THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

FINDON PIGLETS

Copyright Valerie Martin 2006

 

I was literally amazed when Mandy told me about the addition to her smallholding...

 

21st May 2006

Hi Valerie,

Pigs

More info on the Findon pigs! The small coloured piglets are Kune Kunes and they originate from New Zealand. The name Kune Kune (pronounced Cooney Cooney) means Fat and Round in Maori!!!

They were brought into Britain in 1992 and there are now a lot of Registered breeding sows and boars around.......and they thrive on human company. The two in the photos are "Marble" (the black and white one) and "Barley) (the ginger one).

The other 'pink' pigs are Welsh. These are now a rare breed and there are only about 200 breeding sows left in the country.

We are (or rather were until the rains came) in the process of building an outdoor run for them that they can 'plough up' to their hearts content. Will keep you posted.

Best Wishes
Mandy Colbourne

Mandy Colbourne, Findon Village, West Sussex.

 

 

 

 

Guess what I'm doing?   Any ideas?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to see Mandy's Kune Kune piglets and Welsh piglets.... but got distracted by the friendly Dartmoors out in their field in the wind....

 

 

 

 

"Is she still looking at me?"

 

"This cone makes a good chin rubber".

 

"Slurp, slurp".

 

If you look in yonder distance, you can see a familiar dot..... yes, it's Laddie who has gone native on the hillside (on the left), with Cello and Magic.... let's get a bit closer....

 

 

"Come on guys — let's get out of here, we don't want any ideas of bridles and carriages".

 

"Is she still coming?"

 

"Keep your head down.... and keep walking away slowly".

 

I really went to see the piglets and here they are in their sty...

These are the two Welsh piglets.   They look very knowing to me.   To give you some idea of the size.... they are about as big as Suzie and Katie but on shorter legs.

 

This is "Marble" the fluffy Kune Kune piglet.   (Kune Kune is pronounced Cooney Cooney and means fat and round in Maori).   These little girls are younger than the Welsh piglets and therefore smaller in size (small Jack Russell size) and not so "with it" but can still run at a fast trot around the sty.

 

This is "Barley" scampering through the straw.

 

There are four little piglets in this photograph above.   If you look closely you will see that the Kune Kunes are squashed between the larger Welsh.

 

 

I paid another visit to the famous piglets in June 2006....

Marble.....my favourite, if I am allowed a favourite.

 

Here is her girlfriend, Barley, who is a close runner-up at being favourite.

 

"Say "Cheese" for my camera"

 

The two Welsh pigs join in.

A visit to Mandy's place would not be complete without seeing her horses......

This is Cello, the beautiful Hackney who kept falling asleep in the sunshine

 

....... and the unforgettably handsome Magic

 

Do you recognise who Magic is standing with?   It's the famous carriage horse, Laddie, of course.

 

At the end of January 2008, Mandy emailed to say.....

click on imagine for enlargement

"As promised a pic of 8 gorgeous little Gloucester Old Spot piglets born Friday morning and just over 24 hours old in this pic".

Congratulations, Mandy, on being "mother" to those dear little piglets.   What poppets they are to be sure.   And so sleepy too.

 

Continue if you would like to see Laddie's Sunday Morning Outing in Nepcote.

 

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.

 

E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com