Names

I have decided to call the agouti baby 'Captain Simnel' aka 'GrandWilf Cavies Conceptual' and the two black english crested babies 'Shank' aka 'GrandWilf Cavies Monochrome'(boar) and 'Jab' aka 'GrandWilf Cavies Motion Blur'(sow).

English Crested Twins!

Laverne had her babies this morning, two utter chunks(they are the same size as the agouti baby- their half brother)
One of each flavour, just right for the Choc American project, Major Siege is doing me proud with his offspring, clever boy!(and of course very clever Laverne!)

Twins!

Sow: looks like she's going to be a cheeky one already!

Boar: a lovely chunky lump with a few white hairs in his crest - bonus!

I Think He's Chocolate...

I keep getting out Utterly's baby boar(he still needs a name) and checking his colour and I'm now pretty much certain that he is indeed chocolate based as I originally thought, which is very good news indeed! Here he is in the sun looking very chocolatey(in other lights he looks to have a slightly greyer undercolour and darker pigment) :

Belteds

I picked up a trio of Belteds from keighley at the weekend (a pair from Heather Henshaw and a sow from Su Schofield), hopefully these will help me get back on my feet with the Belteds!
Although, saying that, I never really got ON my feet with the Belteds! I've not yet had a live litter born, my first sow aborted her litter, recoverd and was re-mated to a different boar, but also lost her second litter and passed away shortly after. My second sow passed away due to bloat and my third was one of the many lost in the 'sudden death' that hit the stud :( I really could do with lady luck smiling on this trio, I should love to finally have some Belty babies of my own!

Sow 1: Daisy Chain

Boar: Buckle:

 Sow 2: Shoe:

Agouti Baby

This is the little chap born yesterday, I can't quite decide whether he is golden agouti or chocolate agouti, his pigment is suggesting black based but his under colour looks chocolate! Think I will reserve judgement til he's a bit bigger! Need to think of a name now......

Babies!!!!

Utterly popped last night! She kept me waiting longer than expected, but I'm so relieved that everything went ok! Will do photos of the new bubba tomorrow :)

Will we have Easter babies?

'Utterly' looks like she's getting close to popping, her bones are nearly fully open(they started to open last week) her lady parts are also looking pleasantly 'flushed' so maybe she will pop tonight.....?
If she does then they will HAVE to have Easter names, even though it's barely Easter!

Fingers Crossed Touch Wood that she and her bubbas are -and will be- happy and healthy, I couldn't cope with another disaster this close to Tiggy's passing :(

Tiggy's Garden

Today we buried Tiggy in a planter and sowed seeds to make it into a little 'garden' in her memory, the seeds are of 24 various varieties of plants/grasses suitable for pigs so once they have grown(fingers crossed) we'll be able to trim them as a treat for the herd. I was thinking of also planting some small carrots, but I'm not sure there's enough space!

Not Good Friday

Tiggy went into labour at some point during the night, when I woke up this morning it was apparent she had encountered difficulties, she was tired, her contractions had stopped, the pup was dead and I could tell by the look on her face and her body language that she was too far 'gone' to save.

I cried.

I held her,
I kissed her ears,
told her I was sorry,
told her how much I loved her,
she groomed my fingers.

I cried.

She passed away.

I cried.

I'm still crying.



So many people will say, it's just one of those things, these things happen, it wasn't your fault, you did all you could,
But I can't help but feel immensely guilty, I feel selfish for wanting her to have babies, it was unnecessary, she was happy without them, it was us that decided we should try her one last time.

I've unpaired my pet pigs.
I can almost justify losing pigs in pregnancy when the litter is needed to further the lines and produce 'show stock', but when they are ''just'' much loved pets there is no real need to produce more pets, is there?

If the pet pigs are pregnant then so be it.
If not then they never will be.


R.I.P Mrs Tigwiggles
There's a scruffy cream agouti hole in my heart, you will always be missed x

Baby it's cold outside!

Woke up to a couple of inches of snow, in April!?
So my lot have had a lovely warm bran mash with grated carrot today, it's the first time I've done a mash for mine, they usually just have it dry(which they adore) so I thought they'd like the change: as is the norm when it comes to new things they were quite divided, some(like the skinnies upstairs) scoffed the lot then fell asleep with warm full tummies, while others(the ladies in the Manor) just picked the carrots out and stood in it to warm their tootsies instead!

Tiggy is getting close to popping now, her bones are open, her appetite is reduced and she has milk! I've never had a sow produce milk before actually having the babies so I assume this means she has plentiful milk bags and is ready to deliver! Watch this space....