Courting

Pigs currently running together:

'Sybil' and 'Ronnie' the 'Rexyruvian Twins'(Alpaca X Rex) are in with 'Gunky McJizzum Trousers'(Rex X Aby) for some funky pets. Sybil is Cream(buff) Agouti and Buff, Ronnie is Golden Agouti and Gold and Gunky is Cinnamon Chinchilla Roan. Babies are expected in May.

'Sybil', 'Gunky' and 'Ronnie'

I put together a few pigs on Wednesday(babies due June) that seem to have an (unintentional) alliteration theme! First is 'Little Rock' and 'Luther' Black American Cresteds:

'Luther' and 'Little Rock'

Luther and Little Rock are both slightly lacking in the ear department but the tremendous under colour more than makes up for it so I can certainly forgive them(especially when ears are so few points, I'd rather work on body colour and most importantly- trying to get that white crest!)
Luther's lovely under colour going right down:

And then there is 'Mavourneen', 'Mary' and 'Major Siege Brisbane' Self Chocolates:

'Mary', 'Major' and 'Mavourneen'

I'm hoping for a couple of showable chocolates from this trio, Major is a little high on ear, but the sows compensate for that and Major has real good colour and a bit more width of head to combat the sows' slightly lacking unders and narrower faces.





Comparisons

I can't decide who's best between two homebred boars in my shed, I keep getting them out and comparing them, asking other people's opinions etc and I still can't make up my mind! I think I'm going to have to show them both a few times and see what the judges think!

'Jefferson'(left) 10 months old and 'Texas'(right) 7 months old.

Both are fairly evenly matched in the crest department!

Jefferson has the better head but Texas has better eye and ear

Comparing top colour and coat qualities, Jefferson(top) has a slightly more vibrant colour overall(not really visible in a photo) but has a longer coat, Texas is generally paler, but more even with less fading on the flanks.

Comparing under colour, Jefferson is on the left here and his under colour looks miles better than Tex at this point, but not long ago Texas was the better. Jeff is more uneven in his under colour though with much paler flanks, whereas Tex is appearing paler all over, but at least it's even!

'Jefferson'

Good head and crest, but uneven top and under, flakiness to sides and small slightly high set ears.

'Texas'

Good eye and crest, better ear, more even colour and shorter coat, but light under and less vibrancy.

I'm sure I'll make up my mind between the two one day!

(as an interesting side note: the pig in the title banner is Jefferson's grandad!)

Expecting...

I have three sows confirmed 'in-pig' at the moment, all due in the next month (fingers crossed).

The first babies due are Tiggy's(Cream Agouti & White Peru X), daddy is Hector(Gold & White Peru) This was quite an unexpected pregnancy, a serendipity moment: Tiggy has been with numerous boars before and never got pregnant so we assumed her to be infertile and accepted that we wouldn't be getting mini-Tiggy-pigs; Hector is an absolute horndog and hates being on his own so we decided to put him with Tiggy as company, we knew there was a chance that she may get caught despite never getting in-pig before and we were prepared for this eventuality (I've personally always loved Tiggy and wanted to carry on her pet line so was thrilled that she finally caught!). Tiggy has been getting lots of extra treats and vitamins and we are keeping an extra close eye on her with her being older than normal with her first pregnancy. We are hoping she will give us a baby boar that can live with Hector permenently as this will be the last litter he sires(even better if she has one of each!) - Tiggy and Hector will both be retired after this litter so fingers and toes crossed that it all goes well.

 'Hector' & 'Tiggy'

The next mums-to-be are Laverne(Black American Crested) and Utterly(Buff American Crested), they have both been with the same boar - actually they ended up being with two boars - both self chocolates - as the first boar was losing too much condition for my liking so I swapped him out for my other choccy man, all the dates are noted so I will know whose the babies are according to the date they arrive (looking at how far along these ladies are I think they will be the first boar's babies). These are both litters towards my Chocolate American Project, all babies will be 'pet' quality.

 'Laverne' & 'Utterly'

Fingers Crossed Touch Wood for happy healthy mums and babies!

A Place to Share

I have decided to make this blog as a place to share the goings-on at GrandWilf Cavies.
Sometimes I find myself with lots of cavy thoughts and plans in my head so I figured if I had a blog I could jot them all down on here and fellow cavy breeders and guinea pig enthusiasts can follow the inner workings of my 'stud'. I also realised I have nowhere to put my show results, so those will be published here also, so, stay tuned for the latest news!