Wayward Guinea Pig - Day 88 - Daily Haiku

Wayward guinea pig
trying to recapture him
man that sucker's fast!

Cori MacNaughton

Yes, that photo is of a cage of guinea pigs on the grass inside our poultry enclosure. And yes, that is their litter pan on top of their cage, which is being used as both a sun shade and a protector against rain.

What is more difficult to see is that there is a second cage behind the first, but as it is shorter, you can only tell by looking at the guinea pigs beneath, as there are a couple that are obviously behind additional wire. In this photo, six male guinea pigs are in the cage closest to the camera, with six females in the cage behind them. We have since reduced our herd to three males and three females, caged separately.

This was an experiment, and after nearly a year, I must say a largely successful experiment, at keeping guinea pigs on natural grass forage, and moving them frequently, as you would rabbits or chickens. We don't as yet have an actual guinea pig tractor, but that's the next step, and I'm currently evaluating designs to see what is most likely to work well while protecting them against predators, which of course includes our dog Lolo, and our cats, Bear and Musica.

One thing I have learned, is that if you want to take a patch of thick grass down to bare soil quickly, use guinea pigs! The two cages are roughly 16" x 30" each, so a bit under 2.5 square feet, and they can take that down to bare grass in two to three days, depending upon the thickness of the grass, and there is lots of happy chatter among them as they do so.

Of course, inclement weather changes things, and as guinea pigs, like all mammals prefer to be kept dry, they shouldn't be moved to wet ground, which necessitated them being kept in one spot during much of this past winter.

And, of course, the forage grass wasn't growing anyway, so I went instead to a deep litter method, similar to what I do with our goats during the winter, where I add additional straw as needed to keep them from sitting in their own waste. The advantage is that it keeps them warmer, both by insulating them from the cold ground, and by the heat generated as the bedding and their droppings break down over time. And, in the end, we have fabulous compost!

One of the advantages of using guinea pigs to clear new soil is that, like rabbits, their droppings can be used directly on plants, without the need to compost them first, with no danger of burning the roots. So you can plant the newly-cleared ground immediately, without having to wait weeks or months to do so, thus saving time, and allowing the guinea pigs to do the lion's share of the work.

That said, it has been a learning curve, and there have been mishaps. Like rabbits, guinea pigs are VERY good at digging, and especially in the beginning, there were several escapes. The reason why there is a board zip-tied to the front of the boys' cage in the photo is that, initially, I didn't realize that the small space that allowed the litter pan to be inserted, was also more than enough room for the boys to scoot underneath and escape. Repeatedly.

Luckily, although chickens and ducks are both noted for killing rats that enter their territory, they clearly didn't view the guinea pigs as a threat, and largely ignore them, aside from trying to steal whatever food they can reach through the cage bars. SO that was a major blessing, since while our guinea pigs were at large, they were under no threat from the chickens and the ducks.

There was one incident where a young cavy boy ran right up to Rutger, our rooster, at which point Rutger crowed loudly to tell him exactly who was boss, and that it was NOT the baby guinea pig, and the guinea pig was properly respectful and retreated to a safe distance. There have been no further incidents that I have witnessed.

The other advantage, as with all rodents, and really all mammals, is that guinea pigs are smart. When they have escaped their cages, they have still wanted to remain close to their compatriots, and have been in no hurry to leave the fenced enclosure, which they seemed to instinctively know was safer than the gauntlet outside.

We did lose one young girl, who decided to leave the enclosure and was rapidly picked off by Musica, and I heard her squeaking as Musica carried her onto the front porch. I managed to get Musica to drop her, and caught her fairly soon thereafter, and put her back into her cage, seemingly unharmed.

By the following morning she was dead, which didn't surprise me, as that kind of stress often kills small animals, but I was saddened all the same And, as when Lolo killed my rabbit, I didn't get mad at Musica, because she was guilty only of being a cat. The onus is on me to provide an escape-proof enclosure, which I am in the process of doing.

Wish us luck.

My biggest concern with the guinea pigs was how they would handle our winter weather, since they are South American, and generally not from the coldest regions. And what I read was contradictory, yes they can handle the cold, no they'll die in a light frost, so I really didn't have much to go on.

What I did have was some excellent raw materials at my disposal, so I was confident that, by layering, I would be able to provide them what they needed, and as they survived the winter without injury, I seem to have been proven correct. That said, this is in the relatively mild climate of Middle Tennessee, recently re-designated by the USDA as Hardiness Zone 7a, though our actually low temp was minus 3, which puts us solidly in Zone 6a, where we have been for the past couple of years as well.

The raw materials I speak of are a large number of very heavy weight towels, which I use as the wind-barrier layer next to the cage, topped with Tyvek bags, which are obviously a double layer of Tyvek, which is both wind- and water-resistant. On top of that is a waterproof tarp.

In non-freezing weather, such as tonight, the sides are rolled up, and I leave a bit of overhang in case of rain,but they have plenty of ventilation. In freezing weather, I roll the sides down, and protect against wind as best I can.

So far so good.

One of the biggest issues with guinea pigs is that, in freezing weather, they get frostbite to their ears. We have managed to get through some seriously long-term cold this winter without a single case of frostbite, to the ears or otherwise. Yes, I realize that we are very blessed. And thrilled that our animals are not suffering.

In any case, by next winter, my plan is to have a large weatherproof shed in which to house them all, which will allow us to regulate the temperature more precisely, but in the meantime, my stopgap measure worked really well. Yes, we lost a guinea pig to our cat, but we didn't lose a single one to the cold, and it was damned cold!

So. Do I recommend breeding guinea pigs? No.

Why? According to what I am reading, guinea pig females can only be bred successfully, which is to say safely, when they are six months of age or less. Over that age, their pelvic girdle (or the guinea pig equivalent) literally grows together. Since cavy babies are huge in comparison with the mother when born, breeding the mom after six months of age gives an excellent chance of losing both mom and babies. Definitely not high on my list.

According to some vets, the only way for them to deliver safely is via Caesarian section, and they are tiny compared with humans, meaning that their chances even with surgery aren't great.

We had guinea pigs when I was a kid, but any female we got was allowed one litter, and no more. So we never ran into this issue. And I don't choose to in the future, so we are choosing to not breed them.

That said, there are always people seeking to rehome guinea pigs that their children have tired of, and as I love them and always have, I'm willing to give them a home. And I daresay they would rather be on natural grass forage, in the company of other guinea pigs, rather than on a side table alone for the rest of their lives. My opinion.

Enjoy.