Why we chose Kune Kune pigs.

Why did we choose Kune Kune pigs?

For their size, their diet and their meat.

We’ll explore each of these reasons in turn, as they all contributed to our decision to get Kune Kune pigs. But first, why would we even consider pigs in the first place? Aren’t they smelly and hard to handle?

—

Some of my fondest childhood memories center around Ruby Farm, a small holding where I lived for just under a year with my parents and little sister in Devon. Although we didn’t care for the animals, the cottage was surrounded by the farmer’s cats, ducks, chickens- and two pigs who came to the gate at the end of our driveway to be fed.

I can clearly remember walking down there with my mum and her gently stroking their big ears. Ever since, I’ve been very fond of pigs. I don’t mind that they get dirty or a bit smelly- I just think they’re fascinating in many ways.

So once we had mastered keeping backyard chickens and were looking for another way to become a bit more self sufficient, I suggested we try to keep pigs. Peter liked the idea as he had very fond memories of pigs from his childhood as well (namely a hilarious story in which his dad ended up riding one around their yard…)

But where would we keep them? How much would it cost to feed them? What breed should we choose?

—

We stumbled upon several YouTubers/ homesteaders in the US who had all kept pigs in the past and had chosen Kune Kune pigs.

This breed is originally from New Zealand and has become increasingly popular in the West due to their smaller size, adorable fuzzy hair and the fact that they are ‘grazing’ pigs (who don’t root and totally destroy the field in which they are kept).

After researching other heritage breeds from the UK, we decided to buy three young Kune Kune gilts from a local breeder.

—

Why Kune Kune?
Their size

Being smaller than a heritage breed from the UK or a commercial pig (which can get massive and very difficult to handle), the smaller size of Kune Kune pigs appealed to us for several reasons. Firstly, we only had about 0.5 of an acre to keep them on. Secondly, we had kids who were keen on helping and we didn’t want them getting pushed around by a hungry full sized pig. Third, their smaller size meant we could keep more than one in our paddock, which was important as pigs are quite social creatures.

Full size Kune Kune pigs can get up to 100 kg for the males, and females range up to around 70-80 kg max.

Our three girls ended up standing about mid thigh height on me- so if they decided to ram me for the food bucket, I had to focus to keep my balance!

You can still get quite a bit of meat off these pigs- we ended up with about 100kg to fill our freezer (and several neighbours) from the three pigs.

—

Their diet

Grazing pigs who don’t turn their enclosure into a mud bath? Sounded ideal! As the paddock we were renting was already very overgrown, we hoped to save on feed costs by letting the pigs roam and feed off the grass etc. Some homesteaders even claimed that their Kune Kune pigs lived solely off grazing, and we were keen to see if we could save on feed this way.

What we fed our three pigs and what this cost us overall will be the topic of a future blog post!

—

Their meat

Kune kunes are slow growing pigs- who ideally are not slaughtered before 18 months old to 2 years. Their meat is prized for its marbled appearance (similar to beef) and makes great charcuterie. As lovers of a nice chorizo, we liked the idea of being able to turn their meat into something even more delicious.

In the end, the best thing was the sausages- which were so filling of flavour it makes my mouth water just thinking about them. If we were to raise these pigs again I would ask for a lot more than the 10 kg of sausages we ended up with!

—

Hopefully this post gives you a deeper insight into why we chose Kune Kune pigs and inspires you to look into whether you have space to keep even two to raise your own pasture pork!