Kunekunes!

I bought my first two purebred, registered kunekune gilts (female pigs that have not had babies) several months ago and yesterday I bought a boar. He's being shipped up from Georgia. Kunekunes were living with the Maori of New Zealand and while they are probably of Asian origin, it is unknown when they first arrived there. They were found only in New Zealand. The kunekunes were then decimated, until by the 1970s only 18 of them could be found. A conservation effort began, and kunekunes were exported to other countries, the US included, in the 1990s in an attempt to protect them from extinction. They aren't endangered now, but the concern is that the original species might be lost due to breeding with other varieties of pigs. So now, the conservation effort is geared towards preserving the purity of the breed. All kunekunes being registered must be dna verified first.
It is said they are the perfect homesteaders' pig. They are much smaller than a commercial pig, and their meat is said to be exceptional. They are very friendly and children commonly play with them. Mine love a tummy scratch. They don't tend to root like commercial pigs, and they don't tend to try to escape, something commercial pigs are notorious for. Their long hair comes in a variety of colors. I'm hoping I'll have my first litter in about four months!

Marth, what a cool project. You have them set up in a nice place. They don't root? I've never heard of a pig that wouldn't root their place up until it looked like a bombing zone. Do they graze? Can they free range during the day and come home for hog food at night so you can lock them up? I will never have one but if I did I know what would happen. I'd let it free range and the sow would come into heat and probably get bred by one of the wild hogs we have in the low land by the river.

You said that their meat is said to be tasty. Do you plan on having any of your young ones slaughtered and processed or do you plan on selling the offspring to other breed purists. Do you worry about the small gene pool and genetic problems particular to the breed showing up?

Marth, what a cool project. You have them set up in a nice place. They don't root? I've never heard of a pig that wouldn't root their place up until it looked like a bombing zone. Do they graze? Can they free range during the day and come home for hog food at night so you can lock them up? I will never have one but if I did I know what would happen. I'd let it free range and the sow would come into heat and probably get bred by one of the wild hogs we have in the low land by the river.

You said that their meat is said to be tasty. Do you plan on having any of your young ones slaughtered and processed or do you plan on selling the offspring to other breed purists. Do you worry about the small gene pool and genetic problems particular to the breed showing up?

Are you breeding any fish?

Some great questions! Some individuals may root a bit; normally they don't root if there is grass to graze on. They are grazers. Mine don't root at all. I doubt they would go very far if they free ranged and they had a home to call their own. Mine come back to their shed every night on their own. I don't lock them up because they are in four-ft. electric netting. They free ranged and lived right in the Maori villages.
Kunekune breeders are, for the most part, really opposed to line breeding because they are so concerned about genetic diversity and, I think, they aren't used to line breeding like we are with discus. I think because of that there are a lot of piglets with flaws like leg structure, blind teats, etc. I think some of the leg problems might be caused by people trying to get 200 lb pigs at 12 months and their legs weren't developed for that. I'm hoping my babies will be too expensive to eat but there's probably a meat quality (as opposed to breeding quality) piglet in every litter. I paid $650 for each of my two gilts (that's with a reduction because I bought two) plus $150 transport, and $800 for the boar plus $350 transport. Meat quality barrows sell for $250 - $300 at eight weeks around here. Their litters aren't as large as commercial pigs - 6 or 8 usually, and two litters a year.
I have a rather prolific pair of blue diamonds and a bunch of young red and yellow checkerboard pigeons. I cut way back for about a year because I was so sick of water changes but the market seems to be really good right now, plus someone showed me how to get cheaper shipping by going through paypal. So, it seemed like a good time to get back into discus. Now if I could just get Pat to part with those wilds...:)

This is the boar.
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