“My name is Femke and 18 years ago I moved to Portugal to give my twins a youth that I would never have been able to give them in the Netherlands. Not just the weather and the beaches and the relaxed atmosphere in daily life, but small class rooms (Portuguese school) where the teacher would give every child a kiss on the cheek when they arrived in the morning and once again when going home.

As is life, lot’s of things good and bad, have since happened and since 2006 I have been living in the hills above Silves. Being self sufficient in electricity and water and slowly but surely creating a small piece of heaven with lots of animals, which was always a childhood dream of mine.

Since living in Silves I have had many pigs, mostly as pets (and occasionally for slaughter). Once I got two piglets, and one was so gorgeous I called her Marie-Antoinette, which meant she was not for the pot (the others were called 'chops' or similar).

When one of the two remaining died last year (of old age!) , Marie-Antoinette was left by herself which is not good for pigs because they are extremely social animals.

On the internet I came across the Kunekune breed and fell in love. After some research I found out that the nearest place for me to see them in real life was the Netherlands or the UK as there are no Kunekune's in Portugal or Spain

I travelled to the Netherlands to meet a breeder and her Kunekune's and that's when I fell head over heels for this breed of pig. I knew that somehow I had to get some Kune's to Portugal to complete my menagerie of pets.

I got into contact with a lady in the UK and she sought out five Kunekunes for me and last October, after a journey by ferry and land and lots of paperwork, they finally arrived here at my farm: one boar and 4 females (Chris, Maggie, Candy, Mavis and Mini).

One of the nice things about this breed is that it is the only pig breed that can live solely on grass and I can do with a little help with this. I have not yet let them loose but the Maori's in New Zealand would have them pottering around the house because they do not wander off.

In New Zealand, where the Kunekune's originate, a big winery will have them living in their vineyards to keep the grass short, this saves labour and manures the land.

Some people choose to keep them in the house like dogs, intelligence wise they can compete with dogs easily and you can teach them the same "tricks".

Very recently one of my sows had her first piglets, the very first to be born in Portugal (and Spain).

In total eight were born. I was present at the birth but there was no need (as usual) to intervene.

All eight are still at my farm as they are only six weeks old. Two of them have been sold to a lady in Grenada and they will be able to go to their new home at the beginning of August.

These pigs make me smile because they tend to behave like dogs and they follow you around, they know your voice and they are very communicative and last but not least: it's their faces...”

If you would like to know any more about Kunekune pigs then please contact Femke by emailing kunekunealgarve@gmail.com or follow the pigs on Instagram at kunekunealgarve