The round pig gets rounder with age
A KuneKune is built low, broad and cheerful, designed to thrive on grass, and in old age that thrift becomes the central care challenge. Metabolism slows, activity drops, yet appetite rarely does, so an older pig can slide into obesity while still looking merely like a typical KuneKune. Excess weight then presses on aging joints, strains small hooves, makes breathing harder in warm weather and can even push fat folds over the eyes. Senior care starts with honest condition assessment: you should be able to feel her ribs and hip bones under a covering of fat with firm hand pressure, and see her move willingly and steadily across the paddock.
Feeding a grazing pig who needs less
Pasture and good hay should do most of the work, with measured hard feed adjusted to her condition rather than poured by routine. Scatter feeding in moderation can encourage movement and rooting, but rich extras, kitchen scraps and unlimited fruit pile on energy she cannot burn. Make reductions gradually and weigh progress by body feel over weeks, since crash dieting a pig is neither kind nor safe. Fresh water must be easy to reach and kept unfrozen in winter and cool in summer, because an older pig who drinks less also eats and digests less comfortably, and dehydration complicates every other senior issue.
Hooves, tusks, skin and getting up
Overgrown hooves change a pig's posture and turn mild joint stiffness into real lameness, so schedule regular trims and pick a calm, practised approach, because wrestling a senior pig for foot care risks injury to everyone. In boars, tusks keep growing and may need professional attention if they curl toward the face. Check skin during grooming for dryness, sores where she lies, and irritation in folds, and give her dry, deep bedding so pressure points rest on softness rather than concrete. The key daily observation is rising: a pig who rocks repeatedly, cries out or gives up trying to stand needs veterinary help promptly.
Movement, shade and social comfort
Gentle movement protects joints better than confinement, so keep her living area interesting, with pasture to wander, a mud wallow in warm weather for cooling and skin care, and shade she can reach without a long trek. KuneKunes are deeply social, and an older pig should keep pig company, but watch that younger animals do not monopolise feed or the best sleeping spot. In heat, an overweight senior is vulnerable, so check breathing on hot afternoons and never make her walk far in the midday sun for routine handling if it can wait for cooler hours.
Photograph her body condition from the side and above each month if you can, because slow fat gain on a pig you see daily is remarkably easy to miss until movement suffers.
Sharing a strict routine without mixed messages
A measured diet fails quickly when one helper feeds generously and another does not know she has already eaten, especially with a pig who begs convincingly. KinsLe helps everyone stick to the plan through Care Teams, where feeding amounts, hoof appointments and mobility notes are assigned per pet and completed tasks are marked with a timestamp.