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Newborn Baby Pig advice

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Hi,

My 8 month old female has just given birth to two babies, one full of beans running and feeding well. The other with pink eyes (not sure how good his or her eye sight is) seems very quiet, it is up but just standing still and making no attempt to run or move much.

They were born about 6 am this morning, mum is a bit skittish as this is her first litter and has not taken much notice of the little one which is much smaller then the other. I have seen the bigger one feed but not the little one.

Have been out and got evaporated milk and brown bread and the little one has taken a half milk half water mixture off a spoon and soaked bread.

I have left the little one with her mother in a fleece cozy cup bed and have the heating on in the house to keep them warm. Is this the right thing to do ? Any help would be very much appreciated I have never had this to deal with before and I want to do my best for the little one.

I have not tried to express wee yet but will do so on next feed in about 39 mins.


Help!

Maureen
 
Our Guinea Pig Abby gave birth to 5 small babies last December or so

100_0742.jpg


This one being the smallest

100_0741.jpg


We decided to help the mom out to insure that our babies would have a better chance of survival, so my mom made bread for them and we soaked small cubes of it in goats milk and warmed it up in the mircorwave till it was warm not hot and then just held it to their mouths until they tried to bite at it and eventually they figured out that stuff in front of their mouth = time to eat. Needless to say all our babies lived and are healthy and big today.
 
Thanks Darkstar

Everything I have read says milk (goats.evaporate or kitten) on bread.

I'm thinking that a few days doing this the little one may pick up and be able to feed from mum.

Only problem is that I'm back to work tom and baby will have to come as well to keep up feeding.

Maureen
 
i have 3, 6 day old guineas, i find that the two bigger ones hog mums milk, so every now an again i take 1 of the bigger ones away! so the smaller one has a go at getting the milk, seems to work!
 
Hi,

The little one is not running around just sitting in a corner not squeaking just very quiet.

Mum is feeding the bigger one but knocks the little one over and stepts on it, it is quiet upsetting. So I put her/him in a little cozy cup fleece and this keeps it safe but still near mum but out of harms way. It is taking the feed and I just got it to wee. Not sure if it can see or hear .

Only time will tell, sorry can't do pictures I'm an old person :red:red and have never learnt.

I just hope it makes it and that it just neads a few days to catch up

Maureen
 
Hi, the other rescue I work with is very experienced with new borns, they use to be breeders and now born again and run a fab rescue. they help deliver piggies too if they get stuck.

Not sure what area your in but if your local we may be able to help or even just help with a phone call. Let me know via message.
 
I hope there is some improvement today.

It sounds harsh I know, but sometimes the mum knows there is something 'wrong' with the baby and will reject it, and concentrate on the healthy ones. If this is the case then the chances of survival are poor. I had one very similar, the mum just wouldn't deal with it but was fine with the other baby. I hand reared the sickly one and kept it alive for a few days but it sadly did not thrive and died soon after.

Keep up with the supplementary feeding - I've found goat's milk the best for the babies, and it's the closest thing to guinea pig milk. Feed off a spoon or in a saucer of bread once the piggy is used to it. You'll have to feed little and often because their tummies are so small.

Sophie
x
 
Hi All,

So far so good, continued hourly feeds until I went to bed last night and then I crossed my fingers.

This morning he/she was running around squeaking, saw it trying to feed from mum so I decided to leave well alone and go to work. I was very nervous but if I had taken it to work I was very worried because of the cold and stress etc.

Back from work now and everything still seems ok, I have just given it another feed to be on the safe side as not sure how much it is getting from mum. I will continue until I go to bed, it's so tiny the smallest I've ever seen.

Will keep you updated, but could you all keep you fingers toes and anything else x as I would hate to loose it now.

Maureen
 
The others have given you all the tips, but I would like to add that you should weigh your pups daily for at least the first 2-3 weeks to make sure they are doing OK. Babies will start to put on weight from day 2-3; they are actually provided with a "parcel" for 1-2 days as it can sometimes take some time for mummy's milk bar to work fully.
Please separate any male pups at three weeks old to avoid any "accidents".
http://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction_faq.html
http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm

Pink eyes is nothing to worry about; guinea pig eyes can vary from bright pink through all shades of ruby to dark with a red glint to completely dark.
http://www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html#color

Best of luck that the little one will make it! some babies can take a few hours to get going.
 
Just a final update - He/She is doing fine now, feeding from mum and squeaking and lively.

Thanks for all your support, I'm so gld it was a happy ending

Maureen
 
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