULE 7 The First Three Weeks: Piglet Care6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Get every piglet onto colostrum within the first hours — the single most protective thing you can do for newborn survival
- Give iron correctly: piglets are born with almost no iron reserve and anaemia is a real, preventable risk on any floor that is not soil
- Clip needle teeth and manage tail docking or castration where your context calls for it, done correctly and with real welfare awareness
- Cross-foster piglets between litters when one sow has too many and another too few, done within the correct 24-hour window
- Spot the early signs of scours (diarrhoea) and chilling, the two biggest killers after crushing
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- Colostrum in the first hours: why it decides survival
- Iron injections: why piglets need them and how to give one safely
- Needle teeth clipping, done correctly
- Castration: the method, the timing, and the welfare considerations
- Cross-fostering piglets between litters within the first 24 hours
- Spotting scours and chilling before they become fatal
Capstone piece: a daily piglet-check routine written out for the first three weeks.
MODULE 8 Weaning & the Nursery Stage6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Choose your weaning age deliberately — earlier weaning (around 3 weeks) gives more litters per sow per year, later weaning (around 8 weeks) is gentler on both sow and piglets but slows your cycle
- Introduce creep feed before weaning so the gut is ready for solid food on day one
- Manage the stress of weaning: separation from the sow and mixing with unfamiliar litters both cause real setbacks if rushed
- Feed a nursery diet correctly through the vulnerable post-weaning weeks
- Track average daily gain from day one, the number that tells you if something is wrong before it becomes a crisis
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- Choosing your weaning age: 3 weeks vs 8 weeks, the real tradeoff
- Introducing creep feed before weaning day
- Managing weaning stress and litter mixing
- The nursery diet: what changes and why
- Tracking average daily gain, and what a slowdown means
- Getting the sow back into breeding condition after weaning
Capstone piece: a weaning-week feed and monitoring plan.
MODULE 9 Feed & Nutrition Across Every Stage6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Formulate or buy the correct protein level for each stage: roughly 16% for growers, dropping to around 14% maintenance for adults, higher for lactating sows
- Understand why lactating sows need close to three times the nutrients of a gestating sow — and what happens to a sow you underfeed while nursing
- Source feed locally and cheaply: maize, soya, kitchen and market waste, and where each fits safely
- Calculate feed cost per kilo of pig produced, the number that actually determines your profit
- Recognise and prevent the mycotoxin risk in poorly stored grain-based feed
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- Protein targets by stage: grower, finisher, gestating sow, lactating sow
- Why a lactating sow eats like a different animal
- Sourcing feed cheaply and safely: maize, soya, waste streams
- Calculating your real feed cost per kilo of pig
- Mycotoxins in stored feed: the risk and the prevention
- Building a simple feed budget spreadsheet by hand
Capstone piece: a feed cost worksheet covering one full production cycle.
MODULE 10 Growing & Finishing to Market Weight6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Manage the growing-finishing phase from weaning to market weight, tracking growth against a realistic curve
- Choose your target market weight based on what buyers in your area actually pay for — porker, baconer or heavier finisher
- Adjust ration and space allowance as pigs grow to keep feed conversion efficient
- Spot the growth plateaus that signal disease, parasites or overcrowding before they cost you weeks
- Time your market pigs to hit demand peaks like festival seasons
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- The growth curve from weaner to market weight
- Porker vs baconer vs heavy finisher: choosing your target
- Adjusting ration and space as pigs grow
- Growth plateaus: disease, parasites, or overcrowding
- Timing sales for festival and seasonal demand peaks
- Final pre-sale conditioning and handling
Capstone piece: a growth-tracking chart for one batch from weaning to sale weight.
MODULE 11 Health, Disease & Biosecurity in Depth6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Recognise African Swine Fever early and know the correct emergency response — there is no cure, so containment is everything
- Identify the other major threats: erysipelas, parvovirus, and common internal and external parasites
- Build a realistic vaccination and deworming schedule for a smallholder budget
- Know when treating a sick pig yourself is appropriate, and when it genuinely is not
- Understand quarantine: why every new pig needs 2–4 weeks alone before joining the herd
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- African Swine Fever: recognition and the emergency response
- Erysipelas, parvovirus and other major threats, identified
- A realistic vaccination schedule on a smallholder budget
- Internal and external parasites: recognition and treatment
- When to treat yourself, and when to call a vet
- Quarantine: why every new pig waits 2-4 weeks alone
This is guidance, not veterinary training. Disease diagnosis and treatment decisions belong with a qualified vet. This module teaches you to recognise problems early and act fast — not to replace professional care.
Capstone piece: a written herd health calendar for one full year.
MODULE 12 Records, Marketing & Growing the Business6 lessons
What you will be able to do:
- Keep the records that actually matter: litters per sow per year, feed cost per kilo, mortality rate — the numbers that tell you if the business is working
- Sell live pigs versus arranging slaughter, and know which pays better in your specific market
- Build relationships with butchers, restaurants and bulk buyers rather than relying on one-off sales
- Price competitively using real local numbers, not guesswork
- Scale from your first sow to a real herd, and know the point where you need to hire help
THE 6 LESSONS IN THIS MODULE
- The five records every pig farmer must keep, and why
- Selling live vs arranging slaughter: which pays better where you are
- Building repeat buyers: butchers, restaurants, wholesalers
- Pricing your pigs using real local numbers
- Scaling from one sow to a real breeding herd
- Legal requirements for slaughter and transport in your country
Capstone piece, and the course's final project: a complete one-year business plan for your own pig operation, using every number and worksheet from Modules 1–12.
Why this is the flagship course
Most of our courses run 6 modules. This one runs 12, because pig farming genuinely has two businesses inside it — breeding (Modules 1–7) and growing-to-market (Modules 8–12) — and skipping either half leaves real gaps. Every number in this course is sourced from published swine research and African smallholder studies, not rounded off from memory. Where the science says "10 to 20 percent," we say 10 to 20 percent, not a comforting single figure.
Pricing
Full Course Access
$8.00
All 12 modules, 72 written lessons, quizzes, capstone. Lifetime access.
Course + Business Seed Record
$10.00
Everything above plus a verifiable Business Seed Record with a unique number. This is a record of completion, not an accredited qualification.
Print / Download / Share
$3.50
High-resolution PDF of your record, print-ready, shareable.
rise AFRICA skills is not a school, college, technical institute, vocational institute or university. We are a pointer — we help you find a real business idea and teach the practical method, and issue a Business Seed Record confirming you completed the work. Turning that into a real business still takes a dedicated person with focus and follow-through. We do not award accredited qualifications.