Decide on Why You Want a Pig

Are you a homesteader and want to raise your own pork? Do you want to raise and sell breeding stock? Some other reason or all of the above? Know why you want a pig and then……

 

Do Research and Educate Yourself

I can’t emphasize this enough! The internet is full of information on different breeds of pigs. Do you want one that grows bigger or faster? Or one that roots less, is smaller and has a better temperament? If you’ve decided that a kunekune fits your goals and lifestyle best, congratulations! But…if you’re unwilling to eat them yourself, or sell them to people for pork, then this may not be the breed for you. 

Before you even look at pigs to buy, read everything you can. Each registry has information available about the breed. The British Kunekune Society (BKKPS), the American Kunekune Society (AKKPS) and the International Kunekune Hog Registry (IKHR) have info on their websites. The Empire Kunekune Pig Association (EKPA) is a group that also has lots of educational information on KuneKunes and excels in the pork producing side of things. The KPPA (Kunekune Pork Producers Association) is part of the EKPA.

 

AKKPS Education Link (click here)

 

Learn the KuneKune Breed Standards

Learn Basic Breed Information

Understand Basic Terminology

Nothing paints you more as a newbie than to not know a thing about KuneKunes. You become fodder for scammers who want to sell substandard or mixed breed mutts to the uninformed. Know the basics of breed standards and conformation. Know what a “wattle” is and PLEASE don’t use “waddle”. Ducks waddle. KuneKunes have wattles. And it’s not “guilt, or bore, or boer”… it’s “gilt, or boar”. There’s a dictionary of pig terms on the AKKPS website. 

AKKPS KuneKune Breed Standard (click here) 

PIG TERMS (click here)

Check out the:

AKKPS color chart (click here)

KuneKune line names (click here)

 A newbie likes the ‘orange’ pigs. When an educated buyer likes ‘ginger’ ones.

 

Learn What It Takes To Own A KuneKune

Food, water, shelter, fencing, pasture….minimum basics before buying and bringing home a pig. 

Visit some breeder farms. See how they do it. 

Ask questions. A breeder in Florida has different requirements than a breeder in Minnesota.

One of the biggest myths about KuneKunes is that they only need grass or pasture to eat. WRONG! All pigs are omnivores, not herbivores. They require certain nutrients in their diets to thrive. Yes, they graze and yes their pig feed requirements are less than commercial type pigs. But they require pig feed. 

A personal pet peeve of mine is people wanting pigs, or any farm animal really, being unwilling or unable to give that animal what it needs to be healthy and content. Don’t buy any animal if you can’t feed it appropriate feed for its breed, don’t have or can’t afford proper veterinarian care if the animal gets sick, or you don’t have proper ways of watering or sheltering the animal, or keeping it contained correctly. 

And don’t forget…pigs are herd animals. You need to buy in pairs. Two gilts, two barrows, a gilt or a boar and a barrow, two boars etc. Do not plan to keep a male and a female together all the time.

 

Learn Basic Medical Care

Medical Care (click here)

You need to know the minimum information to take care of your animal’s health. Even such things as taking a temperature might save an animal’s life. Your KuneKunes will need deworming, vaccinations, castration, tusk trimming, hoof trimming etc. You need to either learn to do these things yourself or pay someone else to do them. You must learn to give shots! Learn what to do if your animal becomes sick or injured. Have a veterinarian available to help.

 

Learn Basic Breeding Information

Breeding Information (click here)

If you’re going to raise piglets, whether for your own use or to sell, you need basic information on pig reproduction, anatomy, heat cycles, maintaining breeding animals, farrowing and care of piglets. This is a big undertaking and responsibility. Don’t do it if you won’t take the time to educate yourself beforehand. It’s sad and frustrating to see instance after instance of people not understanding basic reproductive concepts and ending up losing litters and even sows because of ignorance. 

 

Know Local & State Laws

Many towns and cities don’t allow livestock to be raised in the city limits. And pigs are noisy! Many states have very strict laws on selling meat products to others. Kunekune Pork Producers Association has lots of information on raising KuneKunes for pork.

 

Buy Registered or Pigs With Certificates

AKKPS Herd Book (click here)

Really. Almost every single person I’ve spoken to who started with unregistered pigs, switched to registered within a year. Yes it’s more expensive to start with registered Kunekunes. Ultimately, registered pigs give you more flexibility in sales opportunities when it comes time to sell either piglets or pork. 

 

Join The American KuneKune Pig Socity - AKKPS

Join AKKPS (click here)

Most have extra benefits for joining and it’s worth it to have a place to start in your KuneKune owning journey.

 

Find A KuneKune Breeder

AKKPS Breeder List (click here)

Each registry has a breeders list. The AKKPS has a robust search function to make it easy to find breeders in your state. Buy only from a breeder who belongs to the registry!  The registry can help you with problems with registration that come from other members but can’t help you if the seller isn’t a member. 

Depending on your goals, you should already be aware of what you’d like to buy. Are you looking to only buy barrows for meat? Are you looking for unrelated piglets for breeding purposes? Are you wanting to sell pork products to high end restaurants or the public at farmer’s markets etc.? The AKKPS offers meat pig certification for those pigs who are not registerable. This guarantees the end consumer is buying certified heritage breed kunekune pork. 

 

Ask Questions

****LOOK FOR RED FLAGS****

Visit a farm if you can. 

Sellers must have basic knowledge of the breed! If they don’t, . If they don’t know correct color terminology, . If they can’t give you a contract or at minimum a receipt with terms and conditions, . They must be a current registry member. The pig or piglet should be listed in the herd book…either as fully registered, pending, or under certificate status. Check that the dam of the piglets is in the same name as the person selling you the piglets (aka the breeder). If not, it is a red flag.

 

Buying Your Pig

Don’t buy from an auction, a swap meet, a vendor at a fair, or some random person on a local marketplace. Don’t buy an obviously sick, underage, or undersized pig or piglet! Do not buy a ‘bottle baby’! Don’t ‘rescue’ a pig. “Rescuing”, by paying these unscrupulous people, is just enabling them to continue to exploit these animals.

It’s frustrating and heartbreaking to see and hear from people who have made spur of the moment purchases of pigs and end up spending money, time and effort on these pigs and they end up dying or stunted, or bringing a disease onto the property. Or they get scammed by buying mixed breed pigs with zero kunekune blood. If you did your research, you know why you wanted a kunekune. Mixed breed pigs don’t have these breed traits. If you educated yourself, you’d know that a kunekune shouldn’t be weaned/sold until it reaches a minimum age of 8 weeks. If you educated yourself, you’d know an average 8 week old piglet weighs about 15-20 pounds…sometimes more. If you educated yourself, you’d know what a pig looks like if it has pneumonia, mange, a scrotal hernia, greasy pig etc. Don’t buy an aggressive pig of any age. Kunekunes with aggression are very rare, but it’s common in mixed breeds.  If the seller won’t go into a pen with the pig, RED FLAG.

 

More RED FLAGS

• Using terms like “mini pig” or “teacup” or not using proper terms for colors (saying orange instead of ginger) or using ‘waddles’ instead of ‘wattles’. 
• Selling underage piglets or underweight for age 
• Selling pigs with rough coats, bloated bellies, runny noses, injuries, mangy, cloudy eyes, boars with undescended testicles or a scrotal hernia. Verify gilts have even teats and no inverted ones. Manure can be a good indicator of the health of a piglet. Their poo should be fairly hard and solid. Be wary if the excrement is very soft, runny or has traces of blood in it. These can be signs that the pig you are viewing is sick.
• Do not buy overweight pigs. An overweight pig can suffer all manner of health problems, such as: becoming lame, a higher risk of becoming blind, infertility, and a higher risk of arthritis. An obese animal may need to be placed on a diet to help him/her lose weight. It can be a tough job to slim a pig – they are very stubborn animals, changing their diet can lead to them becoming noisy, aggressive and problematic.
• Sellers having no health protocol (deworming, vaccinations, iron shots)
• Selling entire litters as breeding quality. Not every piglet born is breeding quality! No reputable breeder with knowledge of breed standards will register every piglet out of a litter, unless money is the only consideration. 
• Selling on pictures of newborns. Ask for current photos. 
• Selling with photos of piglets being held. You need to see the conformation of the pig standing to properly assess. 
• Not feeding proper diet or underfeeding
• Seller ‘pressuring you’ to make a decision
• Seller asking for a large deposit without providing a receipt or contract

AKKPS Printable PDF Contract (click here)

• Selling pigs as ‘purebreds’ without being registered. An unregistered pig is not purebred…no matter what the seller says. 
• They don’t offer to support you after the sale. A seller must be a mentor. They must want you to be successful with your pig. 
• Seller seems unfamiliar with registration process (litter notification, DNA)
• Seller has not entered litter notification
• Seller does not respond to requests for updates on registration process 
• If the pig you’re buying is in the herd book, verify that the person you’re buying the pig from is the person listed as the current owner of the pig. 
• There are two ways to transfer a registered pig with the AKKPS. Either the seller completes the online transfer of the pig or the seller can sign the front of the original registration papers and the buyer completes the transfer online. Either way, make sure you have a detailed bill of sale listing pigs AKKPS number and information on both buyer and seller. 
• Quarantine your new purchase. Your new pigs must be kept and housed separately from your other pigs for at least 30 days. This hopefully prevents exposing an established herd to disease or parasites. New pigs should be dewormed and vaccinated appropriately, if needed. 
• If your seller lives in another state, be aware of state laws regarding transport of animals across state lines. Some states require testing or a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) to accompany any transported animal. A buyer often pays these extra costs. 
• Selling pigs as ‘purebreds’ without being registered. An unregistered pig is not purebred…no matter what the seller says. 
• They don’t offer to support you after the sale. A seller must be a mentor. They must want you to be successful with your pig. 
• Seller seems unfamiliar with registration process (litter notification, DNA)
• Seller has not entered litter notification
• Seller does not respond to requests for updates on registration process 
• If the pig you’re buying is in the herd book, verify that the person you’re buying the pig from is the person listed as the current owner of the pig. 
• There are two ways to transfer a registered pig with the AKKPS. Either the seller completes the online transfer of the pig or the seller can sign the front of the original registration papers and the buyer completes the transfer online. Either way, make sure you have a detailed bill of sale listing pigs AKKPS number and information on both buyer and seller. 
• Quarantine your new purchase. Your new pigs must be kept and housed separately from your other pigs for at least 30 days. This hopefully prevents exposing an established herd to disease or parasites. New pigs should be dewormed and vaccinated appropriately, if needed. 
• If your seller lives in another state, be aware of state laws regarding transport of animals across state lines. Some states require testing or a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) to accompany any transported animal. A buyer often pays these extra costs.