GP new baby!! Advice please

[damppatchnot]

We got three females and a baby boy in late summer. They live in the garage part of the childrens play house which I sectioned off that opens up at the front with double solid doors and dh has put wire mesh up so they can enjoy the daylight and stay safe. I have a solid felt roof hide that they sleep in which kis stashed with hay everyday and lined in newspaper and shavings they have a run of about 5ft by 4ft

They eat guinea museli with alfalfa and have either parsley, fresh cabbage, spinach, carrots, spring greens or cabbage everyday with cucumber or apples for a treat.

They don't go into the garden run now it's cold but seem happy.

The other night I got a big surprise and saw that coco our long haired chocolate had given birth to a fluffy baby boy, muffin!

He's running around with the others and eating well. Marmalade our red smooth looks like a butternut squash so I think she's due soon too. We are very excited

Just a couple of questions. Although I am an experienced animal owner ( we have a horse, dog and hamsters too!) I just wanted to check

Do the pregnant and nursing like anything particular or need anything additional to eat?

Will they be warm enough if it snows? When I touch them at night ( I stayed with coco just in case she had anymore babies) they feel warm and that's when it was 3 degrees outside ( thankgod for my north face coat) brrr

Thanks

I had GPs as a child and we had an accidental litter (2 girls turned out to be boy/girl)
They managed to mate again straight away, so I separated the male as soon as she was showing pg again. I don't think he would have harmed them, we used to put one of the boys with him as his mum sort of ignored him.She did feed him but always gave preference to her daughter pig (mum and daughter Himalayan albinos)

IIRC they don't need any different food, just as much as they will manage .Alfafa is good for pg/nursing GPs .And dandelion leaves.

I don't think I would leave a baby out all night TBH .Our boars come in at night and out during the day (they've got a big shed) with hay and hot water bottle, and a fleece and snugglepad in their box.
I have rubber car mats and cardboard to insulate .DH has bought a shed/conservatory heater to fit, but even with that on, I don't think I'd leave them out.Its not so much the cold that affects them, its damp.They are prone to respiratory problems.
I've read on some sites that they are meant to be kept above 15 C. We had frost on Thursday.GPs had to go out in the shed at 6.30am because I was going to work, but made sure they had warmth. Otherwise ,if I'm home it's about 9am.
They wouldn't appreciate being in all day, not enough space for them.

Baby GPs are lovely.My DD likes to look at the GPs in Pets@Home, they are diddy but newbies are even weenier!

You were surprised that a sow became pregnant when kept with a boar? It's quite likely all the sows are pregnant and remember, young boars can become sexually mature from 3 weeks old, so you will need to separate the males very, very quickly or you will soon have an out of control guinea pig population. And as Lord said, if you don't take out the adult boar, he will mate with sows within hours of them having their litters.

There is lots of information on pregnancy on the http://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html Guinea Lynx site.

I'd never have guinea pigs outdoors myself unless it was within a well-insulated and heated shed or similar. Pregnant sows and of course babies will be more vulnerable to the cold and damp and it will be harder to monitor them (for example if distressed in labour) when they are outdoors. One of my boars came from a rescue after he was born in an outside hutch and developed a fungal skin infection soon after birth. His two litter mates died and it was touch and go whether he would live when he was handed into a rescue at about 2 weeks old by the family who ended up with too many guineas to manage.

If you have lots and lots of space, you might start finding homes for babies in pairs (if male) or groups (if female) and either have your adult male neutered to remain with the four sows or pair him up with one of his young sons for rehoming or keeping in a separate enclosure form the females.

There are lists of rescue centres for rodents here and here It's a really, really busy time for rescue centres at the moment, so it might be good to get in touch early to get advice on rehoming. Best of luck.

Thanks very much for that

I did expect a litter at done point but I was suprised to see muffin as coco did not look pregnant and I check them every day. She's quite chunky and I suppose having just the one he was tucked away

The play house was custom made so is very well insulated and they have a well insulated box with plenty of fresh hay but I am going to get either an infa red lamp which is used in chicken coups and sone if those pet head pads that stay warm for 10 hours just to be sure

With regards to the Snugglepads- I've got one -it was £14 on Amazon, usually £21 ish.
I don't find them as good as a hotwater bottle.
They are like a solid disc (unlike those gel ones that leak and got recalled) Mine goes in the microwave for 6 mins and in the fleece cover.
I put that in the box-it's flat so they can sit on it.
The hot water bottle is in a fleece cover and I bury that in hay.It is still warm when I bring it in (7am- 6pm) The snugglepad isn't.
Mine are large 1 yo males. They always nest in the hay now and seem to use the box as their toilet.

Thanks for that lord

I will put a hot water bottle in tonight. I checked first thing and the bedding box was very warm ( its filled with hay) and baby was too. But we have snow due so not taking any chances

Update- marmalade had just given birth to 4 babies! We saw the last one cone out. I'm keeping eye on her to make sure they feed but I pit a hot water bottle in wrapped in newspaper and covered in a fleece and they are all sat on it. I think she's just getting her breath back

The others are all running about including muffin who is a real chunk at only 6 days old!

We are going to have babies after christmas, We have homes lined up ( more homes than possible guineas actually!) and have planned the space etc. I bred gerbils for our local pet shops when I was a child and it's a great experience.. we will only have one litter though and intend to keep our boar and get him castrated and keep him with his wife to be and probably a daughter.

DD is beside herself with excitement

We have got quite a bit of space but will look for homes for three and keep one from this litter and muffin from last week.

I also breed Russian hamsters for the pet shop too.

It's so lovely having the young babies. I just wish it was summer and they could run about in the sunshine! But it's nice and snug in the house and they can run around in there in the meantime

4 babies- aah bless her.

My female GP (childhood ) had 2 in her first litter (3 but one was born dead) and 3 in her second. We wondered how she'd manage but they are very good mums and baby GPs are born fully formed and ready to rumble.

My DH put a greenhouse heater in our pighouse yesterday- it's on a timer, just to take the chill off. I paranoid about them getting damp- though I do change the bedding daily because my boys pee like you wouldn't believe- so the fleece and hay gets wet from them.(And they are stinky little boys )

Yes I've been changing the bedding frequently too. The part of the playhouse they are in has a lower cieling and it's made of thick timber. They are sleeping in a wooden bIg box which is lined and packed with paper, shavings and hay and with the hot water bottle they are warm. It doesn't get damp thankfully ( the upstairs part has carpets abs and curtains and they are as fresh as the day they went in. ) but the babies look so little its not stopped me checking every hour!

It's so exciting

So cute today. Putting the fresh veg in and all the adults and baby born last week run over to tuck in.

The 4 newbies were all squeaking in the nesting box then came out one by one to see what was going on. All the adults moved over to let the little ones in for a sniff and a lick

So sweet

damppatchnot have you taken the boar away from the group?

Are your original 4 GPs related?

I can't remember how old the GPs should be before you have to separate them.We had 2 males (one baby was born dead) from our first litter and 2 boys, 1 girl from our second. The mum weaned the girl herself (we kept girl) but by this time the boar was well away from the females. They would have no problem mating with their own offspring.

A few years later I bought a female who was already pg .Her piglet was female so we kept her ( male long gone by this time)

I've had a long gap in GP keeping and we've got a pair of boys.They are very "boary" (which is not a bad thing) but territorial, need lots of space, (separated at night but in the same large cage) eat tons, pooh everywhere and mark with pee.

Both are un-neutered (we won't get any piglets) but there are no females on-site. I reckon a whiff of female would send them loopy.

Have you identified your piglets into boy/girl and made plans for when they wean? And homes?
Your best bet would be to castrate your boar before he goes back to the girls, otherwise he'll be living alone, which isn't fair on him to leave the group.

Good advice from LOTF there. Boars can become sexually mature even before their third week, so they definitely need to be separated from all females before that time.

Update

All three females had young. A single baby, then 4 then 2. They are not related to the boar. He's a lunkurya and two of the females are alpacas and one a red smooth. They have been fantastic mums all helping each other!

I took the boar out and he's now in a double 5th hutch with a young Peruvian. All the baby boys were sold and I kept three female babies which I will put to the pervuian in the summer.

They are all on covered hot water bottles and the kids old baby blankets and are very well and content.

I adore them. They are the nicest pets I have had and I have everything from horses to terrapins!