New Arrivals Are Making Little Piggies
Of Themselves
Easter is traditionally a time to make a little piggy of yourself and at one North East farm, that's exactly what some very new arrivals have been doing.
A litter of rare breed, baby Kune Kunes are already causing squeals of delight at hands on farm attraction Down at the Farm, at Houghton-le-Spring near Sunderland and just ten minutes from Durham.
These little piglets are of a breed native to New Zealand with Kune Kune meaning 'fat and round' in Maori and pronounced as coonie coonie.
When fully grown, they are hairy, dumpy and coloured in various shades of black, white, gold, ginger and tortoiseshell. They also have unusual tassels (pire pire in Maori) hanging from their lower jaw, making them quite unique.
The new litter of seven piglets are just plain cute at present, being tiny little bundles of hair suckling on their mum Lobster.
No names have yet been determined for these little angels, but the adult Kune Kunes are named Grumpy, Lobster, Pimple, Violet, Pumpy and Big Bob.
"There's lots of room for manoeuvre when it comes to choosing a name", says owner Catherine Weightman.
"The temptation is to christen the piglets with a cute name, but kune kunes become squat and moody looking pigs when adult, even though they are really placid and friendly animals. It's still early days and we haven't yet decided on what to call them."
Children are already falling in love with the little piglets, who are being kept warm and safe, but still on show to visitors to the interactive farm.
Families wishing to head down to see them can enter the farm between 10am and 5pm each day. Admission costs £4.75 for an adult and £3.75 for children aged over two and concessions. Family tickets cost £15 for two adults and two children and £18.75 for two adults and three children.
Admission allows families to see lots of other baby creatures and the lambs can be bottle-fed by children. There are lots of other animals, including alpacas, raccoons, donkeys, pygmy goats, prairie dogs and mini Dexter cow.
For more information about Down at the Farm visit www.downatthefarm.co.uk
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