KuneKune Pigs
Huggins, Missouri
Are you wondering what you should and shouldn’t feed your KuneKune?
I have raised KuneKunes for years and one of the best parts about raising them is they are not picky eaters.
If you have ever heard the phrase “slop the hogs” its because pigs love eating leftovers and food scraps.
There are only a few things that I will never feed my KuneKunes and things I have noticed that they don’t like. So lets discuss what KuneKunes can and should not eat. KuneKunes are omnivores meaning like people their diet can consist of plants and meat. They thrive on a diet of grass, fruit, grains, nuts, and vegetables.
KuneKunes should not be fed meat.
Let’s take a deeper look at what you can feed your Kune Kunes to keep them healthy and thriving.
Do KuneKune Pigs Eat Grass Or Hay?
One of the biggest reasons I decided to start raising KuneKunes was because most of their diet can be made up of grass, lugunes and hay. The best part is since they have upturned noses they won’t root up your lawn or pasture. A majority of KuneKunes diet is made up of grass and fresh greens.
In the spring, summer and fall they will eat lots of fresh grass or pasture and during the winter time they can eat grass hay or grain . We like to feed a mix of corn/soy with sunflower seed and 4% animal fat. It was surprising when we first got our KuneKunes to see how much grass they eat. They would spend quite a bit of time grazing on our back lawn eating lots of grass. .
Letting your KuneKune graze on your lawn or pasture will keep them healthy and happy and in the winter it is good to feed them hay.
What Vegetables Can Kune Kune Pigs Eat?
We don’t ever throw away any food scraps anymore. It all goes in a stainless steel pale that we take out to our KuneKunes every day. Most of those food scraps consist of various vegetable peels and leftovers.
KuneKunes can eat all vegetables including, celery, potatoes, tomatoes, and lettuce. They need less protein than other pig breeds so more of their diet can consist mostly of vegetables, grains and grass. They don’t like onion skins. We have fed our KuneKunes all kinds of vegetable scraps. Celery ends, potatoes peels, cucumbers, and bad lettuce are all vegetables we have fed our KuneKunes and they really pig out. Feel free to feed them any and all vegetables because they will love it. One time one of our KuneKunes got in our garden and ate a bunch our winter squash and pumpkins. As frustrating as that was I am glad our KuneKune got a healthy snack. What I Feed my KuneKunes are really simple to feed. I like to do it as inexpensive as possible while still keeping them healthy. I let my KuneKunes eat all the grass or pasture they want.
Can KuneKunes Eggs?
KuneKunes love eggs. We try to give the hard a egg every other day. Always hard boil your egg, there is a enzyme in raw eggs that pervents the utilization of the protien.
Can Kune Kunes Eat Bread?
Old bread and pastries from the store for free. Kune Kunes can eat all bread products and other grains. Bread has great nutrition for Kune Kunes. Instead of throwing out moldy bread or bread scraps feed them to your Kune Kunes. As much as I hate throwing out bread it is good to know that our KuneKunes will thoroughly enjoy it.
Can KuneKune Pigs Eat Fruit?
Since we feed our Kunekunes table scraps they often get fruit. I have never seen them not eat fruit when given to them. KuneKune pigs will eat all kinds of fruit including strawberries, banana peels, apples and peels, oranges, berries, apricots, peaches, and pears. Fruit should not make up the majority of their diet but should also include grains and grasses. I have noticed that KuneKunes don’t like citrus peels.
KuneKunes like other pig breeds natural habitat is forest. Tree nuts like acorns made up a big part of their diets. KuneKunes love eating acorns and while they are toxic to humans without being properly processed pigs can eat and digest them fine.
Eating acorns and other fallen tree nuts is a very natural thing for Kunekunes to eat. Once some of my pig discovered those acorns at my neighbors farm, every time she got out I knew exactly where to find her. I would often get handfuls and bring them back to her as treats. If you have nut trees consider yourself lucky because your kunekune will love cleaning it up. You should now have a pretty good idea of what you should and shouldn’t feed your KuneKune.