[mojocafa]

I have an  area of ground where a large pile of stone is. The stone originally was a red stone building that has collapsed and has been left untouched for  years resulting in it now being completely overgrown with weeds, nettles, thistles. The hill is not overly high.

Would pigs be suitable for helping to Clear this?
Are kune kunes the smallest breed?
How long do pigs live for if I was to offer them a forever home in exchange for their hard work clearing site?
What other food would they need to complement their diet?
I have no plans of eating or breeding them so would be pets

Hope someone can advise,
Cheers
Mojo

[Fowgill Farm]

if you want pets KK's are probably the way to go with a castrated male & a female possibly, however whether they'll clear the ground sufficeintly i'll leave to the KK experts.
My oldest pig is 9 in September and he is a GOS so they can live a long time given the life of riley   his wives lived until 5 & 7 respectively. So taking on pigs is for the long term. If you scour the for sale section of various websites theres always alledged 'micro' pigs looking for homes that have outgrown their welcome   and a couple of these girls could be the way to go. They will still still need a min 2kg of hard feed each a day on top of any vegetation they forage, a 25kg bag of feed is approx £8 so do the math, factor in straw & water and the committment of time too.
If you can do it you will be rewarded with two lovely pets who will give you lots of time wasting opportunities.
hth
Mandy
ps forgot to say sharp stones can cause feet problems and as some pigs will eat small stones it can lead to stomach problems.

[mojocafa]

Cheers for that Mandy, very helpful

[Beewyched]

Not bad for a "non KK expert" Mandy 
I would say a maximum of 2kg per day between 2 non-breeding adults, but you will need to adjust this for weather conditions (more when wet & cold) & amount of grazing/foraging/additional fruit & veg available.
Clear the ground - oh yes, especially the younger KKs.  If you spread their feed on the ground they'll definately turn it over.  They adore nettles & brambles especially & will dig down to get at the roots.  Don't worry about sloping, hilly ground - mine lived in a 2 acre woods when we were up in Scotland. 
There is a breed smaller than KKs - "Little Swedish Pigs", but I don't know of any registered breeders other than Wendy Scudamore at Bartonhill (apologies in advance if there is anyone else out there).
As Mandy says, there are nearly always "Micro/Pet/Disney/Mini/Teacup" pigs "free to a good home" & you could give a couple of pigs a lovely home - just be aware that they will be of, probably undeterminable, cross-breeding (often with KK or Potbellie in there somewhere) & pigs don't stop growing in size until they are 2 (or even 3 in "big breeds").
If you're going for "rescues" just make sure their teeth, feet & joints are ok, as many that have been kept as "pets" have been cooped-up & become obese     KK's live, on average, 12-15 years old.  If you are thinking KKs have a look on the BKKPS website - it's full of useful information & there are sometimes adverts for rehoming/older animals for sale, as well as registered breeding stock & piglets.
 
 
 
 

[mojocafa]

Thank you beewyched

[gavin davies]

i have 3 kunekunes and i will get some photos up of what the ground looked like before they got on and what it looked like 5 weeks later you would not belive it was the same land they completly cleared everything they are even lower than the roots of the massive tree in some parts of the ground so going on what mine have they will clear the land good for you without making that many holes they have cleared it all one level which is great for me

[mojocafa]

Photos would be fab, cheers

[Button End Beasts]

Our Kunekunes haven't dug at all. I was fully prepared for the ground to be ripped apart. Even when our big OSB boar was here and dug a long, deep tunnel in their field ( he seemd to be following the roots of a tree!), they didnt carry on with his handiwork. Non digging pigs are certainly a first for us. Mind you the grass in some of the fields is taller than the kunes are now so they have plenty to keep them busy.

[mojocafa]

Yesterday morning when I posted, life was pretty good and one of our challenges was to clear this area and how best to do it. However what a difference 24 hrs makes. Yesterday, my oh went to adjust a blade on a sit on grass cutter and unsure of exactly what happened but severed his thumb, index and mid finger. He has had 9 hours of surgery which has included skin graft from thigh as well. So my oh, whom I rely on for the bulk of the heavy work, will be out of action for a wee while. So maybe a couple of pigs would be helpful. I read on another post something about the disgraceful state of pigs feet. Do you need to trim them like goats?

[Beewyched]

Oh noooo - owch 
I can't imagine, how awfull for you both - I hope he recovers ok  - did they manage to save them all?
As to the pigs - I would definately go for KKs in your current situation - I know that everyone has their favourites (& of course I'm biased    ) but they are so docile & easy to handle, especially if you are going to be doing things on your own for a while!
As for KK feet - if you get your KKs from a reputable breeder & don't overfeed them or keep them cooped-up, they should be ok.  Some of mine have never been trimmed - though I do sometimes do a little neatening for the show ring 
Probably the nearest breeder to you is Tillyhowes (on here as thestephens) , she has some 10 week olds at the moment & Happyhippy is expecting (well her KKs I mean!) & sometimes has KKs of various ages available too.  Probably worth you PMing both of them.
 

[Eastling]

The things men will do to get of working!   All joking aside I hope he recovers well       

[Hassle]

That sounds painful hope he gets back to as normal as he can.

Please don't tell him to throw his hand in at the mowing though

[mojocafa]

Cheers for the good wishes, he currently has leeches on the wound to encourage the blood to move, so fingers crossed, that's mine, not his!