Galaxy's second litter - fathered by Malakai

Lamington Galaxy and Malakai welcomed their first litter together (Galaxy's second litter) into the world sometime in the early hours of Sunday morning (11/3/12).





Galaxy snuggling with her bubs.


Here we have Xakery, the only dark bub. He's a stunning mix of gold and black and he has the funky rosettes. Four evenly placed across his back. He weighed in at 90g.



This is Xander (ON HOLD). He is a very pretty cream boy with a white nose. He too has the rosettes, three across his spine, and one lower on his side. He weighed in at 85g.



And the little lady of the litter, miss Xanthe. She's a self-cream smooth coat with dark eyes. She weighed in at 90g. If she inherits a long-hair gene from mum (mum carries long-hair genetically), then she'll end up looking like a sheltie. If her brother's get the long hair from mum as well as dad, they'll be spectacular sheba-look-alikes too.

Molly's babies

It got all the way to Friday before I realised that I didn't post about Molly's babies - born on Monday the 13th!

She had two little cuties fathered by Malakai:




This is Fynn, he's a gold and white Peruvian who is going to end up with one hell of a coat! He weighed in at 80g.







And this is Felice, she's a cream and white sheltie. Both Malakai and Molly have sheltie in their past (Molly's mum is our gorgeous black and gold sheltie 'Crumble' and Malakai has thrown a few sheltie/coronet bubs so far, so most likely had one sheltie parent).

Millicent's gorgeous babies

I checked on Milli this afternoon, not expecting to find anything as she'd been quite content all morning. But sitting snuggled up next to her were three huge, fluffy, perfectly clean and dry little bundles of cuteness! I have no idea when she had them exactly - it must have been quick and silent is all I can say! What I do know is that she and Malakai make incredible babies! (all of which have been claimed/put on hold).





The only boy, 'Whisper' weighed in at 95g. He is 95% lilac, with just a touch of cream on his back. He has the stunning thick, rosetted coat of his parents, but hopefully will get a little more lift than Malakai, and have the hair grow over his face instead of away from it (like Milli). At this stage he looks very very promising.




This is the first girl 'Winter' (ironically named, seeing as she was born in the middle of summer... :P), she weighed 105g and was the biggest of the litter. She is a gorgeous mix of white, cream and a patch of lilac by her eye. She too looks to have a very pretty mix of rosettes.




And this is 'Willow', weighing in at 90g. She is an unusual mix of ginger, white and a 'dark lilac'. Not sure what else to call this colour. It's not quite slate, it's not quite taupe, it's not the lilac I'm used to... it just seems darker! lol. (if you know what this colour is referred to in the cavy world I'd be very keen to hear from you).

She too looks to have a brilliant coat, which will look amazing with those contrasting colours cascading everywhere when she's grown up!

Weigh in

The last weigh in for 2011, Saturday the 31st Dec 2011:


*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 925g (gain 45g) - 38wks (8.5m)
Ivy is 685g (gain 15g) - 14wks (3m)
Elodie is 865g (gain 40g) - 22wks (5m)


*** Romeo's Roost ***
Romeo is 620g (gain 20g) - 13wks (3m)
Lavender Mist is 725g (gain 10g) - 20wks (5m)
Zinnia is 605g (loss 35g) - 14wks (3m)


*** Malakai's Quarters ***
Malakai is 840g (gain 20g) - 21wks (5m)
Galaxy is 1065g (same)- 50wks (11.5m)- (Pregnant, due approx 27/1/12)


*** Girl's Mansion ***
Alice is 1035g (gain 40g) - 47wks (11m)- (Pregnant, due approx 27/1/12)
Bella-Donna is 405g (gain 55g) - 5wks (1m)
Chloe is 580g (gain 50g) - 13wks (3m)
Crumble is 1235g (gain 115g) - 1yr - (pregnant, due approx 4th Feb 2012)
Custard is 960g (loss 15g) - 4.5yrs
Delilah is 865g (gained 15g) - approx 1yr
Ginger is 940g (gain 5g)- 41wks (9.5m)
Jasmine is 565g (gain 30g) - 15wks (3.5m)
Lotus is 655g (gained 20g) - 14wks (3m)
Millicent is 980g (gain 100g) - 21wks (5m)- (Pregnant, due approx 15/1/12)
Molly is 745g (gain 25g) - 20wks (4.5m)
Nixie is 405g (gained 25g) - 7wks (1.5m)
Phoebe is now 815g (same) - 37wks (8.5m)
Pollyanna is now 445g (gained 35g) - 8wks (1.5m)
Ruby is 1065g (lost 25g) - 41wks (9.5m)
Sparrow is 1085g (gain 35g) - 38wks (8.5m) - (Pregnant, due 22/1/12)
Subi is 1145g (lost 25g) - 2.5yrs - (Possibly miscarried, not sure at this stage)
Tabitha is 455g (gain 20g) - 9wks (2m)
Tigerlily is 610g (gain 15g) - 14wks (3m)
Twizzle is 690g (gain 15g) - 14wks (3m)
Violet is 810g (gained 50g) - 24wks (5m) - (Pregnant, due approx 15/1/12)
Xeraphina is 590g (gain 10g) 12wks (2.5m)
Yeti is 995g (gain 45g) - 30wks (6.5m) - (Pregnant, due approx 22/1/12)


***On Hold/Adoptable***

Lulu is 640g (gain 15g) - 17wks (4m)
Amity is 310g (gain 95g) - 4wks


***New Mums***

Peppa is 1265g (lost 305g (of which 180g was baby)) - 1yr - (nursing Leilani's bubs)
Leilani is 775g (lost 475g (of which 435g was baby!)) - 28wks (6.5m)- (nursing)
Pudding is 85g (lost 15g) - 3days old
Puddles is 90g (same) - 3 days old
Promise is 95g (gained 5g) - 3 days old
Peanut is 50g (lost 5g) - 3 days old
Panda is 100g (same) - 3 days old





Well, the babies are yet to really gain much weight. But they are only 3 days old. I have noticed in other litters that there can be a little drop in the first few days. Peppa delivered a HUGE 180g, 15cm long baby girl this morning. But she was stillborn. I do not know if she died during labour, or if Peppa left her in the sack after her birth... she was a perfect replica of her mum, but wasn't cleaned at all. I think the shock of having to give birth to a newborn the size of a 2-3week old was too much for poor Peppa. She has however, taken some of Leilani's litter under her wing. I watched her this afternoon, and she's taken a particular liking to Promise and Peanut. You can see Peppa and Promise in the photo above. It is a tragedy to loose Peppa's baby girl, but a blessing to have her helping with the nursing of Leilani's bubs (none of them seemed terribly interested in my supplemental feeds).


[Little Peanut enjoying the mountain of grain!]


[Puddles and Pudding in the big cage]

We had a huge day today on top of this morning's sad find. All cages were cleaned, all piggies weighed, Bonnie, Jairo and Alba went to new homes and Panda and Puddles met their new family and were put on hold. I got some updated pics of the proud new daddy Malakai (shown at the very top of this post and below) and discovered that Violet's pelvis is already starting to dilate too. So we might have yet another litter within the week.



The last piggy left for adoption now is Lulu. She was due to meet her new family tomorrow, but they have had to let her go due to unforeseen circumstances. If you think you might have a forever home for little Lulu, let me know at eleb2000@hotmail.com.

Leilani's Litter

After endlessly checking on Miss Leilani for the last 6 days that I've thought 'it could be any day now' - she finally had her babies this afternoon. (and after much deliberation/genetic researching, I've concluded that the babies MUST be Malakai's. Three of the five have rosettes, which are dominant, so most definitely could not have come from a pedigree texel. Plus, there is a distinct lack of agouti - which Liam has produced in All of his offspring!).

It was exactly 1pm when I walked in and found her quite obviously in labour. I watched her for a few minutes while she had contractions, but no resulting baby. I quickly washed my hands and grabbed some paper towels and came back to gently lift her up to see what was happening. There was a baby's face out (and mouth moving), but it was stuck at the broad part of the head/ears. With each contraction I helped gently ease his big head out, and put her back down to finish the rest herself with another contraction. She got straight into cleaning him up, and then about 5 mins later baby no. 2 arrived. The photo above is her cleaning him up while baby no. 1 helped! (Yes, the first born was actually helping lick his brother! So incredible!).


Then after another 5mins or so, baby no 3 arrived. I was still very worried that more might get stuck, but second and third came out perfectly, and Leilani gave each baby appropriate attention going right to the faces of each new arrival to clear away the membrane. Here she's eating off baby no. 3's sack.

It stayed like this for another 10-15mins, while I wondered if this was it, or if there were more. As she moved around I could see another lump, so knew there was a no. 4 on the way. She laboured for a little while to get him out though, and I wonder if he got a bit stuck in the birth canal? Once baby no. 4 arrived, baby no. 5 was born almost on top of him. I grabbed no. 4 and let Leilani deal with no. 5. I knew immediately that something was wrong with no. 4. He was tiny, and wouldn't sit straight in my hand....



These are Leilani's five beautiful babies at 4 hours old. In order of birth: Pudding, Puddles, Promise, Peanut and Panda. Peanut is the runt, weighing about half that of his 4 siblings, and with what appears to be a head-tilt.

When he was first born he couldn't even hold his head up. From what I've read, it appears that this is either a result of being oxygen deprived during birth (from being stuck for a little while) or from being crushed while growing in the womb (which is also quite likely considering he was stuck somewhere in amongst 4 much much bigger siblings).






'Pudding':


This is the first-born 'Pudding'. He's a big healthy boy in a tri-colour mix of white, slate and cream. He will grow up to look just like a sheltie. He weighed in at a very decent 100g. (Pudding is ON HOLD)





'Puddles':


Puddles is GORGEOUS! He is the second born, and he too is a tri-colour mix of slate, cream and white. But he will end up with the Sheba coat of his daddy Malakai. He has a stunning big broad nose and beautiful colouring. He weighed in at 90g.





'Promise':


Promise was third-born and is also a stunner! She is a tri-colour mix of chocolate, cream and white with a gorgeous rosetted coat that will grow very long, and give her a Sheba-Mini-Yak look. She weighed in at 90g. (Promise is on HOLD)






'Peanut':


Fourth born - little Peanut. He has gorgeous colouring with a mix of ginger, chocolate and white. And a stunning rosetted coat that will grow to look Sheba-ish as well, if he can pull through... he does seem to be getting better and better as the hours go by. I think it's going to be a long night, but he seems to have a fighting spirit! He weighed a very petite 55g.





'Panda':


And the fifth-born baby Panda. She is going to grow up to look just like a coronet (like her mum). She is a tri-colour as well, but mostly slate and white. She has the tiniest hint of cream by her jaw line! She weighed a whopping 100g!

Weigh in

[Onyx and Cricket just before their flight to Sydney on Friday. Now called 'Kobe and Luka' and being spoilt rotten in their new home!]



The weigh in for Saturday the 5th November 2011:

*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 910g (loss 10g), then he had a hair cut and weighed in at 895g (further loss of 15g!) - 30wks (7m)
Sparrow is 955g (loss 25g) - 31wks (7m)
Yeti is 825g (same), then she had a hair cut too, and weighed in at 815g (further loss of 10g) - 22wks (5m)


*** Sprout's Pad ***
Sprout is 905g (loss 45g) - 31wks (7m)
Otis is 210g (same) - 4wks (1m)
Romeo is 330g (gain 40g) - 5wks (1m)


*** Malakai's Quarters ***
Malakai is 690g (lost 20g) - 14wks (3m)
Millicent is 570g (lost 35g) - 14wks (3m)
Peppa is 950g (lost 60g) - 1yr


*** Violet's Arrangement ***
Violet is 625g (gained 30g) - 16wks (3.5m)
Pooh Bear is 1050g (gained 30g) - on loan


*** Girl's Mansion ***
Alba is 890g (gain 15g) - 36wks (8.5m)
Alice is 765g (gain 30g) - 38wks (8.5m)
Bonnie is 1090g (gained 30g) - 23wks (5m) - (Pregnant, due approx 2/12)
Chloe is 260g (gain 60g) - 5wks (1m)
Crumble is 1055g (gained 15g) - 49wks (11m)
Custard is 990g (gained 40g) - 4.5yrs
Demi is 370g (gained 85g) - 6wks (1m)
Elodie is 680g (gained 50g) - 14wks (3m)
Galaxy was 855g (gain 30g)- 43wks (10m)
Ginger is 1095g (gained 125g) - 33wks (7.5m) - (pregnant, due approx 2/12)
Ivy is 390g (gained 45g) - 6wks (1m)
Jasmine is 320g (gain 40g) - 7wks (1.5m)
Kobe is 840g (gain 50g) - 36wks (8m)
Lavender Mist is 640g (gained 60g) - 12wks (2.5m)
Leilani is 860g (gained 25g) - 20wks (4.5m)
Lotus is 385g (gained 60g) - 6wks (1m)
Molly is 590g (gained 40g) - 12wks (2.5m)
Phoebe is 1085g (gained 80g) - 29wks (6.5m)- (pregnant, due approx 17/11)
Ruby is 980g (gain 70g) - 33wks (7.5m)
Sheba is 990g (gain 45g) - 41wks (9.5m)
Subi is 1165g (lost 25) - 2.5yrs
Tigerlily is 390g (gain 60g) - 6wks (1m)
Twizzle is 405g (gain 40g) - 6wks (1m)
Zinnia is 380g (gain 50g) - 6wks (1m)


***Re-homing/Foster Pigs***
Rafia is 585g (gained 80g) - 9wks (2m) - (pregnant, due approx 8/12)
Ripley is 740g (gained 40g) - 21wks (4.5m) - (possibly pregnant)
Lulu is 640g (first weigh in) - 10wks (2m) - (pregnant, due approx 5/12)
Olivia is 260g (gain 70g) - 4wks (1m)


Well, a mixed week this week. We had excellent gains from the girls mansion - with Ginger taking the prize for the biggest gain at 125g. Her belly is just ballooning already! And all the newest girls are packing on the weight too.



I'm a little concerned about the almost across-the-board losses for my other cages. They're all situated in a different part of our yard, so I'm wondering if something is going on at that location that's causing them some stress? We'll have to keep an eye on these pigs over the next week or so I think. Malakai's loss is especially odd as he had been consistently packing on the weight over the last few months. This is a recent shot of him - he's not as fluffy as he was a few weeks ago (before Peppa moved in and gave him a bit of a chew!) - but he's still a gorgeous little man. It may be as simple as a local cat prowling the area and spooking the pigs, or it might just be a case of my not giving them enough food!? We'll increase the portions this week and see if anything changes!

Malakai - 7weeks

These are some updated pics of Mr Malakai, now 7 weeks old.

This little boy has the best long-straight coat out of all of my pigs at the moment, even my purebreds. It's such a pity I don't know more about his background.



He's still a little frightened of being handled too (I have some scratches down my chest to prove it!), but will come around in time.

Sheba Yaks

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been putting in a few rather late night (or early mornings, depending on how you look at it), changing this blog around a bit! I've added some new tabs up above to give you a look at how we're set up, and a bit about my history with breeding guinea pigs. While looking through old photo albums to find some 'historical' photos to add, I fell in love with the 'Sheba Mini Yak' breed again. We were unknowingly breeding these guinea pigs, just thinking they were awesome little fluff balls!



So I've been searching my networks trying to track some down, specifically a male to be another stud and add some genetic variance to the bubs. Look what I managed to find! This little guy is a lilac, white and ginger Sheba Mini Yak, and he's 5 weeks old. One of the things I love about this breed is that you never know how the hair is going to grow as they get older. It might get to mid-length and stop. Or it might get to ground length! I'll be sure to post progress pics of this little man. I've called him Malakai. I heard the name somewhere over the last few days and knew that I would use it when I found my next boy.



This is his sister. She's jett black with alternating white feet, a dash of white on her nose (almost exactly the same as Yeti!) and a splash of ginger on her back.



I still haven't thought of a name for her. Any suggestions!?