A pig who lives to graze gives clear signals
The Kunekune is a grazing pig, built to spend its day ambling across pasture with its nose down and to arrive at the fence at a trot when feed appears. That enthusiasm is your baseline, and departures from it are meaningful. Appetite changes that should prompt a vet visit include refusing a meal outright, failing to appear at feeding time when penmates do, taking a few mouthfuls and wandering off, or grazing listlessly with long spells lying alone. A Kunekune who stops rootling in ground he usually works over, or ignores a favourite vegetable, is telling you something has overridden the drive to eat.
Timing, heat, and the honest exceptions
A sow in the final stretch before farrowing may go off her feed briefly, and any Kunekune may eat less at midday in strong heat, preferring the wallow and shade; appetite that returns by the cooler evening feed in a bright pig can reasonably be watched. What should not be watched is refusal stretching across a full day, or a pig who is off feed and unusually sleepy with no heat or farrowing to explain it. Pigs handle heat poorly, so one who stops eating in a hot spell and pants or seems disoriented needs prompt help rather than a fan and patience.
Belly and bowel signs that raise the stakes
In a pig, appetite loss paired with digestive signs escalates quickly. Vomiting, repeated retching without producing anything, straining as if constipated, passing no droppings, or passing watery diarrhoea alongside refusal all warrant a same-day vet call. A belly that looks or feels tight and swollen, a pig who gets up and lies down repeatedly, grinds his teeth, or stands hunched and guarded is showing pain until proven otherwise; phone the vet and describe the posture and belly, not just the missed meal. Drooling or pawing at the mouth after eating raises the possibility of something stuck, and that sequence should be reported exactly as you saw it.
Watching one pig inside a social group
Kunekunes are companionable pigs usually kept in pairs or groups, and group feeding can hide an individual problem for days because the trough empties regardless of who ate. If you suspect one pig, feed him separately for a meal or two and watch: approach speed, enthusiasm, chewing, and whether a bolder companion displaces him or he is simply uninterested. Social changes carry information too — a pig who stops jostling at the trough, sleeps away from his companions, or no longer greets familiar people is showing a cluster that together justifies a visit. Weigh or condition-score him against his own last reading, since that round Kunekune outline changes slowly and late.
What to tell the vet about a grazing pig
Pig vets think in terms of environment as well as animal, so be ready with the whole picture: what pasture he is on and whether it changed, what supplementary feed he gets and whether the bag or batch is new, water availability and whether the drinker or trough could have failed, and any chance he accessed stored feed, garden plants, or a neighbour's scraps. Add the appetite timeline — last normal meal, what he has taken since — plus droppings, vomiting, temperature of the day, and whether penmates are affected. Having him in a small, secure pen with shade before the visit helps everyone; chasing a sick pig around a paddock helps neither pig nor examination.
Records for a pig who may outlive several keepers
Kunekunes are long-lived, frequently rehomed, and often kept by smallholders whose vets see them only occasionally, which makes a written appetite and health history unusually valuable. Note his normal grazing pattern, his supplementary ration, his weight trend, and every episode of going off feed with what it turned out to be. Storing that history in his KinsLe Pet Passport means a new keeper or a vet meeting him for the first time can judge today's refusal against his own documented normal — a grazing pig's appetite, recorded properly, is one of the earliest warning systems he owns.