Leilani's Litter - 1 week old

Updated pics of Leilani's litter as promised! In fact, here is 'Promise' at just over 1 week old. These guys are going to be FLUFFY!


Peanut at 1 week old - doing so well! So strong and so active. You'd never know he was born so twisted up!


My favourite (if I'm allowed a fav!?) - Puddles. This little boy is going to be a heart breaker.



First-born Pudding. The fatty-boom-ba of the group - and with such a gorgeous density to that colourful coat.



And lastly, Miss Panda. As the hair grows, her crest becomes even more funky! Such a pretty little lady.

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!