Weigh in

(Bella-Donna and Xeraphina having some free-range time)

The first weigh in for 2011, Saturday the 7th Jan 2012:


*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 930g (gain 5g) - 39wks (9m)
Ivy is 705g (gain 20g) - 15wks (3.5m)
Tigerlily is 625g (gain 15g) - 15wks (3.5m)


*** Romeo's Roost ***
Romeo is 670g (gain 50g) - 14wks (3m)
Lavender Mist is 755g (gain 30g) - 21wks (5m)
Zinnia is 660g (gain 55g) - 15wks (3.5m)


*** Malakai's Quarters ***
Malakai is 830g (loss 10g) - 22wks (5m)
Galaxy is 1015g (loss 50g)- 51wks (11.5m)- (no longer appears to be pregnant. I may have been mistaken last fortnight as she is very pudgy!)


*** Girl's Mansion ***
Alice is 1035g (gain 75g) - 48wks (11m)- (Pregnant, due approx 27/1/12)
Bella-Donna is 465g (gain 60g) - 6wks (1.5m)
Chloe is 585g (gain 5g) - 14wks (3m)
Crumble is 1260g (gain 25g) - 1yr - (pregnant, due approx 4th Feb 2012)
Custard is 955g (loss 5g) - 4.5yrs
Delilah is 860g (loss 5g) - approx 1yr
Elodie is 860g (loss 5g) - 23wks (5m)
Ginger is 995g (gain 50g)- 42wks (10m)
Jasmine is 575g (gain 10g) - 16wks (4m)
Lotus is 670g (gained 15g) - 15wks (3.5m)
Millicent is 1030g (gain 50g) - 22wks (5m)- (Pregnant, due approx 15/1/12)
Molly is 795g (gain 50g) - 21wks (4.5m)
Nixie is 460g (gained 55g) - 8wks (2m)
Phoebe is now 845g (gain 30g) - 38wks (8.5m)
Pollyanna is now 515g (gained 70g) - 9wks (2m)
Ruby is 1080g (gain 15g) - 42wks (10m)
Sparrow is 1140g (gain 55g) - 39wks (9m) - (Pregnant, due 22/1/12)
Subi is 1180g (gain 35g) - 2.5yrs
Tabitha is 500g (gain 45g) - 10wks (2.5m)
Twizzle is 730g (gain 40g) - 15wks (3.5m)
Xeraphina is 640g (gain 50g) 13wks (3m)
Yeti is 1030g (gain 35g) - 31wks (7m) - (Pregnant, due approx 22/1/12)


***On Hold/Adoptable***

Lulu is 675g (gain 35g) - 18wks (4m)
Amity is 340g (gain 30g) - 5wks


***New Mums***

Violet is now 650g (gave birth - 190g baby) - 25wks (5.5m) - (nursing)
Henry is 100g (newborn)
Hamlet is 90g (newborn)

Peppa is 1050g (lost 35g) - 1yr - (nursing Leilani's bubs)
Leilani is 760g (lost 15g) - 29wks (6.5m)- (nursing)
Pudding is 145g (gain 60g) - 1wk
Puddles is 155g (gain 65g) - 1wk
Promise is 150g (gained 55g) - 1wk
Peanut is 85g (gained 35g) - 1wk
Panda is 170g (gained 70g) - 1wk


It's so relieving to see how well Leilani's bubs are doing. I'm even really happy with Peanut's gain. It looks so much smaller than everyone else, but is on par for the same percentage body mass increase. I've got some one-week-old update pics of the bubs to post tomorrow too.


I've also discovered that some of the girls can get themselves up the ramp in the mansion cage, but don't know how to get back down. Poor Delilah was letting me know that she was stuck during the week, so I was trying to teach her how to get down. This is a shot I snapped while she was being stubborn and putting the breaks on. Ginger got really curious about what we were doing and jumped up onto the ramp shortly after this was taken too. (I still don't think Delilah knows what to do - but I think she's decided to just not go up there in the first place now).



And I snapped these shots of Chloe (lighter coloured texel x abyssinian/peruvian, 14 weeks) and Jasmine (Black/white Pedigree texel, 16weeks) during the week as well. I thought it was really interesting to compare their coats. If I didn't know better, I would have thought Chloe was the pedigree!

Baby updates - Curly Girls!

I thought it might be nice to do some updates on some of the curly babies. This is Chloe's hair at 2 months old. She's getting wild and wooly! And I can see more of Liam in her little face as she grows up too.







This is Nixie at almost 4 weeks old. She's really puffed out too. She's not quite as long-coated as Liam was at this age (they're both purebred texels), but she's doing pretty well!







And Bethanie and Bella-Donna are 2 weeks old now. They're really starting to puff out too... a good sign for some nice dense/long coats.

Bethanie at 2 weeks old:
(it's like looking at a replica of little Rollo at 2 weeks as well! How crazy is the resemblance - same dad, different mum!)


Bella-Donna at 2 weeks old:

Weigh in and some confirmed pregnancies

The weigh in for Sunday the 30th October 2011:

*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 920g (same) - 29wks (7m)
Sparrow is 980g (gain 5g) - 30wks (7m)
Yeti is 825g (gained 15g) - 21wks (4.5m)


*** Sprout's Pad ***
Sprout is 950g (gain 35g) - 30wks (7m)
Subi is 1190g (same) - 2.5yrs


*** Malakai's Quarters ***
Malakai is 710g (gained 75g) - 13wks (3m)
Millicent is 605g (gained 45g) - 13wks (3m)
Peppa is 1010g (gained 75g) - 1yr
(Leilani has been taken out, as I discovered that her background is more suited to breeding with Liam (she has a pedigree texel father!), and Milli has taken her place. She's reached the 600g mark early).


*** Violet's Arrangement ***
Violet is 595g (gained 25g) - 15wks (3.5m)
Pooh Bear is 1020g (first weigh in) - on loan


*** Girl's Mansion ***
Alba is 875g (gain 10g) - 35wks (8m)
Beeno is 970g (gained 15g) - 35wks (8m)
Bonnie is 1060g (gained 55g) - 22wks (5m) - (Pregnant, due approx 2nd Dec)
Crumble is 1040g (gained 15g) - 48wks (11m)
Custard is 950g (lost 15g) - 4.5yrs
Demi is 285g (gained 30g) - 5wks (1m)
Elodie is 630g (gained 55g) - 13wks (3m)
Galaxy was 855g (gain 30g)- 43wks (10m)
Ginger is 1095g (gained 70g) - 32wks (7.5m) - (pregnant, due approx 2nd Dec)
Ivy is 345g (gained 50g) - 5wks (1m)
Jasmine is 280g (gain 15g) - 6wks (1m)
Lavender Mist is 580g (gained 50g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Leilani is 835g (gained 15g) - 19wks (4.5m)
Lotus is 325g (first weigh in) - 5wks (1m)
Molly is 550g (gained 20g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Phoebe is 1005g (gained 45g) - 28wks (6.5m)- (pregnant, due approx 17th Nov)
Sheba is 945g (gain 35g) - 40wks (9.5m)
Tigerlily is 330g (gain 30g) - 5wks (1m)
Twizzle is 365g (gain 40g) - 5wks (1m)
Zinnia is 330g (gain 55g) - 5wks (1m)


***Re-homing/Foster Pigs***
Rafia is 505g (gained 55g) - 8wks (1.5m) - (pregnant, due approx 8th Dec)
Ripley is 650g (lost 15g) - 19wks (4.5m) - (possibly pregnant)


***New Mumma's***

Kobe is 790g (gain 20g) - 35wks (8m) (nursing)
Otis is 210g (gain 60g) - 3wks
Onyx is 200g (gain 50g) - 3wks
Olivia is 190g (gain 50g) - 3wks
Oscar is 200g (gain 55g) - 3wks

Ruby is 910g (gain 60g) - 32wks (7.5m) - (weaning)
Romeo is 290g (gain 65g) - 4wks


Alice is 735g (gain 35g) - 37wks (8.5m) - (weaning)
Cricket is 225g (gain 55g) - 4wks
Chloe is 200g (gain 50g) - 4wks

[Chloe, 4 week update pic]


The babies are slowly heading off to their new homes... Cleo left with her lovely new family on Saturday. Oscar will be going home with his family tomorrow, Olivia will be leaving on wednesday and Onyx and Cricket will be flying down to Sydney on Friday! I will admit that it can be a bit hard to say goodbye to the babies, but meeting such incredible people in the process of finding them wonderful new homes makes it totally worthwhile.

[Ginger]


[Bonnie]


We have some exciting pregnancy news as well. I was starting to get a little concerned that Liam was taking an extended holiday from his position as main stud here at the caviary, especially as we hadn't had a confirmed pregnancy sired by him since Ruby's! But he has come through after all, and I can confirm that both Ginger and Bonnie are approx 5 weeks pregnant, due somewhere around about the 2nd Dec 2011.


[Rafia and her mum Ripley]

On a slightly less positive note, it also appears that tiny little Rafia (the foster/rehoming baby that came in with her mum about a month ago) is pregnant to her father. If she is (swollen belly, enlarged nipples), then she'll be due approx 8th Dec, and this will only just make her 3 months old herself. I'm hoping for a nice small litter, 1-2 babies of an average size - or we may face some complications come delivery day.



[Galaxy and Eloide in a brief moment of calm this afternoon. Galaxy took a particular liking to Elodie actually, and the two of them spent a lot of time doing laps of the cage!]

Another interesting thing I thought I might mention today is that of 'odd' female guinea pig behaviour. I noticed a persistent 'horny dance' rumble coming from the ladies mansion this afternoon, and quickly spotted Galaxy chasing around her cage-mates. If I didn't know without a doubt that she was female, it would be easy to assume she was a male trying to mate. She made the same rumble noise, did the same wiggly-bottom strut, and had the same perseverance as any love-starved male!


[Custard - still 'Rumble-Struts' when on heat, and she's nearly 5yrs old!]

In my observations I've noticed that some females become very demonstrative when they come on heat - chasing their friends, and for all intensive purposes behaving like a male. Most girls will come on heat without you even noticing, but Galaxy is one of the special ones who lets you know. (Actually, out of all of my girls only she and Custard act out like this when on heat). Females will come on heat approximately every 16-17 days. So I'm curious to see if that will be the case for Galaxy again come mid november! I thought it was also worth mentioning if you have noticed similar behaviour amongst your group of girls - it may also be where the 'guinea pigs changing sex' wives tail might have originated from too!

Alice and her babies - 3.5wks

I got really lucky this afternoon and managed to capture this beautiful moment between Alice and her babies - now 3.5wks old!




Cleo:

Cleo is just growing into a super fluffy puff ball. She's such a little lady too. Very gentle, and very sweet. Much more like her daddy Liam than her mum.




Cricket:

And check out Mr Cricket! Little fluffy Bum! He's such a cheeky cheeky boy! He's certainly got his mum's spunky personality. But in a much nicer, more fun way - must be Liam's influence! And he's ending up with a rather 'peruvian' look too, which is kind of cool.

Baby updates

I had the perfect opportunity to get some great progress shots of the new babies this morning... sitting in the middle of the cage with them sniffing at my feet... when my camera battery started dying!

So I quickly scooped up the closest bubs, and grabbed these shots! I'll have to take the other's the next time my kids allow me 5mins of peace to just sit with the pigs! (without begging to come in with me! which they're not actually allowed to do any more. Mostly because of all the little one's running around, but also due to the 'lets lock mummy in the guinea pig cage' incident! Thankfully it was late afternoon and my hubby was home, and able to unlatch the lock for me! Not the middle of the day while he is at work, and all the phones are in the house!)




Up the top we have Chloe at 5 days old. I'm still pretty sure we're going to see curls of some form as she grows. She's getting really strong and fast on her little legs now too.



Next we have Cleo, also at 5 days old. She's starting to get the longer 'fluff' happening.




Here's Jonah at 12 days old. Now his hair is really funky - the ultimate in 'fluffy', long, really soft and kind of frizzy.




And this is little Jethro - also getting long, but with a much more traditional straight and silky hair type.



And of course, Miss Ripley had to poke her nose in... which reminds me, I haven't actually introduced you to Ripley and her baby Rafia yet... I'll get right onto that!

Yet another weigh in!

[Sibling shot of Cricket, Cleo and Chloe]

Here's this weeks weigh in, for Saturday the 1st Oct 2011:


*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 880g (loss 10g) - 25wks (6m)
Ginger is 990g (gain 55g) - 28wks (7m)
Alba is 840g (gain 35) - 31wks (7.5m)


*** Sprout's Pad ***
Sprout is 870g (gained 5g) - 26wks (6m)
Subi is 1145g (lost 15g) - 2.5yrs
(I think these two are still adjusting to life together. Subi is a BIG personality, and Sprout likes to think he's quite dominant too... so they're probably still have civilised discussions over dinner as to who wears the pants in this relationship... :P)


*** Malakai's Baby-Sitting Service***
Malakai is 500g (gained 60g) - 9wks (2m)
Mika is 435g (gained 40g) - 7wks (1.5m)
Ben is 375g (gained 25g) - 5wks (1m)


*** Girl's Mansion ***
Beeno is 915g (gained 5g) - 31wks (7.5m)
Bonnie is 870g (gained 60g) - 18wks (4.5m)
Crumble is 975g (gained 30g) - 44wks (10.5m)
Custard is 970g (gained 45g) - 4.5yrs
Eloide is 490g (gained 60) - 9wks (2m)
Kobe is 1060g (gained 70g) - 31wks (7m) (Heavily Pregnant, due early October)
Lavender Mist is 435g (gained 50g) - 7wks (1.5m)
Leilani is 760g (gained 50g) - 15wks (3.5m)
Millicent is 490g (gained 90g) - 9wks (2m)
Molly is 445g (gained 65g) - 7wks (1.5m)
Peppa is 835g (lost 95g) - 1yr
Phoebe is 805g (gained 50g) - 24wks (6m)
Ruby is 1340g (gained 70g) - 28wks (6.5m) - (VERY Heavily pregnant, revised due date any day now!)
Sheba is 780g (gain 10g) - 36wks (9m)
Sparrow is 940g (gained 30g) - 25wks (6m)
Violet is 495g (gained 35g) - 11 wks (2.5m)
Yeti is 730g (gained 35g) - 18wks (4.5m)


***Re-homing Pigs***
Petal is 490g (gained 70g) - 15wks (3.5m)
Pixie is 695g (gained 40g) - 29wks (7m)
Rafia is 305g (first weigh in) - 4 wks (1m)
Ripley is 625g (first weigh in) - 16wks (4m)


***New Mumma's***
Alice is 730g - 33wks (8m) (gave birth 30/9/11 - 290g of baby)
Cricket is 70g - newborn
Chloe is 55g - newborn
Cleo is 75g - newborn

Galaxy was 870g (loss of 20g)- 39wks (9.5m) - nursing
Jethro is 120g (gained 20g) - 1wk
Jonah is 100g (gained 25g) - 1wk
Jax is 130g (gained 25g) - 1wk
Jarvis is 110g (gained 15g) -1wk


In review - nearly everyone had a good week this week. In particular the new additons from last week and the younger pigs. Special mention needs to go to Milli, who somehow gained 90g!!!? That's more than my pregnant girls gained!



I thought I'd include these 'out-takes' from my attempt at getting photos of all the new babies together earlier this morning. In this photo Alice was calling for the bubs and they were responding back with little chirps. Very cute. And the last photo I got with them - they went straight back in the box and snuggled up underneath her. I think she's getting the hang of motherhood. Just took her a little longer than my other mums.


I also thought it might be nice to get a photo of all the new bubs lined up together... yeah. No. Maybe if they were all only a day old, but 1 week old babies are notoriously wriggly, and no one was having a bar of being lined up! These shots are literally as good as it got!

Chloe, Cleo and Cricket

This man is 'Cricket'. The sole surviving boy of Alice's litter. He weighed in at a very normal 70g. His stillborn brother was 90g, so bigger, but not crazy big.


Cricket also has Alice's rosette placement, making him look a lot like a peruvian baby. With Liam's long-hair genes, he will probably end up looking a little peruvian when grown up, or possible a little mini-yak?

Cricket has a big cream agouti face and a cream agouti bum. one side of his body is white, and the other cream.




_________________________


This is one of the girls - little Cleo. She weighed in at 75g. A little better, and within normal newborn weight-range. She is mostly cream with a white nose, cream agouti eye patch, cream agouti bum, and a white stripe over her right front arm/shoulder.



Cleo has a very similar coat to her mum with the funky rosette placement. With the addition of Liam's long-hair genes, this little lady is going to be gorgeous! (think 'Molly'!)



_________________


And this is little Chloe. She will most probably end up staying here - she's just too cute! She was the tiniest bub, weighing in at a very petite 55g. She is white with one cream eye patch, one cream agouti eye patch and a creamy bum. It appears that she will end up with curly fur, possibly quite texel looking. Only time will tell how long her hair gets. I might get lucky and get my half-length coat!



Chloe is probably the bub I'm most worried about too. She's still very wobbly, but is still managing to wobble after Alice when she moves around the birthing suite.

You can just make out the soft little curls on her fur. I'm very excited to see how Chloe grows. The curl's don't appear very tight at this stage - nothing like my rex Bonnie when she was born... so it's a bit of a 'wait and see' situation as to how her coat develops.