My curly baby updates - 4 weeks old

So seeing as the babies from Lavender and Zinnia's litters turn 4 weeks old this weekend, I thought it might be nice to show off how their coats are doing. We've gotten quite a variety of coat types from these two litters too. Kaleb is going to be rex-coated through and through (the only short coat of the 6 babies!), Ace and Ambrose (both still looking for home too) are going to end up with long texel coats, Karma is probably going to be my mid-length coat, Abbie is going to be texel coated too, and Knox will be somewhere between mid-coated and texel.


Ambrose (Lavender x Romeo)

Newborn


1 week


2 weeks


3 weeks


4 weeks (photo taken today. Currently available for adoption as well)




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Ace (Lavender x Romeo)

Newborn



1 week



2 weeks



3 weeks



4 weeks (photo taken today. Currently available for adoption as well)




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Abbie (Lavender x Romeo)

Newborn



1 week



2weeks



3 weeks



4 weeks (photo taken today. Currently on hold.)



_____________________________


Kaleb (Zinnia x Romeo)


Newborn



1 week



2 weeks



3 weeks



4 weeks (photo taken today. Currently on hold.)



_________________________


Knox (Zinnia x Romeo)


Newborn



1 week



2 weeks



3 weeks



4 weeks (photo taken today. Currently on hold.)



_____________________________



Karma (Zinnia x Romeo)


Newborn



1 week


2 weeks



3 weeks



4 weeks (photo taken today. Staying here.)

Lavender Mist's litter

I had been keeping a close eye on Lavender lately, she just seemed to be acting a little odd. She was spending a lot of time almost sleeping on top of Zinnia and her bubs. Like one big pile of pig! Then I happened to glance out the window and noticed Lavender in the hunched over position, and knew exactly what that meant. A quick assessment of the situation found one bubs already delivered (and being cleaned by Zinnia), and one on it's way out. While I watched she then delivered the third bub. Three gorgeous, healthy and ALIVE babies! I actually think she would have been fine even if I'd missed this litter as Zinnia was such a help. More often than not any 'midwife' pigs stay away from the delivering mum, or can accidentally crush the newborns if kept in the same cage - but Zinnia did an excellent job.




Zinnia and Lavender really do seem like best friends, and a few hours later this was the gorgeous scene we found.

Lavender's litter were also fathered by Romeo, and again we got 2 boys and a girl:


Abie was first born, and was also the smallest weighing in at 65g. She's a mix of mostly gold agouti like her daddy, with a patch of white down her side.




Ace was born second. He's a classic tri-colour in black, white and gold. He weighed in at 85g.




And gorgeous Ambrose was third. He weighed in at 75g and is an incredible mix of white, gold and lilac/gold argente (lilac base with gold tips).

Weigh In

[Dash, 5 weeks, just before he went to his new home]

The weigh in for Saturday the 25th Feb 2012:


*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 970g (gain 10g) - 47wks (11m)
Pollyanna is now 720g (same) - 17wks (4m)
Nixie is 640g (loss 30g) - 16wks (4m)


*** Malakai's Quarters ***
Malakai is 895g (gain 45g) - 30wks (7m)
Chloe is 655g (loss 65g) - 22wks (5m)


*** Tex's Condo ***
Tex is 865g (loss 5g) - 2.5yrs
Savannah is 885g (loss 5g) - 1.5yrs
Jasmine is 670g (gain 15g) - 24wks (5.5m)
Ivy is 890g (same) - 23wks (5m)



*** Girl's Mansion ***
Bella-Donna is 690g (same) - 14wks (3m)
Crumble is 870g (gain 45g) - 1.5yr
Custard is 955g (loss 5g) - 5yrs
Delilah is 980g (loss 20g) - approx 1yr
Eirwyn is 475g (gain 25g) - 10wks (2.5m)
Galaxy is 1300g (gain 105g)- 1 year old - (pregnant, due approx 24/3/12)
Gizelle is 780g (same) - 1.5yrs
Hannah is 300g (gain 40g) - 6wks (1.5m)
Indigo is 680g (loss 15g) - 26wks (6m)
Isla is 690g (loss 20g) - 26wks (6m)
Kumiko is 315g (gain 40g) - 8wks (2m)
Lacey is 465g (gain 20g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Lavender Mist is 895g (loss 95g) - 29wks (6m)- (pregnant, due approx 17/3/12)
Leilani is 905g (loss 5g) - 37wks (8m)
Millicent is 850g (gain 15g) - 30wks (7m)
Phoebe is now 960g (same) - 46wks (10.5m)
Ruby is 1250g (gain 45g) - 50wks (11.5m)
Saskia is 770g (gain 50g) - 2yrs
Sparrow is 945g (loss 15g) - 47wks (11m)
Subi is 1130g (loss 30g) - 3yrs
Tigerlily is 730g (gain 20g) - 23wks (5m)
Violet is now 725g (gain 10g) - 33wks (7m)
Xeraphina is 890g (gain 60g) 21wks (5m)
Zinnia is 950g (gain 20g) - 23wks (5m) - (pregnant, due approx 9/3/12)



***New Mums***

Molly is 710g (loss 15g) - 29wks (6m) - (nursing)
Fynn is 160g (gained 70g) - 1wk
Felice is 115g (gained 30g) - 1wk


Elodie is 710g (gain 5g) - 31wks (7m)- (nursing)
Tallulah is 150g (gain 40g) - 2wks
Taye is 130g (gain 45g) - 2wks
Theo is 150g (gain 40g) - 2wks


Alice is 680g (loss 125g) - 1yr - (nursing)
Monty is 270g (gain 50g) - 4wks
Mirella is 305g (gain 60g) - 4wks


[Fynn, 2 weeks]

So all in all a bit of an up and down week this week. Lots of little losses, some big, concerning losses and yet some good gains too (especially with the younger ones). Not sure whats going on, but I wonder if the soggy weather has stressed them a bit because they can't access the grass as freely as they have been getting used to?!


[Monty, 4 weeks. Now with his new family]

Monty (above) and Dash (very first pic) went home with their new families on Saturday. And on Friday, Peppa, Romeo, Tabitha, Twizzle, Henry, Peanut and Ginger traveled all the way up to Rockhampton to meet their new Family. And Pluto and a little visiting bub from another stud traveled up to Townsville. All in all a busy few days!


[Mirella, 4 weeks]

Lavender and Zinnia are now inside awaiting the birth of their litters. I'm a little surprised at how early Lavender's pelvis has started to open though, and am keeping an extra close eye on her. I might have gotten my dates WAY wrong, but I wasn't expecting her litter until the middle of next month. Both litters are fathered by Romeo, so will be Liam's grandchildren!



[Tallulah, 2.5 weeks]

More updates

Two months ago, I was lucky enough to be able to give 5 beautiful sisters a new home here at the caviary - Tigerlily, Twizzle, Ivy, Zinnia and Demi. Demi has since moved out with Sheba to live with an incredible family in C&C cage comfort. But I thought I'd take some updated pics of the remaining 4 sisters. Above is Tigerlily, the only sister with the long, soft curls. She's looking stunning, and I actually have trouble telling her apart from my pedigree texel Jasmine sometimes. (Tiger's curly bum is shown below)





This is Twizzle, rex crossed with a texel x, but she looks just like a rex! The longhair gene is recessive, but from what I understand, only partly so. It appears to be possible to have an animal carrying both the short and long haired gene and be completely short haired as expected (like Twizzle), but you can also get bits of long hair showing up on the rump (like this girl), or even a coat with a bit more length than usual - (mid-length). It seems to depend on just how the genes interact with each other, and the other genetic markers. All very fascinating stuff, but is really just my convoluted way of saying that even though Twizzle and her other rex-like sisters have a recessive long-haired gene - you wouldn't know by looking at them! One of the joys and mysteries of guinea pigs!


This is Zinnia. Also very rex-like - but with a slightly different texture. Not sure what's happened genetically here, but it feels like she's gotten the softness of the texel coat, but the length/crimping of the rex coat. Her fur isn't as 'springy' to the touch as a normal rex, but I don't know if this is due to the lack of roughness, or due to the difference in the kink/curl?



And Miss Ivy - Very much like a classic little rex here!




Oh, and I just had to include these pictures of Lavender Mist and Romeo. They've become quite good friends, and make such a handsome pair. Both incredibly gentle and relaxed piggies.


Both of these two appear to have the mid-length coats. I know Romeo's genetic background (Very basic breakdown: 3/4 texel, 1/4 rex), but Lavender's is a bit more mysterious. Her parents weren't even curly haired, so somehow both the recessive curl, and a touch of longhaired genetics have snuck in there too!

You can see on the side-profile picture of Lavender, how the curls on her rump are a lot longer than the fur at the front/over her shoulders. This seems to be both a really common appearance in both the mixed long/short haired pigs, and also the curly x long pigs. Delilah also shows the same coat-length difference from shoulder to rump. Where Lavender's coat is soft and wavy (like a shorter texel), Delilah's is course and crimped (like a long-haired rex). I wonder if we have two different 'curl' genes at work here, or if the difference in the coat texture comes back to the short/long hair genes interacting differently in different animals!? So many questions to answer... lol

weigh in

[Lavender and Romeo fighting over a blade of grass!]

The weigh in for Saturday the 17th Dec 2011:


*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 960g (gain 10g) - 36wks (8.5m)
Crumble is 1135g (gain 50g) - 1yr
Elodie is 825g (gain 75g) - 20wks (4.5m)


*** Romeo's Roost ***
Romeo is 565g (gain 40g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Lavender Mist is 710g (gain 5g) - 18wks (4m)


*** Malakai's Quarters ***
Malakai is 810g (gain 10g) - 19wks (4m)
Molly is 700g (gain 35g) - 18wks (4m)


*** Girl's Mansion ***
Alba is 980g (gain 40g) - 42wks (9.5m)
Alice is 960g (gain 70g) - 45wks (10.5m)
Chloe is 540g (gain 70g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Custard is 960g (gain 35g) - 4.5yrs
Delilah is 815g (gained 25g) - approx 1yr
Galaxy is 1065g (gain 70g)- 49wks (11m)
Ivy is 660g (gained 70g) - 12wks (2.5m)
Jasmine is 520g (gain 40g) - 13wks (3m)
Leilani is 1185g (gained 60g) - 26wks (6m)- (Pregnant, due approx 30/12/11)
Lotus is 630g (gained 55g) - 12wks (2.5m)
Millicent is 880g (gain 95g) - 19wks (4.5m)- (Pregnant, due approx 15/1/12)
Nixie is 365g (gained 60g) - 5wks (1m)
Peppa is 1255g (gained 75g) - 1yr - (Pregnant, due approx 6/1/12)
Phoebe is now 800g (gain 50g) - 35wks (8m)
Pollyanna is now 395g (gained 70g) - 6wks (1.5m)
Ruby is 1080g (gain 60g) - 39wks (9m)
Sparrow is 1030g (gain 25g) - 37wks (8.5m) - (Pregnant, due 22/1/12)
Subi is 1165g (gain 5g) - 2.5yrs - (Pregnant, due 22/1/12)
Tabitha is 400g (gain 55g) - 7wks (1.2m)
Tigerlily is 590g (gain 65g) - 12wks (2.5m)
Twizzle is 660g (gain 60g) - 12wks (2.5m)
Violet is 755g (gained 35g) - 22wks (5m) - (Pregnant, due approx 15/1/12)
Xeraphina is 530g (gain 50g) 10wks (2.5m)
Yeti is 950g (gain 80g) - 28wks (6.5m) - (Pregnant, due 22/1/12)
Zinnia is 625g (gain 65g) - 12wks (2.5m)


***New Mums***

Rafia is 595g (gain 15g) - 15wks (3.5m) - (nursing)
Juji is 150g (gain 30g) - 2wks
Jairo is 165g (gain 35g - 2wks

Ginger is 945g (gained 10g)- 39wks (9m) - (nursing)
Gypsy is 160g (gain 45g) - 2wks
Grace is 175g (gain 55g) - 2wks

Lulu is 625g (gain 25g) - 16wks (3.5m) - (nursing)
Anthea is 230g (gain 55g) - 3wks
Amity is 205g (gain 45g) - 3wks

Bonnie is 955g (gain 20g) - 29wks (6.5m) - (nursing)
Bella-Donna is 300g (gain 55g) - 3wks
Bethanie is 305g (gain 70g) - 3wks


[the aftermath of grain-eating time. They get it everywhere!]


Wow.

All I can say is WOW. That has got to be one of the best weeks we've had with consistent gains in a long time. Even the nursing mum's gained. I was sitting here trying to work out what we did differently this week... and the only thing was the new batch of grain! They're all obviously enjoying this lot!



[Yeti's hair is already growing back in!]

I've been waiting on a few of my girls to determine if they had buns in the oven, or if it was just a bit of excess grain-gobbling. But this week we've confirmed Millicent (fathered by Malakai), Violet (father by Pooh Bear - the texel on loan), Sparrow (fathered by Liam), Subi (most likely fathered by Liam, as Sprout didn't seem to have done the job), and Yeti (fathered by Liam).

*Yeti and Liam are going to have STUNNING babies! They will be alpaca x texel.

*Subi and Liam's bubs will be purebred rex x pedigree texel.

*Sparrow and Liam's bubs have a high possibility of being curly (Sparrow's two litter-brothers were both curly haired, so it's very likely she carries the recessive gene)

*and Violet and Pooh Bear will have either purebred texels (if I can't get his paperwork) or pedigree if I can.



[Ginger having a snooze yesterday afternoon]