Guinea Hogs vs Kunekune Part 2

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kunev-guinea2

Piglets: Guinea piglets scream bloody murder when you pick them up. When I say bloody murder I mean the first thought in your head will be to put them down immediately so that ringing in your head will stop. Kunekune are bit quieter and you can calm them down a bit with cuddles.

Belly Rubs:
Both love belly rubs and I can get my males to roll over and go to sleep. Both are pretty similar, however all of my Kunekune want attention, but only a quarter of the guineas will let you touch them. Now I can work more with those guineas to get them used to it, but when you have 11 plus piglets its gets daunting to make sure each one is going to be an indoor pet.

Friendliness:
When I had guineas piglets (20 between 2 litters) I was not able to take each one inside to make them super friendly and pet like. Of the 20 I only have 6 remaining. 1 was a runt who was hand fed. She is slowly becoming a guinea hog who is on the hunt for food, and expressing her hog like instincts. The others run in fear, while one will let me rub her nose. Now the Kunes, after only being at my place for a week will waddle over to me if I’m in the pen. My largest boar will always expect a belly rub. In fact I actually sit on him while I do it. My dogs don’t even like it when I lean on them a bit.

Food:
If I walk into the pen of my guinea boar with food, you better put it down, or he will do what he can to push it out of your hands. Same with the females. They are a bit more docile but one of my sows was very voracious at feeding time to the point of squealing excessively. The Kunekune do like their food but I can just push them back no problem, and they don’t squeal like they are going to eat me (aka Like the pig scenes in the movie snatch)

Litters:
Guineas range from 6-12, Kunes range from 4-8

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Kune
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Guinea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mud:
Guinea hogs have the ability to root. And love to dig a wallow. Since they are black and have less hair compared to the Kunekune they need that added sunblock (aka mud). If you give the kunekune a wallow or a kiddie pool, most of them will choose the kiddie pool.

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Guinea
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Kunekune

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snout.
The guineas have a small snout not geared toward heavy rooting, but if not given adequate food on pasture they will start to root. Same with the kunekune, however there snout makes it more of a challenge for them. If you give them mud to make a wallow it will be the size of a plate. If you let the guineas build a wallow, i seen them get 5 feet wide by 1.5 feet deep. Use the tennis ball for scale.

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Kune rooting (notice tennis ball)
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Guinea Hog rooting
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Kunekune snout
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Guinea snout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Price:
Kunekune are very expensive. However they are worth it. There temperament makes it a joy to be out on the field, and since they tear it up less it is easier to maintain the field. More on this under hooves.

Meat:
The kunekune tend to have nicer marbling at a younger age. However I will need to do a bit more research on my own to get a full read on that.

Hooves:
These are about the same, however when you combine rooting with hoof compaction you get a field that needs to be broken up for new seeds to penetrate. Thus the Kunekune make this easier, since they root less there is less overall field maintenance.

 

Let us know if you have any questions about our pigs.

part 1 American guinea hogs vs kunekune

See our for sale page for what we have available.

 

 

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