Author Topic: Kune Kune Piglets. (Read 2173 times)

sabrina · « **on:** December 21, 2014, 09:19:50 pm »

This will be my 3rd time that I have raised this breed and have always found them very friendly. This time the two girls would bite me if they could, have eaten a hole in their Ark and seem to be looking for food all the time. Think they are about 4 months old now. I give them the same feed as I have always done plus fruit and veg. Could it just be their breeding, different sow. They always seem happy to see me, tails wag and they come running but I have to watch those little teeth all the time.

HappyHippy · « **Reply #1 on:** December 21, 2014, 11:26:44 pm »

It's likely that they've been fed by hand when they were still with the breeder, they learn to associate fingers with food

You might be able to nip it in the bud with some firm retraining (same as you would a dog) as they're still young - we took on a whole litter of 6 month olds as a rescue case once with hopes of rehoming them, sadly they had all been used to being hand fed and we couldn't get them to stop biting.......... $:-\$

sabrina · « **Reply #2 on:** December 21, 2014, 11:56:50 pm »

Will be firm with them and see how that goes.

Bex · « **Reply #3 on:** December 22, 2014, 02:46:57 pm »

Does hand feeding not make them more tame though? How do you make them friendly but keep your fingers?

HappyHippy · « **Reply #4 on:** December 22, 2014, 03:31:25 pm »

Put treats in a small trug or bowl and put it on the floor Bex

Kunekune are friendly by default, but you have to think about what will happen when they are fully grown......small piglets need to learn manners so they don't turn into wayward adolescents or bolshy adults. A bit like puppies and children

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #5 on:** December 22, 2014, 06:25:59 pm »

Our pigs are always floor fed so they don't associate any part of the human body with grub. If they take an exploratory nip at boots or trousers (generally around six weeks or so) they immediately get a sharp tap on the snout (not enough to make them squeal, just to make them think twice about doing it next time). Only had a handful of "next times". A cute nuzzle at six weeks will be something pretty serious when they've teeth the size a pony would be proud of!

devonlady · « **Reply #6 on:** December 23, 2014, 07:30:23 am »

We got the "girls" at 8 months and they had been hand fed- still are come to think of it, 7 years later

I taught them to sit and offer a trotter before they were fed which worked well and stopped them jumping up and nipping, it only took a few days.
This will only work if they are to be kept forever. I certainly couldn't eat a pig that offers a trotter for a banana or will give you a kiss for a bunch of grapes