Kunekune X Captain Cooker pigs and the mighty Zambo plant

[Sam Newman]

Has anyone grown Zambos before? They are like a mellon shaped marrow. I have been feeding them to my piggys for the last 2 weeks and they absolutely LOVE them! I have 2 Kunekune X Captain Cook sows about 2 months old. I'm thinking they will be the perfect cross for sausage making. The fat on the Kunekune and the beautiful flavour from the Captain Cook. I have been growing Zambo plants for over 10 years and you really can't muck it up. They are so easy to grow and the whole plant is edable. It was a terrible season for Pumpkins here, but the Zambos are still pumping it. They are great to grow by the river bank. The chooks like them too. What age is best to harvest the pigs for sausages? Kunekune are usually harvested at 3 and 1/2 months because of the amount of fat on them, but would I be able to grow them longer with the Captain Cook crossed into the breed? Cheers, Sam

[Dogfish]

What is Zambo? Photos? What is a KuneKune and a Captain Cook pig? Are they local to your area and upgrades from wild pigs?

Sounds interesting.

[Sam Newman]

This is 1 of the pigs on the 1st day I got them. She's such a sweety

[Sam Newman]

And this is the other piggy. She is much naughtyer than the black 1. More aggressive and more likely to end up in the freezer sooner in the shape of sausages.

And this is a fully grown Zambo.

[Sam Newman]

The brown pig is almost ready to turn into sausages. They have been corn fed for the last 3 months and I am sure she will be very tasty

[Stoned Temple Pilot]

I hope your pigs turned out alright, a mix of Kunekune and Captain Cookers is a recipe for fat...

For those that asked Captain Cookers are pretty much wild pigs as introduced to NZ by Captain Cook, the trouble is when domesticated they are adept at putting on fat rather than meat

When crossed with a Berkshire or Long White then crossed again they are a lot more viable as a meat producer imho

[Sam Newman]

Thanks stoned temple pilot. They both turned out great. I believe the trick to not getting too much fat is to eat them when they are young and put them onto pasture at the end. Sam

[Stoned Temple Pilot]

Yup grass feeding is a great way of keeping them lean, where abouts in the North are you if you don't mind me asking ?

[Sam Newman]

Cannacapital my friend. how bowt urself? love the grass up here. it's full of godness brother

[crustyo44]

Hi Sam,
Where exactly is the Canna Capital in NZ. Right in the Top End?
Don't worry about fatty pigs, Good backfat is hard to source and a very important ingredient in proper sausages.
Your freezer is you best friend with an oversupply of the correct fat.
Cheers Mate,
Jan.

[Sam Newman]

Yes. Near the top. About 10minutes south of Kaitaia. I am extremely lucky to have both coasts for fishing and the bush in between for hunting. I was amazed how little fat there was on my Kunekune X Captaincook pigs. They did make good sausages regardless. I have now planted out the pig pen in Zambos and they are taking off!

[Stoned Temple Pilot]

Yes my freezer has 5kg of saved backfat from the last two pigs I did

I went to college in Kaitaia and now live a bit further South in the BOI

One question, did the pigs dig or with the Kunekune blood were they just grazers ?

[Sam Newman]

Good question. They did root around a bit, but nothing like what you see in the bush. They were well behaved piggys. Their pen wasn't very high and they didn't jump out. They were well fed though. Bay Of Islands is an amazing place to live. I was down there a couple of weeks ago for Search and Rescue training with the Coastguard. We took the boat out and did some doughnuts out from dove bay. Great fun. We had a pig on a spit over New Years. Came out exelent.