Further intros and some questions...

[4hkidandmom]

Last year, we had just 2 pigs, Shrek (crested TSW boar) and Fiona (dilute red eyed tri sow). We had no intentions of breeding them due to their totally different breeds/colors. They shared a 2x4 C&C cage (if you aren't familiar with C&C cages, they are home made cages made with wire storage cube grids that snap together and corogated plastic trays. Wonderfully cheap to make and fun to design. A 2x4 cage means the cage measures 2 cubes/grids- at 14 1/2 inches in width each -by 4 cubes/grids. So the actual measurments of the cage would be 29"x58" not the 2ftx4ft- 24"x48" you'd expect.) divided in the middle (so no breeding) and made wonderful pets. My daughter then decided she'd like to participate in the Cavy Project in the fairs (show pigs), so we began researching.

Fiona passed away three months ago at the young age of 3, and Shrek was very upset. So, we set out looking for cage mates and came across a pretty good breeder. Home came Gingy (a very pretty TSW sow), Mocha (lovely red eyed lilac/dilute tri sow...we think? pics to come...) and Chino (a sweet red eyed self lilac boar..again...we think?).
None are related anywhere in their lines, and the breeder kept very detailed records. Both Gingy and Mocha have been bred once (good because they are both nearly a year old).

We quarentined the 3 new ones for 3 weeks and they all saw the vet and got clean bills of health. All are friendly and active, good eaters, veggie lovers, and wonderful bean factories. lol So, after the quarentine, we expanded the 2x4 cage into a 2x6 cage with each side being 2x3 (divided down the middle) with a small upper level 1x2 hayloft.

Shrek and Gingy got along right from the beginning. There was much swaying and chut-chut-chuting and then mating straight away! Mocha and Chino had already known each other so it was nothing new for them. Chico and Shrek did some rumble-strutting and swaying at the divider for the first day, and then were just fine. Mocha and Chino mated about the third day in their new cage. So now we are expecting babies in June!

I will post pics very soon so you can all oogle at the pigs! lol Also, we know we'll get crested TSWs from Shrek and Gingy, but we are newer to breeding (though we've done lots of research) and are excited to see what Mocha and Chino bring us. (Any ideas??)

Anyway, we'd joined a few cavy forums, but none are very welcoming to breeders. One was even quite harsh to my daughter when she posted about begining her new project. They accused her of sentencing her sows to death because "most" of them die from things related to pregnancy and birth, when in truth it is more like a 10%-15% chance that there would be any fatal complications, while things like caked breast and mastitice are more common and pretty easily rectified.

So, we're hoping we'll be a little more welcomed here! lol We are not backyard breeders, and intend to breed only to improve our lines for showing. We plan (and have the room and money) to keep any babies we can't find loving forever homes for. None of our babies will EVER be found in a pet store. I would rather GIVE them to someone who will take prime care of them, then sell them to a pet store just to make a buck. We are NOT getting into breeding for the money!

Well, thats it for now. Sorry so winded! This is the first place I felt comfortable enough to post all this! Thanks again!

[4hkidandmom]

Ok, so here's pics as promised! ;D

Here's the cage before we made it a little bigger and added the upper level haylofts on each side.


Here's Chino...(self lilac...or other??)


Here's Mocha...(dilute tri...or other??)


Mocha and Chino


Shrek (crested TSW boar)


Gingy (TSW sow)


Shrek and Gingy

[angelwyche - ADMIN]

Lovely pigs, I love the lilac/gold/white tri colours, we used to keep them and lilac/saffron/whites.

Chino (lilac) x Mocha (liac/gold/white tri colour) assuming they are both pure bred will likely give you gold/lilac bi colours with may be a small amount of white somewhere. There may be a chance at saffron /lilac bicolours. The saffron may be pale like a cream colour, but the pink eyes mean it is a pale saffron. In the UK anyway.

I do know that there are forums that cater for rescue only and have very strong feeling about breeding.

Hear we love to hear from anyone who has cavies, who have pets, do rescue work and breeders who breed and show (termed fanciers in the UK)

We advise good selective breeding meaning quality, not quantity.

Hopefully this forum can be a good place to exchange information and share experieces. and to learn - we never stop learning.

[4hkidandmom]

I'm wonderfully excited to be so welcomed here! It's hard to wait out the time difference for replies though! lol Ok, so if I have this straight, in the US pale would be dilute...right? The breeder we got them all from told us Mocha would classify as a dilute tri (lilac/gold/white) or depending on the show (or fair) she could even just be a dilute tri colored. Do I have this right?

I am glad to here that we were informed correctly with Chino being a self lilac. My daughter (and I...lol) plan to be very selective in our breeding, breeding to improve the colors and lines, and as rarely as possible (once a year for young to show in the fair is the 'norm' here).

Thank you again for the warm welcome and replies!

[angelwyche - ADMIN]

In the UK Red/Black/White cavies are Tortoishell and white. Any other combinations of two colours with white are tri colours.

I see where they can be called dilutes, as they have the genetic make up that includes genes that modify eyes to pink, black to Lilac and red to gold, thus diluting the colours.
The classification is just different between the US and the UK.

Do you have any photos of gingy, Mocha and Shrek from above ?

[4hkidandmom]

a photo of them all together? I can take one tonight, as we are fairly certain that Gingy is pregnant, having her sit with the 2 males for a photo or two wouldn't do any more harm...

[angelwyche - ADMIN]

They could be together or seperate. I am interested in seeing what their patching is like.
In the UK the patching of tri's and bi's make up a big part of the standard that judges use as a guide when they are assessing the cavies on the show table.
For pet classes this patching is not required.

Is it similar in the US, or not so inportant ?

[4hkidandmom]

In the US the patching is part of the standard, but not as important as the colors and fur. In pet classes, the patching and color aren't really important at all. What they look at in the pet class is the animals demeanor, temperment, dispossition, and handlability more than the type or breed.

I will get some good photos today and post them for you.