Because Kunekune pigs are Heritage Pigs, they grow more slowly than pigs bred to grow quickly and huge for commercial pork producers. Kunes can reach sexual maturity around 8 months of age, but that does not mean they will attempt to breed or should be bred at that age. What does that mean? To read more click here. If you find that one pig is getting more than its share at meal time, you may need to build it a separate feeding area. What do I need to know?
They're even open to cuddles. Purchasing a registered Kunekune ensures that you will get the Kunekune qualities that we love! After two litters, that never lost money, but never quite felt like the work I was trying to accomplish, we finally had Esmerelda slaughtered. Kunekune pigs are somewhat unique compared to many other pigs because of their extremely long hair and huge ears.
Our pork is processed on island with the USDA Certified Mobile Processing Unit and then transported to the mainland for butchering and packaging. Pears (take out the seeds). To prevent any unwanted pregnancies, gilts and boars should be separated by 6 months of age. TOXIC PLANTS: pigs seem to have good sense about what weeds and grasses are edible and stay clear of the stuff that can make them ill. Ornamental plants are a different matter. Kunekunes are hardy with few health concerns. Pigs require fresh, clean drinking water every day. In common with dogs and all animals it is sensible to supervise children. These are similar to goat wattles and hang just under the jowl. Kunekune pigs should also always have access to water.
If you are looking forward to petting a kune kune, try visiting on a warm sunny morning when the pigs often get time in the contact yard. I accidentally touch mine all the time. Cost of a bred KuneKune ranges from $800-$1, 600, and an average litter is about eight piglets. We avoid the stress caused to ourselves and our pigs by forgoing the traumatic trailer loading, not to mention the risk of not getting what we want from the professional butcher by offering the pig a calm, dignified death at home. Rotational grazing: the best farming practice is to rotationally graze your pigs so they have moved on to new pastures before the parasite eggs hatch.
During the nighttime, a barn or pigpen is a great place for them to sleep on hay, but if you don't have one and they can only sleep in your house, make sure to have a separate room for them to sleep. Feeding should be done VERY carefully as piglets can aspirate milk and quickly die from pneumonia. On our homestead we use clean rendered lard to exclude air from our jars of cured pork confit and duck rillettes. Kunekune pigs eat mostly grass, food pellets labeled for them, fruits, and vegetables. It is unclear how and when kunekunes first arrived in New Zealand. The exception to this would be if you were offering a home that already has pigs.
The other feeding behavior that sets these pigs apart is their ability to eat grass effectively, without causing near as much soil disturbance as larger, longer snouted pigs. On this fenced-in land, having a pig barn or some area where your Kunekune pig can go to get out of the hot sun is crucial. This degrades your pig's overall condition and makes them more susceptible to illness, so measures must be taken to prevent and eliminate these awful pests. You can find our male KuneKune pig in the Exploration Zone's Family Farm. Feed to get pig to market: $200. The name Kunekune means "fat and round" in Maori. They are social animals who will become lonely and suffer if left alone. Some stubborn pigs will require them to be restrained to administer injections. Does my pig need to be dewormed?
We love these critters and have made it our mission to do the very best by them we can, even if it means missing a sale or bumming out a well-meaning human. The only way to know for certain that your pig is purebred is to purchase a registered pig. Not everyone has a big field for a Kunekune pig to graze in, but you can still feed them without one. It is crucially important that all pig owners find and build a relationship with a large animal vet BEFORE a health crisis occurs. It requires feeding special formula or milk every 2 hours for at least a few weeks, and keeping piglets warm, likely in your house. At the Zoo they eat grains and assorted chows. Make sure to provide adequate space and fencing to ensure only planned breedings occur.
We'd loved to hear from you! They will run to greet you when they hear you come to the pastures. Your local extension office ( here's the NC extension directory) would love to talk with you about how you can get a rotational grazing system working on your farm.
I took a season off from raising pigs, almost two year of obtaining infrastructure and investing countless hours and dollars into the pig project. The mothering instinct in the sows is excellent, and so long as a healthy weight is maintained they are less likely to rollover on piglets. Some manufacturers will not allow us to display prices on our website that fall below a set number. A young gilt and boar sharing the same pasture and living quarters tend to become room mates and not breeding mates. We've also had success with feeding bean, sweet potato, and squash vines after harvest.
KuneKune, pronounced "kooney kooney", is Maori for "fat and round, " which describes their typically short and round-bodied appearance. Just the BASICS COSTS per piglet associated with the Sale of a weaned piglet at 9 weeks: Litter Notification: free to $20. Sometimes the pigs want to stay in the yard for hours while other days they only want to take a quick lap then go back to their own habitat. It is never a good idea to feed goat, chicken or cattle feed to any of your pigs. If you don't have a field for them to graze in, you could also feed them alfalfa in the summertime.
Having moist skin is their main defense against heat stress. KuneKunes are the smallest of domestic pigs and can vary greatly in appearance. One of the reasons we chose this breed is because they are known as the "Grazing Pig" and are extremely efficient on pasture. The rest is payable as you collect your pigs. A litter of piglets can number up to 12, but typically ranges from six to eight.