30 Guineas Together

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Jillybean

I read in a Peter Gurney book the other day that he'd kept 30 sows together. This amazes me - I think I'm probably a bit fanatic about guineas having plenty of space and I'm fascinated about what sort of accommodation he had for them. It might just have been a temporary thing. There were some pictures of the type of cage he seemed to use (I know that he very sadly died quite recently) and they were like long pens.

I just wondered if anyone had any further information on this or if any of you have ever kept this number together and if so, how well it worked (I'm not thinking of doing it! I only have 3 and they're lost in their accommodation at the mo. but am waiting for an expectant guinea).
 
I tn to say what I rally think ;)

An I think that in this cas Ptr Gurny probably kpt too many guina pigs in too confin a spac. Thirty guinas is a lot ([colorr]too many in my opinion) to giv iniviual attntion too. But ths ar just my thoughts. I tn to think lss mans mor attntion for th guinas you hav.

A lot of what PG wrot was wonrful, I larnt much from him. but som, as I hav sai bfor, is...wll not quit th way I woul kp guinas...

To kp thirty sows togthr [colorr]happily, you woul n a larg amount of spac :-\
Mor than I prsonally bliv h ha :(

Barbara
 
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I rehomed a group of 9 females with a neutered male and they were happy together in a large shed with shelves and ramps and lots of hidey holes.
 
The biggest group I have at the moment is 11 sows but I did have 17 together at one point. You do need an awful lot of space for a large group though. Considering PG lived in a flat I cant see how he had room for a group of 30 :o
 
cavykind said:
I tend to say what I really think ;)
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Do you know what I would have never noticed! ;D

I do remember looking at an old web site & it had pics of his piggy room & IIRC half of the room was sectioned off. The thought of cleaning out a group of 30 is scary - where would you put them whilst you clean out?!
 
I have alwasy kept my sows together in one long wide run over half a shed to be honest at the moment its 16 but have had 20 mine have plenty to of plenty of hidey holes and plenty of bottles and food chutes, I have never ever had any problems with any of my sows and can after quarantine add another one to the group and she will every time be accepted, yes 30 does seem a lot in a flat, but as he probably found sows do get along perfectly well, I do have another run above the run I have ready for more but have never had to use it as they all get along perfectly well, in fact if i was to remove any of them they would most definalty be missed , and i can assure you that each and every one of my girls gets daily attention, to help me keep track I have a board and books with dates of birth and any illnesses they've had and what and who to watch for, I would not keep my girls any other way, again my way may not be considered every ones choice but it works for me and my girls and I would not change a thing
 
:)Peter Gurney was a wonderfull man, if you look at his website you can see he kept his girlies in his flat and the runs went all round his living room walls.He also kept a few free romers in his flat and thats what they were, free romers.

Diane
 
Free rangers lol, hence the name of his famous piggy Free Range Fred :)

My sow pen is 13ft x 2ft and the most pigs I've had in it at one time was 14.

Peter cleaned his pens out the same way I do mine. All the sows are sent down one end of the pen while I clean the other and then sent over to the cleaned end while I do the other half :)

Kat
 
Thanks for your replies, it's interesting. The most I've had is 7 and they were loose in a shed which is 6ft x 8ft plus they could get to another big hutch through a tube in the wall. To me 7 always looked about right but when I read about 30 all together, I just thought blimey, how much space did they have. It would be interesting to know a bit more about how they live in the wild. All I know is that they live in grasslands - but I wonder how far they roam.
 
The biggest group I have at present is a neutered male with 6 young sows. They have a six ft by 4 ft pen with lots of different hidey holes. One or two more might fit in that pen but it would be pushing it a bit, as it is they run about a lot and seem to spread themselves out well, not crowding each other.

I think PG had far too many sows together, although I am sure he kept good track of their health and care needs as he certainly was dedicated.
 
I have actually seen pictures of Peter Gurneys set up... it looked fantastic and plenty of space for large groups. He also had free rangers, usually a boar. His piggys lived in the lap of luxuary. They are addictive pets as he always said and if I had room and time for 30 (which obviously would be impossible with boars) I would have 30. Though I can't ever imagine that as 5 are such hard work! However I certainly wouldn't judge or make coments on a public forum about someones set up without having even seen it, particularly someone as well respected as Peter who is no longer with us to defend himself! Anyone who saw photos of his piggers too in his books etc could see how happy and healthy they were. Obviously what space he did have, including his living room (!) he gave over to the guineas he loved. RIP Peter.I am sorry if I am a little offended, understandable I think.
 
:) Peter's Guineas looked happy and healthy enough to me, they had more of the room than Peter ;D They seemed to have groups within the herd. They were also very friendly, I don't know exactly the measurements of his room but the pen went round it in an L shape and was frequently being refurbished :D My fave pig of his was BB (showed me my first ever molars! A mouth like a horse LOL!).
 
Barmy4boars said:
I have actually seen pictures of Peter Gurneys set up... it looked fantastic and plenty of space for large groups. He also had free rangers, usually a boar. His piggys lived in the lap of luxuary. They are addictive pets as he always said and if I had room and time for 30 (which obviously would be impossible with boars) I would have 30. Though I can't ever imagine that as 5 are such hard work! However I certainly wouldn't judge or make coments on a public forum about someones set up without having even seen it, particularly someone as well respected as Peter who is no longer with us to defend himself! Anyone who saw photos of his piggers too in his books etc could see how happy and healthy they were. Obviously what space he did have, including his living room (!) he gave over to the guineas he loved. RIP Peter.I am sorry if I am a little offended, understandable I think.
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I have read a couple of Peter's books and seen some of the photos of his set up. Whilst he never actually gave dimensions, the pen looked huge and all the piggys looked happy and healthy. I agree with the above - I don't believe any of us can really judge unless any of us were priviledged enough to have met him and visited his house. I admire his dedication and I am sure that there was not one single pig in that group of 30 who did not get individual attention from Peter. That is my opinion anyway.
 
I have 34 pigs at the moment, although not all in the same cage obviously ;D. And I don't find them hard work at all. I had 103 pigs once lol. The only problem with having lots of pigs is that you seem to have lots of problems. Think about it, if you have 2 pigs, and those 2 pigs get ill once a year, thats 2 piggy problems a year. If however, you have 103 like I used to, and each pig has 1 illness a year, thats 103 illnesses a year which can make it seem like you have lots of problems with your pigs.

Kat
 
KatsCavies said:
Free rangers lol, hence the name of his famous piggy Free Range Fred :)

My sow pen is 13ft x 2ft and the most pigs I've had in it at one time was 14.

Peter cleaned his pens out the same way I do mine. All the sows are sent down one end of the pen while I clean the other and then sent over to the cleaned end while I do the other half :)

Kat
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thats exactly how i do mine as well, and totally agree when you have so many it often seems as if they are ill in large numbers and die in larger then normal numbers like my 5 recently but its becasue we have so many,
mine are in 2 sheds and we give them a good clean out once a week and a general freshen up and clean during that week, mine are never left dirty or smelly always clean and fresh always checked and am on the ball as far as health problems are concerned so like Peter we manage because we want to and love doing it, I never go clothes shopping rarely sit and watch tv etc so my time that I have is spent on my pigs, and Peter Gurney knew what he was doing and if he thought keeping 30 pigs was fine then he must have cared for them and kept them immaculate, I much prefer pigs in runs then in hutches and cages but we all have our own choices and I am fine with how every one else keeps their pigs its down to choices
 
Beaney said:
Barmy4boars said:
I have actually seen pictures of Peter Gurneys set up... it looked fantastic and plenty of space for large groups. He also had free rangers, usually a boar. His piggys lived in the lap of luxuary. They are addictive pets as he always said and if I had room and time for 30 (which obviously would be impossible with boars) I would have 30. Though I can't ever imagine that as 5 are such hard work! However I certainly wouldn't judge or make coments on a public forum about someones set up without having even seen it, particularly someone as well respected as Peter who is no longer with us to defend himself! Anyone who saw photos of his piggers too in his books etc could see how happy and healthy they were. Obviously what space he did have, including his living room (!) he gave over to the guineas he loved. RIP Peter.I am sorry if I am a little offended, understandable I think.
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I totally agree with you Susie. From Peter's Website and books you will find that the only room Peter had for himself was the top bunk bed! The set up he had was infact perfect he even had water fountains for the piggys and always had a few free range boars. My vet actually visited him in the hospice in his last week and all he was concerned about was his piggies going to good homes.....His care and love for piggies was admirable and his was an inspiration - to me anyway and sadly missed. RIP Peter
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I've seen the pictures too, his set up was ace, i wish i would have something similar. I remember when i first read how many he had thinking OMG :o How does he cope?, but he lived for them and i bet there wasn't a better looked after set of piggies anywhere. He was a great guy and his books were the main reason i decided to start keeping piggies, his passion for them was infectious!

30 would be way too many for me but i think it's just about knowing you limitations. Pete knew he could handle that many so that's how many he kept. Me, i wouldn't consider any more than 2 at present because i don't have the room for them, plus with 5 rats and three dogs i need to know i have the time to give them the attention they need. But i wouldn't be without them and i had my own place i would definately consider a set up like Pete had! One side of the room for boars and the other for sows and the in the middle just enough room for an armchair and a TV!
 
Peter was a fantasic man and I am sure he gave them enough room and care they required.
I currently have a pen with 5 adult sows living together, they are all different ages and breeds. Fred a Golden Agouti Ridgeback sow, leads them, she is the boss and she will soon be 5 in January. Two of the sows Loba and Lily-Pad are mother and daughter so they gang up on everyone else.

I currently have two free ranging sows also, Creamy is the more nosey and will come out if she hears anything sounding like food. There cage is situated in my kitchen, its basically an under the bed storage tub, minus the lid. They have a cuddle cup each on the outside of the tub. Creamy sometimes comes and visits Capy in the bedroom, I live on a first floor flat and jumps in her cage and eats all her food.

GPQ
 
Please don't think I was criticising or questioning the care Peter gave his guineas. I am just fascinated about how guineas live and I know that my thoughts are a bit extreme when it comes to how much space an animal has. I think it's come from seeing rabbits in tiny cages in people's gardens and just feeling so desperately sorry for them.

At Longleat they have 37 guineas which live loose in a huge outside area (but I hope they're inside now). I wondered whether Peter had a room which they lived loose in.

As Michellemuffin said, if you've got a lot of guineas then you'd have a system like a book to make sure they're all regularly checked over. I think people keep pets for different reasons, I don't personally want to get mine out and cuddle them several times a day but I know a lot of people do, I do enjoy having them on my lap and making a fuss of them but my main pleasure is from watching them interact with each other and just living their lives in their home. I'm different with my dogs though, I'm always cuddling them (probably because one of them is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel & spends most of the time glued to my lap!)
 
Jillybean said:
I think people keep pets for different reasons, I don't personally want to get mine out and cuddle them several times a day but I know a lot of people do, I do enjoy having them on my lap and making a fuss of them but my main pleasure is from watching them interact with each other and just living their lives in their home. I'm different with my dogs though, I'm always cuddling them (probably because one of them is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel & spends most of the time glued to my lap!)
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I'm the same. Mine all do come out for cuddles but I love just watching them 'be pigs'. I also have a Cavalier King Charles and he is defo a lap dog!
 
Beaney said:
Jillybean said:
I think people keep pets for different reasons, I don't personally want to get mine out and cuddle them several times a day but I know a lot of people do, I do enjoy having them on my lap and making a fuss of them but my main pleasure is from watching them interact with each other and just living their lives in their home. I'm different with my dogs though, I'm always cuddling them (probably because one of them is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel & spends most of the time glued to my lap!)
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I'm the same. Mine all do come out for cuddles but I love just watching them 'be pigs'. I also have a Cavalier King Charles and he is defo a lap dog!
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I have 2 CKC's also lap dogs!
 
I get greatest pleasure from watching my pigs interact as well ,my pigs all have runs not hutches or cages as i like to see them doing what piggys do best, I do also cuddle mine and like already said have a daily head count etc and keep detailed records its so helpful and find the best way of doing this in my sheds is the runs, and I'd like to see my 14 year old lab x collie climb on my lap lol hes quite well built to be blunt, daft as a brush, and adorable but not lap material ;D ;D
 
Please don't think I was criticising or questioning the care Peter gave his guineas. I am just fascinated about how guineas live and I know that my thoughts are a bit extreme when it comes to how much space an animal has. I think it's come from seeing rabbits in tiny cages in people's gardens and just feeling so desperately sorry for them.

At Longleat they have 37 guineas which live loose in a huge outside area (but I hope they're inside now). I wondered whether Peter had a room which they lived loose in.

As Michellemuffin said, if you've got a lot of guineas then you'd have a system like a book to make sure they're all regularly checked over. I think people keep pets for different reasons, I don't personally want to get mine out and cuddle them several times a day but I know a lot of people do, I do enjoy having them on my lap and making a fuss of them but my main pleasure is from watching them interact with each other and just living their lives in their home. I'm different with my dogs though, I'm always cuddling them (probably because one of them is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel & spends most of the time glued to my lap!)
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No worries dear I know you were not criticising Peter or the way he cared for his guineas. I found nothing offensive in your post what so ever ;) I am just upset that some people think they know so much better than everyone else... even Peter Gurney! And as I said I find it an insult to his memory. Nothing to do with your post at all... you were discussing an interesting topic. So please dont worry.
 
Jillybean said:
Please don't think I was criticising or questioning the care Peter gave his guineas. I am just fascinated about how guineas live and I know that my thoughts are a bit extreme when it comes to how much space an animal has. I think it's come from seeing rabbits in tiny cages in people's gardens and just feeling so desperately sorry for them.
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I don't think anyone for one minute thought you were critising Peter, it's just every guinea pig owner thought he was so great we can't help singing his praises everytime he is mentioned!

It was reading his books and absorbing his passion that made me want to keep piggies, i just wish i had been able to write and tell him before he died how much he inspired me.
 
Nope Jillybean theres nothing wrong with merely stating an observation. However as Susie said there are some who believe they know better than PG which is probably unlikely and unfair considering the man isn't here to defend himself! A lot of us on here have been truly inpsired to keep guinea pigs after reading his books. Maybe some of the "non-believers" should read "All of their kind" then they can understand Peter's set up personally.
 
ahhh Jillybean dont worry Susie would never offend,its just that things do change with time and when some one knows PG did so many wonderful things its hard to accept he was'nt piggy God , no one knows EVERYTHING we all know from experience bits and pieces etc, things do change as in sawdust etc but we need to discuss things with each other to learn new ways and that was exactly what you did, I do not agree with everything PG says on occasion or for that fact the CCT only because of my own experience, and its forums we can discuss and learn from each other, and to be honest I dont think any of us knows everything despite keeping pigs for over 30 years,not even me,
 
I think it's one of the best things about keeping pets and talking to people on forums like this. There are always going to be new things to learn :)
 
carrot_tit said:
I think it's one of the best things about keeping pets and talking to people on forums like this. There are always going to be new things to learn :)
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Absoloutley Michelle and carrot_tit :)

I would have never tried Megazorb if it hadn't been for this site and chatting to others on here. I will also be looking at alternatives in the new year, just to see what I think of them :)

You never know where and when you will learn something new and that is the great thing about life ;)

Barbara

Barbara
 
Thanks everyone! I have Peter's book "The Sex Life of Guinea Pigs" in preparation for when I hopefully get a pregnant guinea and it's really good, describes everything in exactly the sort of detail which I'll need to know. People do give me funny looks though when they see it on my coffee table!
 
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