Over the past 12 months I have been working on a book about outdoor pig breeding. I'm happy to announce that this is now with the publishers and in its final stages and will be available in the shops from 24/10/11.
Please follow the link to order:
May 2010
Well, the winter's gone, the summer is certainly here today and the show season is now upon us. We have had several spring litters of piglets. Bella, Gertie, Hattie and Bunty have all had litters and we have one more litter to come later on in the summer.
I have exported a few groups of pigs over the winter. The first went to a beautiful Island off the West Coast of Ireland. These were collected by their new owner. Next was a group to France. I drove them to their destination in Carcassonne myself which was a wonderful journey and a beautiful city when we got there.
The third group went to Northern Ireland, another round trip for me and the last group, went to southern Ireland - another beautiful little island in the Irish sea.
The Northern Irish exports have to be blood tested which was a new experience for me.
We've had a little more TV fame too - Adam Henson bought a boar from us and brought the TV cameras for countryfile along with him when he came to collect him.
Our first show of the season was the Smallholder Show at Builth Wells where we took 2nd and 3rd prizes with two of our breeding boars and a 2nd with a sow and litter.
Brad Pig was an absolute star in the obedience class despite lots of lovely lady pigs dashing around in there, and our Brad is a very keen stud these days! He won the class and was much admired by all. (Well done Lucy!)
Jan 2010
I'm finding it hard to keep up with the news at the moment as the winter months bring so much extra work with them.
In brief, we've had piglets from Bunty - 4 little beauties, and Angelina - 10. We've sent two more groups of piglets to Holland and have some going to Ireland next week and France early February.
I am also getting another group ready for Ireland later in February.
Next litter due is Awakino/Te Whangi in February - thats Momo.
Brad is doing well and has been filming a series of three programs for BBC 'Animals at Work' to be screened in 2010. He's also been photographed this week for our local paper who are interested in his story. Like everyone else we are in the grip of the snow now so with 30 pigs, 8 horses, 1 cow and 5 sheep to look after, (not to mention house and family, KKPS newsletter and my annual tax return!!) i don't think you'll be hearing much from me for a little while!
Sept 21st 09
Well its been a long time coming but here is our news on the filming;
The night before we left Bella kept me up all night giving birth to her litter of 7 (pics on the 'for sale' page) so I was worn out before we started!
The journey down was long and hot - 5 hours in England and 16 in France and temperature reaching nearly 40 degrees by the time we got to Cannes.
The pigs behaved impeccably and were so well trained by now that we excersied them regularly on their harnesses on the way down through France. Thank God for vet bed - what an amazing invention that stuff is - kept them cool and clean and dry all the way there and was so easy to clean. Sorry - I'm beginning to sound like and advert!
We had 5 days for the pigs to accustom themselves to the climate and their surroundings before filming began. Bradley, one of the boars suffered mild heat stroke for a couple of days so we didn't use him until the latter part of the filming. Fortunately the pigs' accommodation was perfect if a little small; they had tons of shade, fig, orange, pomegranate and lime trees raining fruit down on them and of course our own portable wallow permanently full with cool water.
Filming was, I must admit, a bit of a shock to the system! Under pressure of limited time, a limited budget and intense heat, people who had seemed genteel and polite suddenly took on a new identity and became quite scarey to say the least.
However, we managed to complete our scenes including challenges such as Teaks (the smallest piglet) having to ride in a very small 1950's style pushchair down a very bumpy street, Bradley (boar piglet) having to sit at a desk and pretend to be painting a picture whilst wearing a superman outfit, and Cookie (2nd boar piglet) having to be carried down the street to the butchers shop by a very angry jewish man! - 7 times!
Of course all three piglets were playing the same part in the film but we had to give each piglet a break during the day so the three of them 'doubled' for each other.
The whole thing was a wonderful experience even if it was exhausting. It showed me what a strong relationship can be built with a little pig over a very short period of time and how trusting and dependent on me they became. To give you an example - one of the things which had worried me was how I would get each pig to perform away from his friends, in crowded situations with a lot of strange noises, traffic etc.
I was amazed at how the pigs, instead of pannicking in this situation, stuck by my legs, listened through the din for my voice and did as they were told. On the odd occassion the pig would lose me and disappear off down the street behind someone else, only to pannick when he realised it wasn't me. The look of relief when he heard me catch up with him was very endeering.
Cookie and Teaks have gone to their new homes now - a very sad parting for me but I know both will be very well cared for and happy. Bradley will remain with me as a breeding boar, and who knows, he may have to represent his siblings on the red carpet next year...........................
August 10th 09
Hattie has had her second litter, 6 beautiful piglets. Well done Hattie! Bella is due next weekend.
Sue went to the Herefordshire country fair where he performed very well in the main ring ( a daunting task for pig and owner!!) and seemd to have acquired a huge fan club by the end of the afternoon. He behaved beautifully.
The film stars (porcine!) have been practising their scenes with the film stars (human) and we are off to the south of France next weekend for filming!
July 20th 09
Training is coming along - slowly. The piglets have a list of tasks to master and we are gradually getting through them. They have also been dressing up in clothes in preparation which surprisingly they don't seem to mind at all. The local charity shops are doing well out of me at present as the piglets grow a lot faster than a baby it seems! We are now out of 'birth to 3 months' in vests and trousers and so far we are only 7 weeks old!
We had a lovely five days at the final Royal Show at Stoneleigh. Sue and the film stars performed tirelessly for the crowds and were very well behaved all week, flying the flag for the breed like little trojans!
June 30th 09
Rosie gave birth to 8 lovely piglets. It was a very auspicious birth as i had been secretly hoping for some piglets to be born who i could use on a job i have been lucky enough to secure with a film company. We only require one pig for the film but of course to have a double makes it a lot easier - Rosie had 3 identical piglets so i was thrilled.
the piglets are now in training and will soon be travelling abroad with me for filming. I hope to put pictures on the site afterwards!
The three counties show went well - mid June. We won the young breeding class and took the boar championship for the 2nd year running, this year with Barton Hill Te Whangi, so we now have 2 champion boars at stud. We also had a 4th place with Angie out of a class of 11 pigs so that was very pleasing.
Sue now has official entertainment bookings so i am hard at work with him, although the weather has been so hot lately that he is somewhat lethargic during training! he now has his own personal wallow at the bottom of the garden so he can 'take five' during training sessions on the lawn and go for a quick dip to cool off!
Next week i will be at the Royal Show at Stoneleigh with Sue and a few others in the smallholder area, representing the BKKPS. I'm really looking forward to it as it's a chance to meet loads of new people and talk about pigs all day!
May 31st 09
Well plenty has been happening in May -
We have exported two more groups of pigs, one to the Isle of Man and another to Holland.
We attended the smallholder show with several of our pigs and had some very exciting results. the most outstanding were overall Champion with Hattie our Trish sow and Reserve Champion with Bunty, our Sally sow. We also had second prize with young Herbie, our Te Whangi boar and a third with Roly, a young Andrew boar. Last but by no means least Sue won the obedience class but only just....... he beat his little friend Katy who he has been training with at home.
Katy has now gone to her new home in Warwickshire, all of Bellas piglets have flown the nest and yesterday Angie gave birth to a beautiful litter of 7. All doing well so far.
Rosie (Awakino) is now due, so we are waiting patiently.
Yesterday Bonny went to a wonderful new home in Wales, where she will keep company with a handsome young man named Boris........watch this space......
May 7th 09
Well we now have two new (very small!) litters of piglets.
Bunty, my lovely black Sally gilt, gave us our first litter from Herbie, our young Te Whangi boar.
She only has three, two b/w boys and a gorgeous little toffee coloured gilt.
Sarah also produced 3 piglets. all white and black and again, two boys and a girl.
Bunty had a hard time although eventually all was well. Sarah nipped into the hay barn three days early while i was out one afternoon and popped them out unoticed. although her fourth piglet was stuck in the afterbirth and dead, so we will never know if he was born alive and would have made it with a little help. :(
The next excitement will be the Smallholder show at Builth Wells on 17th May which we've entered loads of pigs for.
April 14th 09
Well if I didn't know better I'd think Hattie was human!!
Little Hattie, our Trish gilt proved very difficult to get in pig last year but once she had a litter in December I thought we would have no further problems. Unfortunately she didn't come back into season so after scanning and lengthy discussion with the vet a course of treatment was decided upon to 'beat' mother nature and Hattie. the FOLLOWING DAY Hattie was gone - nowhere to be found.
After a fair old panic I tracked her down at the end of my feeding rounds - she was IN SEASON AND in with the boar I had chosen to mate her with. She had not only come in season but had defied not one but TWO electric fences to get to the right boar. How smart is that for a pig?
7th April 09
Well the show season is looming and I am busy filling out entry forms. The first show we will be going to is the Smallholder Show at Builth Wells where we will be taking several pigs including Sue who is entered in the pig obedience class.
Kanga, our wayward vixen is now back out in the copse with the other foxes where i hope she will remain for the summer and autumn.
Bunty, is a beautiful black gilt who I hand reared in a litter of eight from birth, as her dear old mum died following her birth.
Bunty is due to have her piglets in the 3rd week in April.
24th March 09
Well! what can I say? Little Sue, my castrated boar piglet has been all over the media this week with his antics and I have had emails from as far away as Canada and Italy, America and Spain! He has been a proper little star.
Just for the record though, he doesn't herd sheep (and never will), he is NOT entering any dog agility competitions (and certainly not the Royal Welsh!), and I do not think he will ever compete with a dog for speed or agility. He DOES, however, shake hands with his trotter, sit, lie down, climb ramps, go through the tunnel and weave in and out of cones. All in all he's a very clever little pig but I won't be pushing him too hard, and frankly he's got a bit bored over the last couple of days filming and is now having a well earned break.
12th March 09
Well we weren't disappointed! Dear little Bella had 7 piglets. 5 gilts and two boars and all have done really well so far. She is a great mum although almost too laid back - spends all day in bed and rarely brings the children outside. The boys have been castrated and several piglets already have lovely homes waiting for them.
We have also recently accquired 5 rescue pigs for rehoming. Thenk goodness for the very kind people who have offered good homes to these pigs. All are in good condition but just in need of permanent homes. Two are going to Kent and 3 to Essex.
3rd Feb 09
Waiting with great excitement for our first litter from Bella.
Bella's mum unfortunately never produced any colostrum or milk when Bellas litter were born which left me struggling to rear them for her (colostrum is essential milk which only comes in the first 24 hours after the piglets are born.After 2 days the gut of the piglet changes and the piglet can no longer absorb colostrum so it is vital that it receives this life giving milk in the first day) .
Bella was one of only two survivors so she is very special to us.
14th Jan 2009
Hattie, our rarest female bloodline has had her first litter. This is particularly significant as we had almost given up hope of her breeding. Most gilts come in season within about 6-12 months of age but Hattie was 17 months before she came in season for the first time. She has Three lovely boys although that was a little disappointing as it's the female bloodline which is the rare one. Never mind, a good start for Hattie (named after Hattie Jaques who some of you will remember as a rather round lady!) and our other Trish is due at the end of Feb.
27th Dec 2008
There have been one or two sightings of Basil but he has not returned home. I put food out for hime every night but it is always still there in the morning.
I only hope he has moved on to new territory and found himself a wife. She will need him now to care for her and her cubs when they are born in the early spring, so if he does return we will feed him but not put him back in his pen.
still have one or two of Tessy's babies. Hattie is due her first litter on 30th Dec.
28th Nov 2008
Well Arthur has now settled in and is 'one of the lads'. All of Tessy's babies are thriving and the two little boys have been castrated. Angies two are leaving home this weekend to go and live in Hampshire and her remaining little boar will probably stay with me.
Some bad news - Basil, the youngest fox has disappeared. He dug out of his pen on Tuesday night and we haven't seen him since. Its not unusual for our foxes to go AWOL on occassions especially at this time of year (breeding season) but they do usually return for food every evening. Basil is only young so would not be very good at fending for himself yet. The local shoot are out today so i hope he is keeping his head down.
1st Nov 2008
Tessy's babies have visited the vet as two of them have a chest infection. One is worse than the other so fingers crossed for that one.
Arthur arrived yesterday, he is our new boar. He is an absolutely beautiful little fat cream coloured chappie. look out for photos on the gallery soon!
21st Oct 2008
Yesterday, Tessy Bear, our Rebecca Gina gave birth to her first litter. 8 piglets in all - 3 boars, 5 gilts all doing well at present but of course, the first week of life is crucial.
Tessy seems to be a very calm quite mum and has plenty of milk, although she is a tiny little thing herself so 8 looks like a huge litter.
8th Oct 2008
Two weeks to wait until our young Rebecca Gina gilt has her first litter. She has moved out of the paddock away from the other pigs today and is free ranging on the farm now. She will go into the 'maternity barn' each night now to get used to her new surroundings where her litter will be born. Watch this space!
30th Sept 2008
At long last our young Trish gilt has come in season - at the age of 18 months! iI had given up on her really and so am delighted that she went to our Andrew boar and has not returned in season. Piglets due 30th December - I know where i will be seeing in the New Year !!
24th Sept 2008
Angelina (Jenny bloodline) gave birth to 5 piglets in the early hours of this morning. A couple of beauties in the litter but disappointing in number as we were expecting a few more from Angie who normally produces large litters.
11th Sept 2008
Today I took Lilyroo, one of our hand reared foxes, down to Sussex where she will soon be released to the wild.
Although brought up in captivity and as part of our animal 'family', Lily never really settled in the copse where our other foxes live and was obviously pining for a wild life. It was an easy decision to make knowing that she will be a much happier fox when free.
She has gone to a friend of mine - Dani - who cares for orphaned and injured foxes, where she will be gradually rehabilitated to the wild and then released in a few weeks time. Dani will continue to leave food for her until Lily stops returning - an indication that she has either moved on to pastures new or has learned to hunt for herself. We brought home 'Heathcliffe', a rather bedraggled looking dog fox who is having trouble looking after himself and keeps handing himself in to the RSPCA in the hope of a suare meal and a dry bed!
Heathcliffe will live with Basil, a young dog fox cub, in the bottom copse.
10th Sept 2008
Our second group of piglets left today for Holland.
I transported them myself and we set out at 3.00am for Dover docks.
All went well and we arrived in Dunkirque at lunch time. The piglets went from Dunkirque to their two seperate daestinations in Holland where they will form part of the foundation breeding stock for the Dutch Kunekune Pig Society which was recently formed.