This website is designed to give owners and potential Kunekune owners information and advice about the breed.  With pages about general grooming and feeding advice, and a history of the breed, also if you need a vet for your Kunekune we have a list of local vets in each county that will look after Kunekunes (page currently under construction).

We love our 3 Kunekune pigs and know that many other people in Ireland are starting to fall for them too.

Kunekunes are very suitable for a novice owner as they are incredibly placid, friendly and love human company. They are also very intelligent and easy to train. They are very good with children too, but I would not leave my daughter alone with them in the field as they do have the odd argument between them selves and can knock into your legs without knowing (not on purpose). They might accidently nip fingers too if you are handing them food, like horses would.  Also a sow with new pigglts will be a bit protective and might get a bit moody if you try to go near them too much, But other than that they are very friendly and love human contact.

We do not agree with keeping pigs as "house" (indoor) pets, as Kunekunes need a minimum of half an acre of grazing for two pigs and that pigs should be kept in groups of two or more as they are a herd animal.

They get on very well with other pets like dogs and cats too, and love the company. 

Origanaly from New Zealand and kept by the Maoris for food since trading with Asia in the 1800's.  In the late 1970's it was thought that only 50 pure bread Kunekunes were still alive so Michael Willis and John Simister started up a breeding program to save the breed from extinction. Now the numbers world wide are thought to be in the thousands. 

They are unique amongst other pig breeds in that they can sustain themselves entirely on a diet of grass, with hay products and the minimum of supplements in the winter.