New Friends For Ellie And Barley - Maud And Robyn

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helen105281

helen105281

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A few weeks ago on Facebook a photo posted by East Peckham Guinea Pig Rescue made me melt, a little baby sow born that day called Robyn who reminded me so much of my Millie Moo as a baby. I followed her progress and found out last week that she was available for rehoming with her lovely mum Maud. Poor Maud arrived pregnant at the rescue and Robyn and her brothers were her third litter. She has a little saggy belly because of this. Lovely Sandra brought them over to us today with her friend and we have partitioned off half of Ellie and Barley's cage so they can bond through the grids. So far so good, they are all curious. They have already been health checked etc at the rescue and quarantined so am happy for them to be next to each other. The cage is due a clean in the next day or so so we will attempt the bonding then.

Here they are:

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How lovely that Maud and her daughter will live their lives with you and your piggies Helen. Good luck with the bonding.
 
Stunning!

Your set up is utterly amazing Helen.

Glad it is going well :)
 
Thank you everyone. Maud has just been stealing Ellie and Barley's hay through the grids and they weren't bothered at all.
 
That's lovely news, and they have great set-ups :) Hope the bonding goes well and they can be one happy herd x
 
When I got up this morning Maud shot out of the strawberry to see what I had for her, then charged through the freshly topped up hay pile and then decided to try to get to Barley by chewing the grids (he was oblivious as always). Little Robyn was asleep curled up in the back corner but soon woke up when she realised her mum was up and about.

We may attempt bonding later as Ross is home all day tomorrow so can keep an eye on them. If not, it will need to wait until the weekend.
 
Tried intros last night but it was too soon and Maud went for Ellie. so have separated for now and they can stay side by side for however long they need, permanently if need be. Maud needs time to settle and realise that not all pigs want to hump her and get her pregnant. She is settling well otherwise, and has found her wheek. She gets a bit stressed when she can't see Robyn. Feel a bit bad for Ellie and Barley as they have less space but they do tend to just sit and are both happy as long as they have a huge pile of hay to jump in. They still have their upstairs too.
 
aww they are all gorgeous, the originals & the newbies :luv:

guess it'll take a week or so for them to get used to their new home... probably can't believe how they've fallen on their feet for luck for a change :D
don't want to be sharing this piggy paradise with any others ;)

like you said poor Maud probably petrified she's got to go through the ordeal of another pregnancy :(
hope she realises her breeding days are gone :tu:

good luck with the bonding & i'm sure the other two don't really mind a bit less space. xx
 
They are the laziest pair in the world so is just me putting human emotions on it. Maud and Robyn's cage is expanding widthwise today hopefully and if needed we have room to add a hayloft.

Maud has a wonderful cheeky glint in her eye too, reminds me of Nigel a bit. He had that.
 
Well they have been here 2 weeks now and have settled really well, getting more confident too and Maud will take food from my hand. Robyn is a typical baby so is flying about and crashing into things, including her mum. Both wheek not only when they hear the fridge but also when they hear the hay bag too which is great. Interaction through the grids is going well too so may reattempt bonding in the New Year. All depends on Maud really. If they have to stay as 2 pairs that's fine, just feel mean for Ellie and Barley losing half of their cage (though it was massive for a pair as there used to be 4 in there).
 
Obviously the bonding with Ellie and Barley never happened so the girls are still in their own cage alongside Barley. Barley and Maud have a bit of a love hate relationship through the grids and chatter at each other, but then I do find them gazing at each other too. I am not sure they would be well suited as a trio so we are looking at other options, there are 2 groups Barley could join but I would potentially like Maud and Robyn to join one of them too. Maud does seem to like Millie's herd when they congregate next to the cage so I think I will try them with her herd first and try Barley with Mabel's herd and go from there. Anyway, this was Maud, Robyn and Barley the other night.

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She has really grown, was 644g at last week's weigh in.
 
Ok last night Maud ran past Barley and he popcorned, so there may be hope yet. Will give them laptime together over the weekend and see if they chatter. There is no reason why they couldn't join one of the groups as a trio if need be, we can switch the cages about. Ideally I would like to get Tabs and Thumbles into Barley's cage if possible as theirs is in the middle of the room. Tabs hates all other pigs except Thumbles though so bonding them is not an option.
 
Oh what lovely little faces they have!

And such wonderful cages... your piggies have lots of fun!
 
He have ha ha. Then there is Fuzzy who rumbles at anything and everything including me. Being scanned on Wednesday to check for cysts.
 
Ok, tonight we tried Barley with Little Rose and he really liked her and over the course of the evening we have started bonding with Millie's herd (who Little Rose lives with) and all is going quite well. Only problem is little miss humpalot (Fuzzy) but he is slowly learning to put her in her place. Think they will stay together tonight but with no stools. He seems really happy and the other girls are taking to him well.

Next up, Maud and Robyn maybe with Mabel's herd. Also hopefully Tabs and Thumbles can move into Barley's cage.
 
They were doing so well, but this afternoon Amy decided to do a flying lunge at Barley and we had a furball. Both are fine but we separated Barley immediately. He is in a pen where Tabs and Thumbles' cage usually is and they will go in his old cage later on today. He can interact with all 3 girl groups where he is but we have given him a friend - Fuzzy. They seemed the closest bond, and even though she was humping him non stop he would popcorn after. They both seem fairly happy but we will monitor them. Is a shame as he loved them all, and was so excited. We could take Amy out and try her with a different group but it seems unfair on her even though she is a little cowbag. The current set up gives them all a break from Fuzzy's humping. On Wednesday we should know what is happening with her anyway after her scan.
 
Have now separated Fuzzy too as she was chattering at him and seemed miserable. She has health issues and I would not want to make her worse. She seems much happier back with her friends. So back to square one, Maud and Robyn, or Mabel's herd are options. If not we will need to take him dating.
 
Gorgeous piggies! @helen105281 just a quick question, what type of hay do you use and where from? It looks lovely and green. I've just had a bad batch delivered from dustfreehay so looking for another company ASAP
 
I think the one in the photo is Oxbow Orchard grass but we feed local meadow hay, Alfalfa King Timothy hay and Burns Green oat hay too. Oh and Mucki mountain meadow hay from Zooplus.
 
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