Weaner vs Baconer: Sell at Six Weeks or Grow to Slaughter?

Every farmer with sows eventually faces the weaner vs baconer decision. Do you sell weaners at around six weeks and let someone else carry the risk of the grow-out, or do you keep the pigs, feed them to slaughter weight and collect the carcass price yourself?

A 12 kg weaner fetches a modest sum at six weeks. The same pig, kept another four to five months, brings in several times more at the abattoir. But the bigger cheque is not automatically the bigger profit. This page shows you why, and lets you test it with your own figures in a free calculator that works in any currency.

On social media the answer usually comes from comparing selling prices: “A weaner gives me 700, a baconer gives me 2,800, so obviously I must grow them out.” That comparison leaves out almost everything that decides whether you make money.

What changes when you keep the pigs

Up to six weeks, both options cost exactly the same. The sows eat the same feed, the piglets get the same iron, vaccines and creep feed, and the same people look after them. The difference starts the day the weaner buyer would have loaded the pigs. From there, growing out adds:

• Feed, and lots of it. Taking a 12 kg weaner to around 107 kg liveweight means roughly 95 kg of gain. At a feed conversion of 2.6, that is close to 250 kg of feed per pig. Feed is where most of your money goes.
• Time. Four to five extra months in which your money sits in the pen instead of your bank account, and every week of that time costs interest.
• Housing. Grower and finisher pens, feeders and drinkers for roughly four to five times as many pigs as your weaner section holds. That is usually a second loan. (Our guide to piggery design shows how to plan pens that stay clean and efficient.)
• Labour and overheads. More pens to clean, more water, more electricity, more repairs.
• Losses. Every pig that dies after weaning has already eaten part of its feed bill.
• Getting to market. Transport, slaughter fees and levies per pig.

Against all of that stands one advantage: you sell kilograms of carcass instead of a young animal, and a well-run grow-out adds value to every weaner you produce.

Fixed and variable costs in pig farming

Variable costs go up and down with the number of pigs you produce: feed, vaccines, iron, dewormers and drugs, sow replacement, abattoir fees, and the interest on the money tied up in the pigs themselves. Produce one more pig and you pay for it.

Fixed costs arrive every month, whether the pens are full or half empty: wages, electricity, water, repairs, insurance and the interest on your building loans. They only change when you change the size of the operation.

The split matters for two reasons. First, fixed costs are spread over every pig you sell, so the more pigs pass through the same buildings and staff, the cheaper each one becomes. Second, growing out adds both kinds of cost: more feed per pig, but also a second loan, extra workers and extra overheads. If the grower house is already built and paid for, the gross margin decides whether it pays to fill it. If you still have to borrow for it, the grow-out must also carry its new fixed costs.

The question is not which option earns more money. It is which option leaves more money after every cost has been paid, including the interest on what you borrowed.

Weaner vs baconer calculator: test it with your own numbers

The calculator below compares both options for a full year on your farm. Every figure is a variable, so change anything that doesn’t match your situation. The shared costs (sow herd, piglets up to six weeks) are identical in both columns, so the comparison is fair.

1. Type your currency code or symbol, or leave it blank. Use the same currency for every price.
2. Replace the example prices (weaners, carcass, feed, wages, loans) with your own local prices. The example prices are placeholders, not market prices.
3. Enter your own herd figures: sows, litters, mortality, daily gain and feed conversion.
4. Read the verdict, the key figures and the price grid. Change one figure at a time to see which one moves the answer most.

Everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us, and your inputs are remembered on this device only.

A worked example: 50 sows

The calculator opens with a 50-sow unit: 2.3 litters per sow per year, 11.5 piglets born alive per litter, 12% pre-weaning mortality, 2% mortality from weaning to six weeks, 3% from six weeks to slaughter, a feed conversion ratio of 2.6 and an 80 kg cold carcass weight at slaughter. No currency is set, so read the amounts below as money units.

Per year	Sell weaners	Grow baconers
Pigs sold	1,141	1,106
Income from pigs sold	821,177	3,097,663
Total variable costs	590,587	2,506,355
Gross margin	230,590	591,309
Total fixed costs	308,200	482,800
Profit	−77,610	108,509
Profit per sow	−1,552	2,170
Selling price per pig	720	2,800
Total cost to produce one pig	788	2,702

In this example, growing out earns about 186,000 more per year, or 3,722 more per sow. Before loan interest, the extra grower-house loan earns a return of about 42.5% against the 11.5% interest rate, which is why the grow-out pays for its own buildings here.

Now look at the margin per baconer. It costs 2,702 to produce and sells for 2,800, so the break-even carcass price is 33.77 per kg against a selling price of 35. The two options earn exactly the same at a carcass price of 32.90 per kg. A small fall in pork prices therefore swings the decision, which is why the price grid in the calculator matters.

Selling weaners loses money in this example: each weaner costs 788 to produce (518 variable plus 270 fixed) but sells for 720. The break-even weaner price is 65.67 per kg liveweight against the 60 per kg in the example.

How to read your results

Gross margin first, then fixed costs

Gross margin is income minus variable costs. If it is negative, every extra pig you produce makes the loss bigger, and no amount of scale will fix it. Look at feed price, FCR and mortality first. If gross margin is positive but profit is negative, the problem is fixed costs: too few pigs for the staff, buildings and loans you are carrying.

Cost per pig and break-even price

Break-even is the price at which income exactly covers all costs. If your weaner break-even is above what buyers pay, every weaner you sell loses money, no matter how healthy it looks. The same applies to the baconer break-even per kg CCW against your abattoir price.

The price where both options are equal

This is the carcass price at which growing out makes exactly the same profit as selling weaners. Above it, keep the pigs. Below it, you are working four extra months for less money. Keep an eye on this number when pork prices drop.

Return on the grow-out investment

The grower house is a separate investment, so judge it as one. Divide the extra profit, before the interest on the extra loan, by the extra capital borrowed. If that return is lower than your interest rate, the grow-out is not paying for its own buildings.

The price grid

Prices never stand still. The grid shows how the answer changes as carcass and weaner prices move. If your current position sits right on the edge between green and gold, a small price change swings the decision, and you want a plan for both directions.

Five mistakes that make grow-out look better than it is

Counting only feed

Feed is the biggest cost, but labour, electricity, water, repairs, medication and abattoir fees add up quickly. Leave them out and you will overestimate your margin on every pig.

Treating your own weaners as free

A weaner you keep is a weaner you did not sell. Its cost of production, and the price you could have received, belong in the grow-out sum.

Forgetting the money tied up

Between six weeks and slaughter you pay for feed every week and receive nothing. On an overdraft or short-term loan that costs real interest. The calculator adds it as a separate cost.

Ignoring losses after weaning

A pig that dies at 60 kg has already eaten a large part of its feed. Even a few percent post-weaning mortality changes the numbers noticeably.

Mixing up liveweight and carcass weight

Baconers are paid on cold carcass weight (CCW). What counts as a carcass differs between countries and abattoirs. In South Africa the carcass is sold with the head and trotters on, with blood and internal organs removed; where the head comes off, the dressing percentage is lower. An 80 kg carcass at 75% dressing needs a pig of about 107 kg liveweight, and you feed the full liveweight, not the carcass. Ask your abattoir how it defines the carcass and enter the right dressing percentage.

Weaner vs baconer: so which is better?

It depends on your feed conversion, your feed price, your mortality, your finance costs and the prices in your market. A farmer with good FCR, cheap feed and paid-off housing will usually do better growing out. A farmer with borrowed grower housing, bagged retail feed and a steady weaner buyer may be better off selling at six weeks. Many farmers only discover which one they are after a full year of losses.

Put your own numbers in, change one figure at a time and watch which variable moves the answer most. That is where your management attention belongs. If you need these numbers in a form a bank or funder will accept, see our piggery financial analysis and projections, and to see where your herd can improve before you decide, try the Piggery KPI Improvement Calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Is it more profitable to sell weaners or grow baconers?

It depends on your own numbers. Growing baconers usually brings in far more money per pig, but it also adds feed, four to five more months of interest, extra housing, labour, overheads, losses and slaughter costs. A farmer with good feed conversion, cheap feed and paid-off housing will usually do better growing out; a farmer with borrowed grower housing, bagged retail feed and a steady weaner buyer may do better selling at six weeks. The calculator above shows which side you are on.

How long does it take to grow a weaner to baconer weight?

In the example, a 12 kg weaner gaining 0.72 kg a day needs about 131 days to reach roughly 107 kg liveweight, which gives an 80 kg carcass at 75% dressing. Add the first six weeks and the pig is around 25 weeks old at slaughter. Your own daily gain will change this, so enter your figures.

What is the difference between liveweight and cold carcass weight?

Liveweight is what the pig weighs on the scale. Cold carcass weight (CCW) is what the carcass weighs after slaughter and chilling, with the parts your abattoir removes already gone. In this calculator weaners are priced per kg liveweight and baconers per kg CCW. The dressing percentage links the two.

What feed conversion ratio (FCR) should I use?

Use your own records. FCR is the kilograms of feed a pig eats for each kilogram of liveweight gain, and the example uses 2.6 from six weeks to slaughter. If you have no records yet, weigh the feed and the pigs for one batch and work it out. Then change FCR in the calculator by a few tenths to see how sensitive your result is, because feed is where most of the money goes.

Can I use the calculator in my own currency?

Yes. Type a currency code or symbol, or leave the box empty, then replace every example price with your own local price. Use the same currency for every price. Weights are in kilograms; one kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.

Does the calculator work for a small farm?

Yes. Change the number of sows and adjust labour and overheads to match your farm. Workers can be entered in halves, for example 0.5. On a small unit fixed costs weigh heavily because fewer pigs share them, so watch gross margin and the fixed cost per kg figures.

The calculator gives estimates for planning. Use your own records for business decisions.