My rescue Piggy has had babies...

[RabbitsMakeBrownEggs]

Four sweet little things. I have added pictures if you want a nose

I am new to Cavy Parenting, so any advice would be welcome.

Getting some alfalfa hay as apparently it is good for lactating females and growing pigs. Anything else they need?

Awww, how lucky.

How many adults do you have as mum and piglets will need to be separated. Are you planning to keep any? if yes you'll need to neuter if a boy, if not the rescue should be able to help if she was knocked up before you got her.

Congratulations btw

Can't link to your pictures though, can you make your profile public pwretty please so I can awww some more pushy sorry

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

Baby piglets are the cutest - officiallly

Is the other GP a female or neutered male?

Should be fine to leave them all together (even a boar won't harm GP babies- but will quite happily impregnate the female straight after birthing)

Give her a quiet space, fleeces, lots of extra water and her normal food. Alfafa hay is good for pg and feeding GPs, higher in calories.
She'll spend most of her time feeding them (in shifts) they can only feed 2 at a time.
You might find they all crowd under mum for comfort, and they are very tolerant, and stand on tiptoes while they all jostle.
They can eat solid food within a couple of days, so they might be in at the pellets.

Keep a check on them to make sure one isn't being ousted by it's bolshier littermates.
Our sow was quite happy for us to handle the piglets, if she was in earshot of her babies (she was pink-eyed so very poor sight but razor sharp ears ).

Enjoy them

Aww congratulations! :)

I can't see pics either :(

I've just gone through post history, your other GP is a male.

Have you had him neutered or are you planning to?

He would quite happily mate with his own female piglets too when they are old enough

We used to put the little boar (that sow used to push away) with his dad after he'd fed from the sow. (He went back at regular intervals and she was fine with this.Didn't seem to mind that he smelled of boar pig, and dad didn't mind that piglet smelled of female).They could 'talk' through the heating vents.

Dampatchnot is the GP hobby breeder. She'll give you all the gen .

Be warned though, she's got 25 (at last count) so they are addictive!

I have separated him with plans to have him neutered, going to get the mum and piglets checked over first, then next trip is for his neuter.

Try for pictures now btw. Have made myself public.

They are cuuuuute!

Is it possible to be broody for piglets??

Violet seems to be pretty laidback when it comes to me handling them and is doing a pretty good job. Not eating or drinking as much as I would have expected though. Has made a sort of nest in her hay, she likes to hide underneath it, so the babies are currently exploring hay mountain, lol.

The runt has funny eyes, I am hoping that is just because it hasn't opened up as much and not anything wrong with them, look like they could be gunky though. What can I do for gunky baby eyes? I would have used my own milk or boiled water and cotton wool, is it essentially the same thing for cavies?

I can confirm babies are addictive.

Awwwwww, they're gorgeous, fabulous pictures.

Yes to boiled water on cotton wool and gently wipe in one direction etc.

Hope the runt is ok.

Oooooooooooooohhh shouldn't have clicked on the photos link.
Big Mistake.

Yes Bonkey you can get broody for piglets, just as well we've both got boars (And no pesky female is going to corrupt my little boys)!

Rabbits -your little (runt) looks like a pink-eyed guinea, all the others look dark eyed (though the first one has demon red eyes in that photo )

Hopefully mum pig will clean their eyes when she's got a minute, but boiled,cooled water will work.
Sows will clean eyes,ears and bums to stimulate them too pooh.

Ah, congrats on becoming a pig gran !

Just to add to my post 17.37 should be fine to leave them together -
Only if boar is neutered and Jaffa (seedless) otherwise you'll get another quick pregnancy (it happened to us)

That was a bit unclear but I'm sure you'd have worked through what it was meant to mean.

LOL, I have separated them and kept them apart, and shall do so until he is neutered and then however many weeks it takes for him to be sperm free. Baby boys will go in with him at three weeks old, girls will stay with mum.

Baby Guineas are amazing! one of my sows had babies a week ago yesterday and they are already pretty independent. I have another sow ready to pop. DaddyGP has had his knackers removed now, poor boy.

I'll try taking some pictures of mine tomorrow :)

No tips really, they seem to be pretty easy to care for just more food and hay. I put mine outside for an hour or 2 at 2 days old and they scoffed the grass like their mum, no problem at all.

I'm at how many babies the GP can have.

4 in this litter, methe yours had 6 didn't she?

My sow (when I was a child) had 3 (but one was born dead) then 3 the next litter.(Very soon after ,her and boar DTD immediately)

Then my next sow had one single (she was very young herself and already pg)

Maybe GPs are getting bigger,better looked after and better fed in this day and age than in the 1970s/1980s.

Yeah 6 but we lost Runty at 3 days old after trying to hand rear him for 2 days. I think he was born with an abnormality, he was always very small :(

Mummy GP is fully harassed by the 5 remaining ones tbh.. they literally lift her off her back feet to suckle and follow her around like she's the pied piper. I bet she can't wait to wean them!

One of our babies is enormous! the other 4 are all of a similar size.

We've got 8 at the moment naice and another ready to pop. Arggg! God job we have lots of space eh!

They are incredible babies. At 24 hours old ours we're investigating the water bottle and eating hay... amazing.

Runty is still looking funny around the eyes, they are more slitted and the eyes themselves are dull and filmy. Trying to keep them clean, and little Runty warm and fed. I shall try some grass today while it's sunny and dry, see how they like that.

The golden one has been named by my DD. Honeypie.

So we have two names, a Honeypie and little Tuck.

One of mine needed eyedrops (antibiotics) after birth, maybe worth a look on guinealynx to see if you can use otc drops for humans (cheaper than a trip to vets!)

Do you need to neuter the adult male if you will be putting the baby males in with him?

I guess I don't need to neuter him really if he'll have other boys to keep him company.

I'd phone the vet and ask for advice on runty tbh. Hope he's ok.

If you keep them seperated then they won't need neutering, just make sure to only breed from mum and dad though.

I love the floppy heads and flappy feet of baby guinea pigs... I want more now!!!

sigh we have too many as we got addicted.

I think Runty is blind. He can't find Mummy Pig and just squeals wandering aimlessly. :(

He could be .

Our pinkeye sow had a pink eyed baby and when she squeaked, the sow left her boys and ran to her daughter.

Might be worth a vet check or ask the rescue if they can have a look at him .

WRT to keeping the babies, if 2 are boar piglets they might be fine kept with the boar, but it is different with a trio than a duo of boars. Some owners don't recommend that boars are kept in more than a pair and never 2+ boars with sows (I'm assuming neutered or non-neutered. Neutering doesn't change their personality, so if they are bolshy fighters, they'll remain bolshy fighters)

2 baby boars will reach their terrible teens together, especially if there are sows in the vicinity (they don't care if it's their mum/sister)

Did the Rescue give you any advice about the babies?
I read you wanted to keep them all (in your original post)

In your shoes, I'd neuter <strong>all</strong> the males , then you've got more scope for mixing them up. I wouldn't trust the little blighters to behave themselves. And when you are moving them about to clean the cages, if they get a chance, they'll be <strong>in there</strong>.