I've collected Pigs for over 16 years, like cuddly ones, candles anything with a pig I've brought it! On the last count I've got over 1000 piggy things,and i've always wanted a real one, and to my surprise my Husband brought me one for my birthday last year, he said it was a miniature Pot Belly Pig, which in fact it turned out to be a Kune Kune, which isn't a small pig to have.
Contrary to popular belief pigs are very clean, they will only go to the toilet in one area not like dogs. They will never poo or wee in their house.
You can get Pigs from the internet. If you type in pigs there are many websites that sell them, or if you go to a farm near you they might sell them. If you want a pig but don't know if you could look after it properly you can also adopt one, that way their properly looked after, and you can have your own pig without worrying about cleaning them out. They
The name Kune Kune comes from New Zealand it means fat and round, the Maori people used to keep them and fatten them up to eat them.
The one thing that makes the breed distinctive is their Piri Piri, which are two tassles that hang from their lower jaw, at the moment it seems like they have no purpose, they are just there for show, a bit like a beard on a goat, some Kune Kune's don't have any tassles, and some only have one.
Kune Kune's can come in a lot of different colours including black, black and white, ginger, tortoiseshell and various other combinations. They have quite long hair for a pig, which can be straight, wavy or curly. They also have a medium sized head with no neck, with either prick or semi-lop ears.
This particular type of breed can grow up to 60cm (24 inches) in height, 80cm (31 inches) long and they can weigh up to 120kg (260 pounds).
Males also have tusks which start growing when they are around 18 months old. Males become fertile at about 8 months old, females come in season earlier than males but they don't recommend they get pregnant until at least 10 months old.
Kune Kune's usually have about 6-8 piglets but they can be known to have up to 12. The gestation period for the Kune Kune's is 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days.
You can train pigs like you can Dogs, but mine's not interested in that. He would rather play football. Pigs are very intelligent but they need alot of company and they can be very distructive!! I had mine running around the garden but he completely wrecked it so we had to build him a pig sty.
---Vaccinations ---
Kune Kunes need vaccinating against Erysipelas, this needs two injections initially and then one every six months. Erysipelas is a superficial, bacterial skin condition that extends to the Cutaneous Lymphatics, classically this infection is caused by Streptococcus pyogenes and it occurs on the face.
If you are planning on breeding your pig they can be vaccinated against Parvo virus. Parvo virus causes death and mummification. The virus can be carried in boars and sows without having any symptons.
Pigs need worming every 4-6 months.
---What you need to keep a Pig---
To keep this type of animal you need a licence which you will get from a company called DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Also if you want to take your Pig for a walk you must have an exercise certificate, they last for 12 months then you have to renew it. If you do take your Pig for a walk you must take the certifiace with you to produce if someone asks you to. I must admit i've never taken mine for a walk, hes always been too stuborn to do anything i've wanted him to do.
If you want to walk your pig you can buy a harness, some pigs will fit in the normal dog harness depending on the size of it. If you want to order one specifically for a pig then a good website is www.pigstuff.com. They sell everything you will need for your piggy, they are an American company, but you can buy stuff from the site if you don't live in America.
---Food---
Kune Kunes need a diet of grass, and fresh fruit and vegetables, I also buy mine a 25kg bag of pig pellets, I give him one measuring cupful in the morning and one again in the afternoon. The pig pellets only cost £6.50 for a 25kg bag, which usually lasts about 3 weeks.
They also drink up to twenty litres of water a day, not including wallowing in it, more about that later.
You can also get a 25kg bag of pig mash where you add hot water to it, it looks like wall paper paste but it smells a lot worse! But pigs love it and both the pig pellets and the pig mash will give them all the nutrients they need. This also cost £25 for a 25kg bag.
I get my food from a farm shop which also has animals themselves, its about a thirty minute drive from where I live, I only found this farm shop because I was going through the yellow pages book trying to find some proper pig food.
There are certain foods which they cannot eat, they cannot have any meat products at all, like for instance if I had a chicken sandwich, he couldn't eat the bread because it has had meat on it.
---Housing---
In the summer pigs need to be able to wallow in mud, that prevents them from getting sunburn.
In the winter they don't need to wallow because there is no risk of getting sunburn't and they don't like being wet and dirty.
When housing a pig they are quite happy in a sty or arc, there are many different arcs but the best ones are made from wood or plastic. A good arc would cost from £150 to a hefty £450.
An arc is dome shaped with a wooden floor.
A good website about getting an arc is- www.pig-arcs.co.uk.
My Pig lives in a 10 foot by 20 foot sty, he has an old wooden garden shed with loads of straw in it.
I wouldn't recommend buying a corrugated Iron arc though because they can get very hot in the summer but very cold in the winter.
---Regulations---
There are certain regulations that can prevent you from keeping pigs, you may need planning permission so you would have to check with your local council. Some house deeds state that you cannot keep pigs or poultry. And, most importantly don't forget to inform your neighbours!!!
There are some downfalls to having a pig, their wee is really strong so you have to keep watering down their pen (if its not all grass).
I wouldn't recommend getting one if you don't have enough time to spend with them as they can become very lonely.
They can be house trained but I tried and he didn't understand why I kept throwing him up the back garden, which was really hard when your trying to pick up an animal thats heavy, squealing and kicking you.
All in all I do recommend them but its up to the person who is getting one, they are not the hardest of animals to keep but they can be very noisy, and they do take up a lot of time.
Thanks for reading.
PS Heres some photo's of my Kune Kune, his name is Sausage.
