[robert waddell]

harry they should not be getting access to a water course  you could cause pollution  not only that they can cause erosion

[Sylvia]

I have yet to eat any of my Kunes but find them far and away the easiest of pigs to keep. Mine graze happily , eat a ration of pig nuts and a lot of waste fruit and veg. They don't get a huge ammount of nuts but it seems to be enough as they spend a lot of time in the wallow or stretched out under the hedge or, nicer still, when I sit down on my bench at the top of our land, sprawled beside me, all mixed up with the dogs  
I've never had a break-out with them, they seem happy to stay at home, I can trust them(under supervision) with the grand-children and their rooting, even with the youngsters is minimal.
I wouldn't, I know, make my living with them but I love them
 

[HappyHippy]

yes a pound of nuts a day is very appealing but when you factor in all the other costs involved for the return of pork that you are getting it is very expensive  do come to the pig ring at the gow and see the Hampshire's at 21 weeks old and weighing 81 kilos last week and it not just me David with his Duroc xgos is achieving just as good weight gains 

But I'm not interested in getting a fast return with what is effectively a commercial breed of pig Robert. Yes, I know it's probably mental and while I'm never going to be seen as a 'real' farmer, I get a lot out of raising my pigs the way I do. Pound for pound my Kunekunes cost me less to raise than the Large Blacks, Tamworths, OSB's or Berkshire - based on end weight and costs (time isn't an issue for me - I've got plenty  )
I've no doubt that the duroc and Hampshires have a bigger, leaner carcass than any of the native or traditional breeds, but again, each to their own.
 

the last time i did ask you to point out what the difference was as you inferred that kunnies differed from other pigs  so what you are saying  is restrict there daily input and they grow and develop better and is the reason for them having litters that are 100% bigger

It's not about restricting feeding - it's about giving them what suits them and keeping them at a healthy weight. Mine aren't constantly starving - else they wouldn't be laying around in the sun getting belly rubs, they'd be moaning 
Kunekunes were kept as mobile waste disposal's by the Maoiri's, they fed on scraps and forraged/scavanged the rest of the time - often covering many miles in a day. I'm not a vet and I'm not going to pretend I know exactly how their system varies from that of the larger pigs - but I do know that it does because given the same conditions as 'big' pigs - they don't do well.
 
As for ringing - I have no comment to make other than that I see ringing as an unnessary mutilation (each to their own again). If Adam didn't ring his pigs he wouldn't be able to keep them as I believe it's a tennanted farm (or else it's to keep the grass nice for the visitors to the farm park) BUT I don't think it's his Kunekunes that are ringed 
Karen 
 
 

[robert waddell]

the forestry commission don't use kunnies to invigorate the forrests it is iron age /wild boar/ Tamworth's  and lately pigs from a commercial farm that are scavenging in the woods
so you are claiming there is a difference in there (kunnies)comparability to other pigs that would be very interesting to have some eminent professor highly regarded in his field confirm or deny  this world breaking information
all pigs at one time were the waste disposal systems as were geese in miners rows it is now illegal to have them as the Maoiris did and when was the last time you saw a lean Maori

[HappyHippy]

Oooch Robert - go and do some work and stop bl**dy argueing with me 
 
Are you drunk or summit ?    What have the forresty commission and wild boar and commercial pigs scavenging in the woods got to do with anything Kunekune related 
 
Leave the whole Kunekune digestive/reproductive issue with me..... I believe the Dutch KK society have done some research - I'll find some info for you, but not today - some of us are quite busy you know     

[robert waddell]

i think the same applies to yourself  try practising what you are preaching
one time you are claiming them to be a grazing pig then changing it that they are a foraging pig
all pigs graze and forage but to claim that they are a grazing pig is the crux of this debate and with minimal concentrates it may well be a selling point on the NZ kunnie site you referred to  before but equally the micro pig fraternity make outlandish claims on the sites

[harry]

HALF TIME...... i did wonder about the stream issue but the field nearby has cows drinking from the stream downstream and ive seen plenty of cows in fields with streams small rivers,,,, are the rules different for pigs, erosion isnt an issue as ive sorted that problem,

[robert waddell]

at one time it was the normal for cattle to get water from streams burns rivers it is now frowned upon to continue this practise  and some environmental schemes prohibit it altogether  and everybody is jittery about e coli being traced back to there farm     there was a farmer not that far from me that was having a small housing development(13 houses) it was refused because the farm down the burn from him complained his dairy cows were going to be drinking the water that the septic tanks discharged into  the developing farmer was not astute enough  to get his neighbour stopped from this