[harry]

looking in my local adds i see these,,,,,, gloucester old spot x kune anyone had these or any other kune x.... what can i expect from these as opposed to straight kunes that i have now

[Sylvia]

I would imagine they would be bigger, longer and a bit leaner. H.Hippy will know more

[HappyHippy]

I'm afraid, when it comes to Kune crosses - I don't know much 

The issue would lie in the feeding - Kunes require much less hard feeding than 'big' breeds, so you'll just need to watch them and adjust the feeding as you go along.
Being that they are likely to be bigger than your Kunes Harry, you'll need to have a seperate pen for them - if you get boars you do run the risk of them fighting and if you get gilts you've got the issue of breeding to contend with  Never understimate the ability of a pig (no matter how small) to get to his target 

I'll know more in about 4 months  As our OSBxKK will have 'gone' but I'm sure others will have experiences to share before then.
Karen 

[harry]

separation not and issue...as will wait till all gone ie in the frezer..... .i. like the kks but want some a bit quicker next time ie might get 3 quicker growers and 3 kks,,all at the same time and age ,,,all boars...does that sound ok

[HappyHippy]

I've tried a couple of times to mix boars from different litters and it's not worked for me........yet.
But I'm trying again in a few weeks with some castrated boars, (I'm the eternal optimist) so I'll report back & let you know 

Karen 

[robert waddell]

there are two distinct forms of kunnies     small bred ones  and large bred ones     if you like kunnies as a finished pork product  then any cross with a 50 50 mix will be an improvement on carcass size and meat volume with a reduction on the fat depth( if feed correctly ) they will also Finnish quicker and at a heavier weight
as to mixing various sizes of boars we have done this but we are vigilant with them and kunnies are are a more sex orientated breed  than other breeds  therefore there is more aggression  also our males are castrated (it is only one or two that makes the grade for being left intact) so there is less aggression anyway

[oaklandspigs]

We have done Kune X, and Robert is exactly right, you get the hybrid vigour - faster growth, as well as a larger pig than a straight Kune.  We sold ours on before finishing, so cannot comment on the meat itself, but would fully expect it to be leaner than KK alone.

On fattening boars in general, we have a fattening group which we chuck a coupe of weaners into each month, and take off a couple of finishers, giving a rolling production line.  Most of the time these are entire males, and we just chuck the eight week olds in.  If from different litters we mix then first, so at least a friendly pair is going in.  However apart from the odd scratch, there have been no issues with doing this, and that includes putting Mangalitza crosses in.

I have not had hands on experience with Kune boars, and Roberts experience and knowldege that they are more agressive is interesting.

[robert waddell]

oaklands you have misinterpreted what i said  boars in general are more aggressive than castrated males young ones you can get away with mixing but once they are working that is a whole different ball game

[oaklandspigs]

Thanks Robert, yes I agree I would never mix working boars!

[Beewyched]

Hiya folks 

I just had to jump-in on this one - both of my working boars have been running together since the end of November, they're getting on fine & sharing housing.  Mind you, all the girls are either caring for litters or are in-pig, so I will seperate them before anyone comes back into season 

[Rhodie]

I mix my litters at weaning then split into sexed groups, the males settle in together and I have no problems raising them to slaughter.  In dynamic breeding groups I group the boars into two's or in the past, three's, at about three months old, after an initial fight to etablish the "pecking order"  they settle down together into a working group.

[welshlass181]

I've got 2 GOS x KK females and they are no different size wise to the pure kunes.  In fact one of the cross sows is smaller than my pure Kune.