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Author Topic: Kune kune books  (Read 5377 times)

Bramham Wiltshire Horns

  • Joined Oct 2014
  • leeds
  • Bramham flock Wiltshire Horns
Kune kune books
« on: September 20, 2015, 09:14:48 am »
Is there any good books out there that specialise in kune kunes from rearing to processing

Thanks
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verdifish

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • banffshire
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2015, 11:32:44 am »
Not yet!  :fc:

Buffy the eggs layer

  • Joined Jun 2010
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2015, 07:39:23 pm »
I saw one advertised on Amazon but I dont know if it was any good.

verdifish

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • banffshire
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2015, 08:55:01 pm »
Once I've finished mine it will be called " fat fat " the Kune Kune book.
I've just been speaking to a friend in NZ who's an iwi which is a maori village elder who specialises in language and folklaw and he has 100% confirmed it's not fat an round or any derivative there of but 100% fat fat.  So I'm happy to say we here at little Blairshinnoch have very fit slim " fat fat " .  Not " fat fat pig/s " just " fat fat ". You've gotta love languages.

Bramham Wiltshire Horns

  • Joined Oct 2014
  • leeds
  • Bramham flock Wiltshire Horns
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2015, 09:30:03 pm »
The one on Amazon seems to be just for breeding and pets
Not the finishing etc
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Buffy the eggs layer

  • Joined Jun 2010
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2015, 01:45:01 pm »
My publisher is keen for me to write one when in a year or so but I don't think their is a big enough audience for such a book. The majority of people keep them as pets.


I may produce is as an e-book though which will be cheaper....watch this space.  As my last book was called talking chickens then this one would be have to be Talking Kunes :eyelashes:

clydesdaleclopper

  • Joined Aug 2009
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2015, 05:35:24 pm »
Well then you will have to include the fact that their favourite thing is playing tag with small boys and they will shout loudly if said boys fail to run away from them or cheat by climbing trees  ;D
Our holding has Anglo Nubian and British Toggenburg goats, Gotland sheep, Franconian Geese, Blue Swedish ducks, a whole load of mongrel hens and two semi-feral children.

Buffy the eggs layer

  • Joined Jun 2010
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2015, 08:21:40 pm »
Ha ha,


    ;D [size=78%] [/size]

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #8 on: September 24, 2015, 10:05:38 am »
There isn't a book on rearing for meat as so few people are doing it. Hopefully that will be changing - the BKKPS are keen to see them used as Smallholders pigs so information is being gathered and shared in the newsletters. I've got a piece I wrote that I'll post later from my laptop but if you have specific questions please ask away  :)
Karen

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2015, 04:36:45 pm »
Raising Kunekune for pork            
A lot of people think that Kunekunes are purely ‘pet’ pigs and as such, can’t be eaten. There’s also a common misconception that the meat is incredibly fatty and it doesn’t taste as good as other breeds. All of these ideas are, quite frankly, completely untrue. What is true however is that Kunekunes are seen primarily as a ‘pet’ pig and often discounted by many who raise their own pigs to supply pork for themselves, or friends and family.
At a time when pig feed prices are at their highest ever, many breeders of larger traditional pigs are giving up and concerns are creeping in over sustainability of supply and ‘food miles’ from importing soya, the lower input, slower growing, grass fed Kunekune has the opportunity to fill a small, pig shaped gap in the market.
The pork produced from Kunekunes is wonderful; succulent and tasty and only fatty if they’ve been overfed on hard feed or given lots of bread and grain, in particular barley. You’ve got to give them time and space to grow, they need to be outdoors to allow them to graze and they cannot be rushed to finish. Okay, so they’re never going to compare to ‘big’ pigs in the growth rate or pork volume stakes. But what they lack in quantity, they more than make up for in other departments.
Pro’s
Low input in terms of bought in feeding
Kunekunes only need 1lb of pig nuts per day and access to grass to allow them to graze.

Easy to manage
Kunekunes are friendly, laid back little pigs, not prone to escaping or destroying housing and fences and absolutely ideal for people who are new to pigs. They are good with children and other stock.

Less damaging to your land
Kunekunes with their smaller trotters and lower weights don’t churn up the ground in the same way bigger pigs do. Any damage tends to be superficial and quicker to recover when compared to that of traditional breeds.

Con’s
It takes longer than a traditional breed
You can’t be assured of a pig that will grow by X amount in X amount of time, they’re slower growing than traditional breeds and you just have to be patient. We find that by 10 or 11 months old they’re well grown and ready to go off.

What we do

We raise all our Kunekunes (except pregnant and nursing females) in exactly the same way - they get 1lb of hard feed (sow rolls @ 16% protein) per day, split into 2 feeds and as much fruit and veg as we have available. In spring and summer they get access to plenty of good grazing, in autumn and winter we supplement their grass ration by feeding hay or haylage and if the weather gets very cold we give some soaked sugar beet pellets too. Beware of over feeding them - it’s incredibly common, but doesn’t do the pig, or your feed & butchery bills any good, you have to be strict with yourself.
We aim to get them to around 65-70Kg (live weight) before sending them to slaughter. For most of our Kunekunes this is somewhere between 10 and 12 months of age, but some don’t grow to quite this size (due to the variations in size, even in the same litter) and have been sent off a little smaller.
We are lucky that we have a small, family run abattoir within 30 minutes drive of our farm. The staff there are incredibly good with the pigs, they understand and mirror the time and care we’ve put in to them while alive. Having anything other than a ‘good death’, after a happy free-range (some would say pampered) life would make me think twice about the whole process. I couldn’t subject my pigs to long uncomfortable journey’s or any stress at the end, so finding a good abattoir, within a reasonable driving time was a deciding factor for us (but this should be true for all pigs - not just Kunekunes).
We treat the carcass in exactly the same way as our traditional pigs, or rather, the butcher does (we sell the excess meat produced to the general public and don’t have licensed premises to do our own cutting & packing)
The loin tends to be cut into chops, we have a few rolled pork joints and some pork steaks/diced pork and the rest is minced and most of it then turned into sausages and burgers - this is only because these are the items most commonly requested by our customers. We have had entire legs cured and turned into hams and the most delicious bacon I’ve ever tasted came from an older gilt, around 20 months old. We’ve also won prizes for sausages made from Kunekune pork (beating rare breed pork and butcher made entries) and have used whole carcasses for hog roasts, with lots of compliments from the diners - to me this shows that the meat is of great quality. I find the pork itself is sweeter and less ‘porky’ than that of other breeds, this is possibly due to the lower percentage of manufactured feed in their diet.
By promoting Kunekune pork, I feel that we as breeders, are actually benefitting the breed in the longer term. Creating the demand for pork creates a ‘need to breed’. Not all gilts in a litter are good enough to be bred from (and shouldn’t be, in my opinion, as it will damage the breed in the longer term) and with sales of pet pigs slowing, we need to find a viable alternative use for these little pigs to ensure they continue to go from strength to strength.
Karen McKay, Yonderton Herd.

Bramham Wiltshire Horns

  • Joined Oct 2014
  • leeds
  • Bramham flock Wiltshire Horns
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2015, 01:35:05 pm »
 :thumbsup:

^^
thank you very informative
x
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Red

  • Joined Mar 2011
  • North Yorkshire
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #11 on: October 02, 2015, 11:44:32 pm »
We've just rescued two little kunes from being shot because the farm shop & petting park was closing down, we normally keep saddle backs so these are just pets so any advice please! They love their new home 1/2 acres wood and grass to plod around in
Red

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #12 on: October 03, 2015, 12:34:00 pm »
[member=11699]Red[/member] congratulations! You'll love them, they're such engaging wee pigs  :)
Are they breeding pigs or pets? If they're going to breed you'll be best to give them a pound of feed per day (split into 2 feeds) if they'll not be breeding and are over a year old I'd be inclined to give only a handful morning and night as long as they've got plenty of grass - fruit and veg will also be appreciated  ;) In winter we give them some hay - sometimes they eat it, sometimes they don't... Be careful not to let them get over fat - this leads to health problems - especially foot issues.
Also make a point of going to see them without food and at varying times of day - this will keep them quieter  ;) If they get food every time they see you they'll start squealing - shouldn't really be a problem if they've been in a letting farm though.
Apart from that just treat them like any other pigs - plenty of belly rubs, a good wash and brush in the summer, bit of oil to condition their skin, worm testing/treatment and vaccinations if you have lots of stock movements, shows etc.
Just shout if I've missed anything  ;)
Karen

Red

  • Joined Mar 2011
  • North Yorkshire
Re: Kune kune books
« Reply #13 on: October 06, 2015, 08:10:32 pm »
thanks Hippyhippy! they seem so happy in their new home away from horrible children poking them through the fence and they were kept in quite bad conditions on really short grass! not sure what we will do with them to be honest, think we might just let them live their lives  out in the their new home. Thanks for the advice x
Red

 

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