We have been raising registered Kunes for about 2 1/2 years now. We processed 8 piglets at about 8 months old last year and loved the meat! The reason we didn’t wait the full 12-15 months to butcher was for a couple reason.
One was the cost of hay; the small amount of grain (compared to regular pigs) they eat isn't that expensive, but once the grass stops growing buying all that hay starts to add up!
The other was that we lived in a neighborhood with an HOA and some of our neighbors were not very happy with us raising pigs. We also didn’t plan on having that many to raise up! We wanted to sell all of them (it was our first-time farrowing). So, we ended up with piglets that only weighed about 30-50 pounds, and you can only get a few cuts out of those!
We are now going to try crossing an IPP (Idaho Pasture Pig) gilt with our Kune boar and see how the piglets are! The gilt we are getting is tricolor, and just turned a year old, so she is the perfect age for us!
We don't think we are going to be registering the piglets we sell anymore (it was way too much of a hassle for the small number of piglets we sell), but the gilt we are getting is from registered parents.
Now let's learn why you may want to consider IPPs as the grazing pig for you farm!
History
IPPs are a "made in the USA" breed of pasture pig, they were created by Gary & Shelly Farris of Rigby, Idaho after years of dedicated work crossing Old Berkshire, Duroc, and KuneKunes. They are a very new breed of grazing pig; breeding stock has only been available to the public since 2012. However, despite their recent introduction to the farming world, they are already a fairly popular grazing pig breed!
Size
These pigs are similar in size to a Kune, with boars reaching a mature weight of 350-450 pounds and sows 250-350 pounds.
Coloring
They can come in a variety of colors (though not as many as Kunes) including black and white, ginger, tri, and cream, as well as any combination of these colors.
Diet
IPPs can be fed the same way as Kunes, with a diet consisting of 90% pasture and 10% grain. They can also be fed any pig-safe food scraps (which is almost everything!).
Farrowing
Just like Kunes, IPPs are usually good mothers, and can farrow outdoors without heat lamps as long as they are in A-frame shelters.
Litter size average is 5-7 for gilts and 8-10 for sows.
Temperament
The proper IPP temperament is friendly and curious, although a natural protectiveness of the piglets is desirable in sows.
So, What's the Difference?
The primary benefit of raising IPPs is that they reach a butcher weight of 230-250 pounds in only 9-10 months, compared with a Kune's 12-18 months! We don't know how long it will take a Kune X IPP to reach butcher weight, but we are hoping it will be faster than a pure Kune!
As far as body type IPPs are a bit "longer" than Kunes and may or may not have wattles.
We are getting our gilt delivered tomorrow, so we will share more on this breed as we experience it!