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January 24, 2010

Well, I'm sure you have all heard by now that Southern California was hit by unusual weather this past week.  We have had reports of way above average rainfall, snow in the local hills and mountains, cold wind, flooding, mudslides and even tornadoes.  Yes, tornadoes in California!  I'm sure that a good deal of you are yawning right now, but consider what I've said in the past about our boring weather of constant sunshine....we are not used to weather!

The good news is that I've gotten to wear a sweater (and not been too hot) and I have had the joy of building a fire in the fireplace, baking a tomato pie and making homemade soup, and have been enjoying evenings watching "All Creatures Great and Small" with a hot cup of cocoa and a peppermint swizzle stick.  Now, that is what I call enjoying a So Cal winter!  Seriously, we need the water and so we have to look at the bright side.  I've been praying for rain and I would say that my prayers have been answered, eh?

Thank you to all of you who thought of us when your own news programs were telling of the crazy flooding near us and for sending your well wishes and prayers for us and our pigs.  The pigs were a bit put off by the rain and flooded pens and having to stay in their houses for so many days in a row.  It was cold (for us) and we did have to make sure to get some of the houses and huts up off the ground.  Jim was my "lifesaver" by building some pallets (in the rain) to make sure everyone was going to "weather the storm" and "be high and dry".  Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Yesterday was a new day.  After days of dark skies and rain, it was so beautiful to wake up to puffy white clouds and cool, crisp morning air.  While driving to the property we call "the farm", I was admiring the snow on the mountains and all of the green fields and pastures when I noticed that a flock of Canadian Geese had decided to take some nourishment in one of the fields.  I had my camera so I took a couple of pictures.  You will have to try hard to see them in the photo, but they really are there.  The hills and clouds in the background looked so pretty with the green field below.  Once I got to the farm, I was excited to realize that the rain had produced a green pasture for our pigs to graze....something I had been looking forward to since attending the "Pigs on Pasture" seminar at the University of North Carolina a few summers ago.  In Southern California where rain is usually scarce, a pasture can only be maintained with irrigation.  We always hope for enough rain to make the pastures green and this year was that year!  The pigs looked pretty happy, though muddy, to see the sunshine.  While walking the fence line between the pasture and Thatcher's pen, I noticed he was following me and "asking" to be turned out.  I couldn't help but take a few pics of him, too, and share them below.  Thatcher is one of the original boars that we imported from England in 2005.  He is our largest boar weighing in at 230 pounds, is a "brown and white" with both wattles, and has legs like fire hydrants.  He is an aggressive breeder, sweet as can be, and very masculine.  He is from the "Andrew" boar line which is "Mako Mahia" in New Zealand.

Our hearts go out to Haiti and all of those who are touched by the tragedy there.  We pray that the Lord will use this time to bring recovery, restoration, and a blessed future to the people of Haiti.  We pray that Haiti will become a country who will love and serves the one and only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ our God.

Thanks, as always, for checking in.  Take care and God bless you and yours, Lori
 

 

 
January 8, 2010

Happy New Year and I hope everyone is keeping to their 2010 resolutions.  I am 'cause I haven't really made any, ha!

Yesterday, our Fancy girl was very accommodating and starting to show signs of farrowing at about 9 am in the morning (instead of in the middle of the night).  As mentioned in the previous blog, when gilts/sows begin to scrape the ground with their front feet, piglets are on their way.  She didn't have the first piglet until about 1 pm, but two followed immediately with barely enough time to clean the first one off.  I believe that Fancy does not have a very high tolerance for pain and seems to become frightened of her piglets at first.  She is one of our sows that farrows (delivers her young) while standing.  It appears that she is too uncomfortable when she tries to lay down and so gets right back up and walks around.

Fancy has acted aggressively toward her piglets soon after they are born.  There have been times when I have not been present when she farrowed and she has had all of her piglets survive and appear to be thriving.  She is the only sow that we have that has ever acted in an aggressive way toward her piglets and it can be extremely stressful to watch.  Once I believe that she has delivered all of her piglets and the afterbirth is coming, I wait for her to lay down to nurse the piglets.  As she's delivered them, I allowed her to talk to them and then I cleaned them off and removed them from her for safety's sake.  Then, I usually place them under the heat lamp and even put them in a laundry basket if they are too interested in finding mom and don't stay put under the lamp.  When she seems to settle, I place them near her where she talks to them and they explore her and find a teat or teats.  This can be an hour after the first one is born and sometimes longer.  With most sows, they are eager to have the piglets nurse and they "tell" them where to go and "yes" you are going the right way or "no" that's not it.  With Fancy, if they get near her rear, she will jump up and chase them and bite at them.  This all looks very scary.  If they get into her face and "complain", she will jump up and do the same thing.  I've tried to keep them away from her, but at some point they need to eat.  I've discovered, that it is best with her to allow her to be the mom realizing that she is not really hurting them...no one is bleeding or injured.  I've discovered that she is a very strong disciplinarian and she has the quietest piglets of all.  No one tells this mom what to do!

In the end, Fancy has some of the most gorgeous piglets we've produced at USA KuneKunes.  The stress that her farrowing causes in us, however, is reason for consideration.  I wonder if we're too involved in the farrowing of our piglets, but then we all know that some of our babies would not have survived had we not be present at the time.  It is something to really think about and work through all of the pros and cons and evaluate the individual sows and what is best for them and their offspring.  Fancy is a super mom, but it is not very comforting before she "teaches" her piglets what she is expecting of them.  Oh, and she is NEVER aggressive toward us in any way which is very typical of the KuneKune Pig breed.

Another thing I meant to mention is that Fancy seems to do much better once ALL of afterbirth is delivered and labor pains seem to subside.  She has even delivered some of the afterbirth and two hours later, had another piglet!  She is not a happy camper when she is in labor and you can see the look of anticipation when a piglet is going to emerge.  I've attached some pix of her while in labor.  Notice her ears are facing backward as she knows what's about to happen.  She is laying or sitting in the pix, but stands up when the piglet is born.  Unfortunately, my camera battery needed charging and that's all the pictures that I got until this morning.

Some of our buyers are now having their first litters.  We are so happy for them and for us.  Would love to see pictures!

Until next time, Lori
 
December 17, 2009 New Litters, Hints about Farrowing

I hope everyone had as good a Thanksgiving as we did. The weather was just right for the "holiday feel" being cold and even rainy. For those of you who know me well, you know that I am really tired of living in So Cal with all of the "great weather", 365 days a year. It's not that I don't appreciate the sunshine....it's just that there is no changing of the season in our area. It is nice to be able to wear a sweater every now and then!

Anyway, we are happy to report that Carrington has farrowed six beautiful piglets sired by Winston on Sunday, December 13, exactly as anticipated. Kunekunes are very predictable when it comes to farrowing dates, but unusual in that their gestation is 116 days rather than 114 as with other breeds of swine. I want to mention here a couple of things that have come up since some of our buyers are now getting piglets on the ground.

One thing to note is that not all sows lay down to farrow piglets. Our sows Carrington and Fancy stand to deliver piglets. They will lay down intermittently and then stand when the piglet is actually emerging. Once the piglet drops to the ground, the sow will spin around and "talk" to the piglet. It is a good idea to remove the piglet from the area after cleaning it off and place it under the heat lamp for safety as there will usually be another piglet following in the next few minutes. The sow will "paw" or scrape the ground, nesting materials, etc. when farrowing is imminent. She does this in between piglets, but it is also the sure sign that she is going to be giving birth soon. Look for pawing or scraping behavior, (not moving nesting materials by mouth) to determine if your gilt/sow is ready to farrow in the next few hours or even sooner. Also, check her underline for evidence of milk and a softening of the vulva. When you see these things, make sure you're ready 'cause those babies are on their way!

Once piglets are born, they will start to try and nurse. This can be unnerving in that they sometimes take their time finding a teat. The urge is to help them, but do not put them to a teat. This time searching imprints them with the mother and they are learning their environment with regard to her body and which end is which. With most breeds of swine, the piglets will "choose" a teat and stick with it for the entire time they are nursing. This is not true with the Kunekune Pig breed. Kune piglets will often "share" teats and also use two or even three teats with one being the primary teat that they have claimed. Sometimes, they will use two teats that are not close together and spend their time running from one to the other. This is normal for Kunes so do not be alarmed or let folks tell you otherwise. By the way, it is a good idea to tear the umbilical cords at this time, too as they can get all tangled up when the piglets are weaving up and down and back and forth getting their bearings. Tear it with your fingernails which is fairly easy to do at this stage (I use latex gloves). Once the cord is dry, it can be very tough and will need to be cut. DO NOT cut the umbilical cord prior to it drying out completely. Be sure to tear is so that it is not cleanly severed (as with cutting) leaving the opportunity for bleeding or infection. Leave a length of the cord that almost touches the ground when the piglet is standing on all fours, about two inches.

The last thing to mention here is to always provide a safety zone for your piglets. Mother pigs are very careful not to step or lay on their piglets, but if there is too much bedding creating a berm, the piglets can roll underneath her. Some of the more energetic or adventurous piglets can be rather impatient and move from side to side or underneath mom and get stepped on or laid upon. The safety zone can be created by placing a rail around the walls of her farrowing area about six or eight inches from the floor and eight to twelve inches out. This will create a "pocket" for the piglets to get into should they be behind her when she goes to lay down up against the wall. We sometimes use a panel that we've fashioned for the purpose placed so that it cuts off a corner in our sow stall. The piglets can get underneath a rail that mom cannot get under. Make sure it is not placed too high because we just had a small sow get into and become trapped in the safety zone with the piglets and heat lamp. Not good. We place a heat lamp in the safety zone which the piglets soon learn is a good place to sleep and will always retreat to should mom become agitated or should any other trouble arise becoming a true safety zone in the minds of the new born babies. It works wonderfully.

Our new little sow, Silhouette, surprised us with a litter of two. I was wondering why she didn't seem to cycle and wasn't at all interested in the boys and then realized on December 15 that she was about to farrow. Hence, the tips above! She had two very beautiful solid brown/black piglets, a color new to us. It has been said to me (and I agree) that the solid piglets are very appealing being without spots so you can "see" them. While I love color, I also love the solid cream, black and brown! Oh, and Silhouette is one of our fabulous pigs that came from Cyndi Berry of Kunekune Preserve USA whose pigs are out of the foundation stock imported directly from New Zealand. We have her pedigree, but are still researching bloodlines as the records are kept by common name and not boar/sow line over there.

Well, looking forward to the Christmas holiday. Hope you are, too. The Lord has certainly blessed us and you through this wonderful, little pig breed. Don't you think so, too?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Lori

 
   

November 20, 2009

We have been producing purebred KuneKune Pigs since our first litter in June of 2006 and we love to hear from our buyers about how they have discovered the superior temperament of the breed as well as the other beautiful characteristics of their own kunekunes. Recently, we received an update from Melody in PA on her little barrow, Tiki. She reports that he weighs in at 148 pounds at almost three years of age. He is kept in great condition as is apparent in the photos attached. Thank you, Melody, for sharing with all of us!

In addition, new KuneKune enthusiasts, Brian and Alana Schoffstall also of PA, have shared photos of their new piglets and intent to become committed breeders registering their prefix with the American KuneKune Breeders' Association. They purchased a gorgeous cream colored boar from our buyers in Spring, Texas at TGR Exotics and a sweet, brown and white gilt from breeders, Gary and Shelly Farris of Rocky Mountain Kunekunes. We have really enjoyed getting to know this wonderful couple. Photos below.

One of our very first buyers (another family from PA!) has a breeding pair and are on pins and needles awaiting their first litter of purebred piglets. Dave and Jodi Cronauer have their hands full with three boys, being owners of their own chiropractic offices, raising Buffalo, and now Kunekune Pigs. Wow, and I think I'm busy!

We plan to be out of the office beginning tomorrow, November 21 through Thanksgiving weekend. The best news we could ever hear is that we are going to have a grandchild. Our daughter and son-in-law are expecting their first child to arrive in late June of 2010. We will be spending the holiday with them up in Central California. We praise the Lord for His blessing on us and our children. We do not deserve such love!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and Give Thanks to God for His Son, Jesus Christ!
Sincerely, Lori Enright
 

 


USA KuneKunes  |  Jim & Lori Enright  |  P.O. Box 16  |  Mira Loma, CA 91752  |  (951) 505-5230