Hello all, a few questions!

[Fiona]

Hi everyone, I have just had my first litter of kunekunes born yesterday. A healthy litter of 9 to my gilt Ginger! I have been breeding Gloucester old spots for a few years and have had my kunes since last April, Ginger and her castrate brother Fred!
Now as much as I know about my big pigs is pretty similar to the kunes, the one thing I am very organised with is feeding, I have a lovely chart that I follow for my sows whilst feeding a litter but I am stumped with Ginger, obviously I dont want to under or overfeed, can you give me a rough idea of how much per day (I feed sows with a litter 3 times a day) from now through to weaning.
Her brother is next door to her, so they can see eachother, I have always kept sows and litters away from other pigs, will the kunes be any different? would he be able to join them, or shall I just leave apart until weaning?
At first glance I think theres just 2 boars, I will be having them castrated! I wouldnt mind a cost comparison, if anyone could tell me? my vet will be a call out (£40 odd) plus time on site @ £175per hr! hope he is quick!!
My intention is to sell them to pet homes, outdoor homes with space for them with pigs for company, if this fails then its sausages. I would have liked to have taken them to a country show next weekend as it would have been a great opportunity to let folk meet them, I took Fred and Ginger last year, but think it may be too early to take the litter this year, there are a couple of other local shows that I will try and get to in the summer. Am I right that £100 -£150 each is about right? I've seen them for less but I want to do this properly, and don't want to undersell, I want to promote them for the delightful creatures they are, I'd rather sausage them than give them away!
I inject my weaners with ivermectin at 7-8 weeks, 0.5ml, these are a little smaller than I am used to, how much do you inject them with?
I am sure theres more questions to come! but thank you for now!

[pedro1]

I always feed my sow 3 lbs of nuts and then 0.5 lbs of nuts for each piglet but you need to build up the food over 3 weeks and also give her fruit and veg for the first few days as this helps the teats dry up that aren't being used and prevents mastitis in them from Tom

[The Rushbury Pig]

Hi there and congratulations!

I keep Berkies as well as kunekune so know your dilemma

I am feeding approximately 3kg, or just over, of sow breeder nuts over 3 feeds to my sow with 10 piglets now just over 3 weeks old. kunekune piglets will start eating weaner pellets much earlier than the big breeds i find so part of her ration is now weaner pellets and the piglets are starting to 'tuck in'

I have obviously bulit her up to this post 2 days farrowing to avoid farrowing fever/mastitis. I tend to give only a little more than pre-farrwowing for the first week then increase slowly. She also has access to fresh grass throughout the day.

I will keep increasing as the piglets eat more but tend to feed by eye as I find kunekune vary so much in their feed requirements so I would just keep an eye on the sow and adjust accordingly.

I introduce my castrates back before weaning and let them out for grass together during the daytime from around 4 weeks if the sow is relaxed and not stressed.

Castration, I alsways take mine to the vets aged 2 to 3 weeks to be anaesthetised and castrated, this costs about £24 per piglet. I take them in a cat/small dog carrying crate!!

Hope this makes sense to you?

[The Rushbury Pig]

P.S. I use noromectin and give about 3 ml at 8/9 weeks, I do check the weight of the smallest though.

Prices vary quite a bit but many being sold are not pedigree registered. Prices seem to vary from around £75 for a castrate to £175 for a really good breed standard breeding gilt/boar. But generally £100 to £150 is a good place to start I would say!

I think the sow and litter needs to be at least 3 weeks old before they can travel.....did my certificate of competence only 2 months ago but can't remember whether it was 2 or 3 weeks now, I'll look it up!! Oh my brain nowadays

[The Rushbury Pig]

Sorry, just worked out my sow with 10 piglets are approx. 4 weeks old!

[wendy scu]

I feed as Pedro said but i do adjust - as Sam said according to different sows

i also take boys in to vet for anesthetic and castration - they are not as easy to do as the big pigs and as kunes are rather prone to hernia its safer to have them under anesthetic just in case of a rupture.

i mix my sows and litters back with the other pigs when the piglets are about 10 days to a fortnight old provided all is well but they are in barns so no crowding into an arc for sleeping.

Sam - that seems like a lot of Noromectin? i give them 1 ml at weaning. dosage on bottle is 1ml per 33kgs but i was told never to go under the 1ml.

[The Rushbury Pig]

Thank goodness you spotted that typo Wendy, it's 0.3ml

Absolutely right, it's 1 ml per 33kgs

[Fiona]

Hi thanks everyone that's a great help. I'm feeding 5-6lb per day at the moment plus fruit and veg, she's not out on grass just yet, we are sorting out a new paddock for them.
I guessed you meant 0.3ml! Think I will stick to 0.5ml, same as the others, what was the reason not to go below 1ml Wendy? I'm curious!
Think I will introduce Fred to them once back outside all being well!
I haven't booked the castration yet, but will reiterate that they are kunes and smaller than what he is perhaps used to! I will let you know the outcome. It seemed to me that the piglets were a similar size to my gos at birth, a week later though they are definately smaller than the gos! And addictive! I lay in the pen with them and let them climb on me, I love them!
Must remember to take a pen and paper out and record their details and get them registered. I didn't take them to the show, too risky, but looked it up and the piglets must have healed umbilicals and the sow mustn't have farrowed within a week of moving.
I'm sure there'll be more questions later! Thanks again