Smallholders love their pigs and we are no different. 

Why have pigs

“Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you

and pigs look you right in the eye.”

Pigs will remove the weeds from your ground, give you meat (pork, bacon), weaners to breed from or sell on, but above all pleasure.  They are intelligent social animals that love to sunbathe and go into a state of sheer bliss if you give them a good scratch.  We have 3 Kune Kune pigs who free range on a large bit of rough grazing on our smallholding.  Check out our flickr page for more pics of the pigs.

 Why are Kune Kunes a good smallholder pig?

“It is the smallest domesticated breed of pig in the world, a firm favourite among pet pig owners, due to its placid friendly nature and love of human company. Small scale pig breeders enjoy its ease of management and ability to thrive on grass.”

Did you know it is now illegal to feed pigs with scraps from your kitchen?

About 90% of the costs of keeping pigs is their feed costs – it is therefore more economical to have a pig that will live quite happily through the summer on what it can graze and do not do as much damage to the ground as other pigs such as Tamworths.  Our Kunes are also very fond of carrots from agricultural suppliers in the winter.

If you are considering keeping pigs, even a micro pig, you need to understand the laws around feeding, tagging and moving them.

   Find out what you need to get started and how to keep your animals safe and healthy. Click here for a good starter for ten. Poor hygiene and biosecurity can lead to vermin and disease check out my post ‘Know Your Enemy’.

For a brief guide to keeping pigs check out this page on the Scottish Pig Keepers website.

Scottish Code of recommendations for the welfare of pigs

 Check out this link – keeping pigs a beginners guide Read more from my blog about looking after animals. Click here for more awesome pig facts.