Introducing Mum And Babies To Group

[Dandelion24]

Hi All!

I have a herd of 3 girls and a neutered boar and is like to introduce my other sow to the group. She has 4 babies who are a week old. She is currently in a small cage that I put her in while she was due to have her babies. The babies are very healthy and inquisitive and Id like to put them in my big enclosure with the others as there is lots of room to run about and popcorn. Would this be a good idea or should I wait?

I bought her a month ago off someone who didn’t realise she was pregnant and I only realised when I felt babies moving the next day! She had them last weekend and they were all 90-105g and feeding well from mum. I am pretty certain it’s 3 boys and a girl and at 3 weeks I will separate the boys and my friend is adopting them so I’ll have mum and her daughter.

I had planned to put her with the group originally but put her in her own cage when I realised she was having babies. Would it just be stressful adding her to the group now? Just wondering what your thoughts are...

Attached is a pic of mummy pig and babies.

Many thanks

 

[Merab]

What beautiful babies.
Mum is gorgeous too.
Sorry I can’t answer your question but there is good information on the bonding thread and the experts on bonding will be along sometime.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi All!

I have a herd of 3 girls and a neutered boar and is like to introduce my other sow to the group. She has 4 babies who are a week old. She is currently in a small cage that I put her in while she was due to have her babies. The babies are very healthy and inquisitive and Id like to put them in my big enclosure with the others as there is lots of room to run about and popcorn. Would this be a good idea or should I wait?

I bought her a month ago off someone who didn’t realise she was pregnant and I only realised when I felt babies moving the next day! She had them last weekend and they were all 90-105g and feeding well from mum. I am pretty certain it’s 3 boys and a girl and at 3 weeks I will separate the boys and my friend is adopting them so I’ll have mum and her daughter.

I had planned to put her with the group originally but put her in her own cage when I realised she was having babies. Would it just be stressful adding her to the group now? Just wondering what your thoughts are...

Attached is a pic of mummy pig and babies.

Many thanks

View attachment 84637

Hi! Please wait until the babies are weaned. Mum is likely to overreact and be extremely protective of her nursing babies in the presence of guinea pigs that are not part of her group.

You can keep the group and mum and with her pups in adjoining/divided pens so they can meet and get to know each other. Please make sure that the babies cannot wiggle through the grids or get stuck (especially with their heads).

You have to also be aware that nursing sows and sows just after nursing are the most difficult to bond. Nursing sows and babies have a special protected status within a group. Once the babies are considered weaned, this status is withdrawn. The babies are emphatically pushed to the bottom of the hierarchy (even by their mums) and mums return to their old place in the hierarchy, not always happily at all. If they are undersows, they have gained in status with creating a new rung in the hierarchy through the babies and they are definitely not quite happy to relinquish being top sow of their own little family.

Introductions may take time; don't push it too hard. It took me 4 days of meetings to bond Tesni into Tribe when she had her surprise baby before I could bond her into the group. And that despite her sister already being bonded in and Tesni being very much a groupie by nature.

The big pen will be fine for bonding, but don't expect wonders, and don't do it now. There is a high risk of fireworks and the risk that both sides decide they do not want to have anything to do with each other in the future.

 

[Reenie]

What absolutely adorable little piggies! Just to add to what Wiebke has said - make sure the babies can't get through the grids. When I first got mine, Little Dude was 5 weeks old, and he ran straight through a grid like it wasn't there. I'd have sworn he was far too big, but that fur is very deceptive!

 

[Dandelion24]

Hi! Please wait until the babies are weaned. Mum is likely to overreact and be extremely protective of her nursing babies in the presence of guinea pigs that are not part of her group.

You can keep the group and mum and with her pups in adjoining/divided pens so they can meet and get to know each other. Please make sure that the babies cannot wiggle through the grids or get stuck (especially with their heads).

You have to also be aware that nursing sows and sows just after nursing are the most difficult to bond. Nursing sows and babies have a special protected status within a group. Once the babies are considered weaned, this status is withdrawn. The babies are emphatically pushed to the bottom of the hierarchy (even by their mums) and mums return to their old place in the hierarchy, not always happily at all. If they are undersows, they have gained in status with creating a new rung in the hierarchy through the babies and they are definitely not quite happy to relinquish being top sow of their own little family.

Introductions may take time; don't push it too hard. It took me 4 days of meetings to bond Tesni into Tribe when she had her surprise baby before I could bond her into the group. And that despite her sister already being bonded in and Tesni being very much a groupie by nature.

The big pen will be fine for bonding, but don't expect wonders, and don't do it now. There is a high risk of fireworks and the risk that both sides decide they do not want to have anything to do with each other in the future.

Wow! What great advice thank you so much for that. I shall wait then until they are fully weaned. I’ce not got the cages next to each other but I’m mixing their fleece hideys up so they get used to each other’s smells for now. X

 

[Linnit]

Hi All!

I have a herd of 3 girls and a neutered boar and is like to introduce my other sow to the group. She has 4 babies who are a week old. She is currently in a small cage that I put her in while she was due to have her babies. The babies are very healthy and inquisitive and Id like to put them in my big enclosure with the others as there is lots of room to run about and popcorn. Would this be a good idea or should I wait?

I bought her a month ago off someone who didn’t realise she was pregnant and I only realised when I felt babies moving the next day! She had them last weekend and they were all 90-105g and feeding well from mum. I am pretty certain it’s 3 boys and a girl and at 3 weeks I will separate the boys and my friend is adopting them so I’ll have mum and her daughter.

I had planned to put her with the group originally but put her in her own cage when I realised she was having babies. Would it just be stressful adding her to the group now? Just wondering what your thoughts are...

Attached is a pic of mummy pig and babies.

Many thanks

View attachment 84637

 

[Linnit]

Hi ,I’m in that position now ,I bought 2 girls guinea pigs last week and have now found out one is pregnant,have you any tips of when and what to look for when they are in labour? They ate both girls ,the one that’s not pregnant will not leave the other one alone ,constantly licking her rear end is this normal ?

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

As your friend is adopting the 3 boys are they aware that they may need to separate one and get him a new companion in the future? It’s worth mentioning so that they’re prepared

As you probably know they need to be separated either at 3 weeks or when they reach 250 grams if that comes first as they may be faster at maturing

 

[Gem789]

Hi ,I’m in that position now ,I bought 2 girls guinea pigs last week and have now found out one is pregnant,have you any tips of when and what to look for when they are in labour? They ate both girls ,the one that’s not pregnant will not leave the other one alone ,constantly licking her rear end is this normal ?

Hi, if you open your own thread in the pregnancy section you’ll get some relevant replies x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi ,I’m in that position now ,I bought 2 girls guinea pigs last week and have now found out one is pregnant,have you any tips of when and what to look for when they are in labour? They ate both girls ,the one that’s not pregnant will not leave the other one alone ,constantly licking her rear end is this normal ?

Please read the guides in the link I have given you. We have got a guide that is wholly dedicated to information about labour/birth and one with several live birthing videos. Here is the link again: Pregnancy & Baby Care Guide

It is not considered good online manners to ask your own questions on omebody somebody else's thread. You are welcome to ask any questions you have in your own pregnancy thread. Please be aware that most births happen at night and go unnoticed. You are much more likely to wake up to babies than not.

 

[Dandelion24]

Oh no Linnet! I hope that all goes well with your piggie

They are just under 250g and are 3 weeks on Sunday, so I’m getting emotionally prepared for some upset baby boars! Will get a little bit of goat milk in to give them for a few weeks.

Cavy Kung-Fu, my friend messaged me yesterday and said she can’t take them now! Gutted. I was so glad they were going to someone I knew I know a lovely lady who runs a guinea rescue but feel terrible giving her the 3 boys. Would I be likely to find anyone on this forum if I advertised them? I really want them to go to a good home and with 9 other piggies, I have no time for any more (although I would love to keep them but it is just too many). They really are little sweethearts and are chirping away so happily to each other next to me so I’m feeling rubbish about the situation now.

Thanks for all the help so far x

 

[Wiebke]

Oh no Linnet! I hope that all goes well with your piggie

They are just under 250g and are 3 weeks on Sunday, so I’m getting emotionally prepared for some upset baby boars! Will get a little bit of goat milk in to give them for a few weeks.

Cavy Kung-Fu, my friend messaged me yesterday and said she can’t take them now! Gutted. I was so glad they were going to someone I knew I know a lovely lady who runs a guinea rescue but feel terrible giving her the 3 boys. Would I be likely to find anyone on this forum if I advertised them? I really want them to go to a good home and with 9 other piggies, I have no time for any more (although I would love to keep them but it is just too many). They really are little sweethearts and are chirping away so happily to each other next to me so I’m feeling rubbish about the situation now.

Thanks for all the help so far x

All the best; it is usually a heart-breaking time for the first couple of days.

Please skip the goats milk. Your boys have shifted to solid food in the second week of their lives and do no longer need to rely on milk. Unlike many other species, guinea pig pups are 'precocious', i.e. born with the ability to feed themselves from birth. They become lactose intolerant once weaned. Weaning happens between week 2-4, after that, the youngsters have to hunt down and corner their mother for a last drink from their dring up milk bar. By 3 weeks, they are already pretty much through the weaning process.

 

[Dandelion24]

Thanks for the advice, saves me some money!

 

[Dandelion24]

Hey guys just wanna say thanks for all your help! Also sorry it took me this long. Mummy pig went back with the herd after her babies had all been weaned and they are all growing beautifully and the herd have accepted her and her little one. Here they are in the sow pen with Daisy and Moppet x

 

[Merab]

Good to hear.
You’ll definitely have to let us see more pics

 

[Dandelion24]

Will do. Here is one more for now! Grass time a couple of weeks ago.