The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Fowlman on November 03, 2013, 06:22:03 pm
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Although i haven't done much in the way of pigs, only a couple of GOS a few years back i 'm now considering a couple more pigs and having considered most traditional breeds and then began to consider kune kunes. I know there will be at least one person who will be shouting do it (HAPPY HIPPY), but wondered if there was anyone else on here who had tried them for meat and what were the pro's and cons as regards to feeding, space etc. Look forward to any replies.
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All I know is peeps I know who've tried it say Kunes are absolutely delicious :thumbsup: :pig:
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small but delicious!
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We bought two KK castrates from happyhippy. They were born 28th January, we got them in April and they were slaughtered on 22nd October. Deadweights are 49.5kg and 42kg.
We'll get the pork (two legs) and the sausages on Wednesday; the gammon (two legs) and the bacon (as much as could be got from back and belly) in two weeks.
Not got butchery costs yet but will look back and see how much we fed them - we were looking for a low input: low output system.
I've had KK pork, bacon and sausages form Karen and it's lovely.
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Thanks, certainly food for thought. :thumbsup:
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Also very friendly pigs and easy to look after.
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We fed them 11 20kg bags of feed costing £95.59, so about £1 per kg deadweight. Plus veggies and fruit from the garden and the local greengrocer plus one bag of brock potatoes at £10.
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Cheers Rosemary
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I am now on my 2nd go with the Kune-Kune piglets. I found the first 2 cheaper to rear and lot easier to look after. My first go at rearing piglets was with the all black. they were just to big and their size worried me. The Kune meat is just lovely. I find them a lot of fun to have around.
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I have had many kunekunes go for meat now :)
My most recent 3 I picked up this weekend, they were only 6 months old but I didnt have the time for them anymore so they had to go, Dead weights were around 27-30 kgs
I got 45kgs of sausages, loads of bacon, MASSIVE gammons, rolled and boned hind legs and some neck fillets.
Not sure how much it all weighs though as I have frozen it already
The sausages are always amazing, I usually sell them but they go too quick then I am always left with none, so this time I am keeping them more hush hush, family only!
Bacon is superb! my pigs I sent off last had approx 1 cm back fat, which is lovely on the bacon :)
Pork is full of flavour and just the right amount of fat
They lived off mostly windfall apples, hay, acorns and forage so would be difficult for me to figure out costs
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We're just about to send our first kune kunes in December.
Two sows that have produced piglets for us, but are unregistered, so aiming for good bacon from them as they're long kunes
We also have a gilt that'll be about a year.
Having heard how good it is, we're really looking forward to it.
With 3 pigs going, though, think there may be an excess, so have another thread starting on here if anyone is looking for some kune pork :)
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Obviously I'm all for it ;D For all the reasons stated above.
You're looking at a longer time investment than traditional breeds and they do need a bit more space to allow them to graze (I'd say half an acre would be the minimum) but they're just so easy to look after, don't trash the ground the same (thought they will still root, but not to anything like the same extent as big pigs) and cost less in terms of hard feeding.
The meat is sweeter and less 'porky' than traditional breeds - we can barely keep up with demand for the sausages, they're that good :thumbsup:
The only two pieces of advice are
1) Don't be tempted to overfeed them or feed bakery products/grain - you'll end up with FAT pigs ;)
2) Try not to get too attached to them (it's very easily done because they are so darned friendly) :innocent:
HTH
Karen
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The only problem with rearing the smaller breeds of pigs, is that unfortunately they cost the same amount as their larger bretheren to slaughter and butcher.
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Actually I changed abbatior to one who charges per kilo to kill and cut, my old one charged a set charge per pig which yes worked out expensive
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You're extremely lucky to have such an obliging slaughterhouse. :pig:
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Thanks everyone for there input, enough to convince me they are worth a go as i'm in no hurry because for me it's about quality. Interesting point about the abbatoir Bodger :thumbsup:
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We fed them 11 20kg bags of feed costing £95.59, so about £1 per kg deadweight. Plus veggies and fruit from the garden and the local greengrocer plus one bag of brock potatoes at £10.
So how did that compare with the other breeds you've had in the past Rosemary?
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The only problem with rearing the smaller breeds of pigs, is that unfortunately they cost the same amount as their larger bretheren to slaughter and butcher.
Our abattoir charges the same price for slaughter for most pigs - £18 odds, if they're so big that they have to go through the cattle lines (to stop them trailing on the floor once hung) then we pay a higher fee but that's mainly for cull sows.
All the butchers we use work on a price per kilo for butchery so it doesn't work out any more expensive having a smaller pig cut - but generally by 10-12 months our Kunekunes are around 80-85Kg live weight anyway.
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We fed them 11 20kg bags of feed costing £95.59, so about £1 per kg deadweight. Plus veggies and fruit from the garden and the local greengrocer plus one bag of brock potatoes at £10.
So how did that compare with the other breeds you've had in the past Rosemary?
I usually budget for 19 bags per pig.
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Good thread this, a question I was pondering over. Thanks folks :thinking:
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Certainly convinced me thenovice :thumbsup: you thinking of doing some ?
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Rosemary wrote up our experience this year with Kunes:
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/diary/kunekune-pigs-for-meat/ (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/diary/kunekune-pigs-for-meat/)
The pork joints look fab, just the right amount of fat and really nice meat. :thumbsup:
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The only thing that makes me slightly uncomfortable is that we're not supporting British Rare Breeds.
If I could get two Middle Whites, I'd give them a go.
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I agree Rosemary i would love some middle whites myself.
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Yep, considering kune kunes. I had Middle whites last time, and the pork was superb, really tasty and succulent. Early finishers too! :thumbsup:
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As i was unable to source any kune kunes locally i have settled for some lovely GOS. A breed i'm familiar with. Maybe next time once i've sourced some locally.
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Funny you should say that, im in the same boat, and going for large blacks next week! :thumbsup:
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Good luck with your large blacks. :thumbsup:
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You too matey :fc: