Weight & Fatness

[Malice]

One of my friends has recently rescued a couple of boars. Today she weighed them and they came in at 1300 and 1500g. I thought these were relatively healthy weights, yet someone else has commented that she needs to help them lose weight, to below 1000g, which doesn't seem right to me. I've only seen photos of the boars, but they do not appear over weight.

I also happened to mention that my sows are both just over the 1000g mark, to which the response was 'big girls', yet Poglet is one of the smaller piggies I've had over the past seventeen years. Both are perfectly healthy and are far from the largest guineas I've ever had. I was just wondering which of the two of us has been given the wrong information? I was led to believe that 900-1400g is average depending on breed, but heavier doesn't necessarily mean fat; it's more about at what weight they are healthy at, than making them fit within a certain weight bracket. Or is my friend's friend right in that they should be under 1000g?

On the subject of weight, how does one tell if a piggy is fat as opposed to just heavy?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[MerryPip]

Nope, there's nothing wrong with being over 1000g in fact all my four boys are, ranging from 1150 - 1390g. 900-1400 is pretty average depending on the breed and the individual. I've had boars at 850-900g who were very petite and my current lump, Big H is 1390 but has been up to 1500 but he's getting on a bit now and doesn't hold weight as well as he used to...

More important than the actual weight, is whether it is stable or not so regular weighing is the best plan. That way any changes that may indicate illness etc are noticed quickly.

This thread might help
The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight

 

[Malice]

I once had a Peruvian who was really ikkle! She would only have been about 800g, but was one of our oldest pigs! On the other hand the last boar I had was massive (I don't know his exact weight, but he was the heaviest pig I ever had) but but quite clearly was never over weight.

Thank you very much for the link, very informative. Makes me feel much more comfortable about my own sows' weights.

Do you think I should discourage my friend from trying to drop her boars' weights then (as she has been advised by someone else)? It's just a weight drop of over 500g for one seems quite intense (she has been told to do it slowly, but it still seems extreme to try and get them both under 1000g when they're so much over and at an average weight).

 

[Adelle]

Definately not! Weight all depends on a piggies frame- just like people. I had a boar under 1000g- he was a VERY small boy with a compromised immune system. He had a short life and sadly left me due to multiple organ failure- he wasnt skinny for his frame, but was abnormally small. He looked like a baby his whole life.

I currently have a 6yr 8mth sow who has heart failure- she is skinnier than she used to be but still hovers between 950g and 1020g.

If the piggies dont look overweight i.e isnt affecting their walking or have a large dulap under the chin, and seem active enough- then i really wouldnt think there was a problem.

If in doubt a vet could confirm how the piggies are weight wise x

 

[babydoll]

My boy weighs 1820g but hes also quite long

 

[Freela]

There's a wide range of normal weights. One of my girls, Linney, was a sow who was about 1300 g in her prime. She was just a big, solid girl with a solid bone structure. One of my other sows, Frenzy, was a tiny thing who never topped 1000 g in her life. Both of them looked healthy, they were just built very different (Linney had a huge broad head, big feet, etc. Frenzy was just tiny, little paws, little shoulders, little face- just small-built.) My two girls now are over 1000 g and both look fine and healthy. Sundae was under 1000 g during a period of time when she was sick with dental abscesses and molar problems and couldn't eat well, and she looked emaciated at that weight on her frame.

 

[Malice]

Thank you all for taking the time to comment on this. I am definitely satisfied now that my own two piggies are at a healthy weight for them. I think I will message my friend regarding her boars and see what she's planning on doing regarding their weight and if she does intent to get them below 1000g, then I'll link her to this thread.

 

[Malice]

There's a wide range of normal weights. One of my girls, Linney, was a sow who was about 1300 g in her prime. She was just a big, solid girl with a solid bone structure. One of my other sows, Frenzy, was a tiny thing who never topped 1000 g in her life. Both of them looked healthy, they were just built very different (Linney had a huge broad head, big feet, etc. Frenzy was just tiny, little paws, little shoulders, little face- just small-built.) My two girls now are over 1000 g and both look fine and healthy. Sundae was under 1000 g during a period of time when she was sick with dental abscesses and molar problems and couldn't eat well, and she looked emaciated at that weight on her frame.

I've had a vast range of guinea sizes and shapes, too! Which is why the person saying they needed to be under 1,000g confused me! We never used to weigh our guinea pigs when I was a child (I did not realise the importance at the time!), but we had a tiny Peruvian, a hefty, big Dutch, a little runt and everything in between. The two boars I had also could not have been more differently shaped; Rossi (a Texel) was very slight and light and one of our smaller guinea pigs, while Lorenzo (an English Cavy) was the biggest guinea pig I've ever owned! He was just so long though, he still looked 'slim', but you could tell he weighed significantly more than Rossi when you picked them up.

 

[Nick c]

Hi,
Our three boars are all between 1200 and 1300g. All fit and healthy and in proportion, although they are bigger than some guinea pigs.