"I've hand reared guinea babes, born to mothers who came here pregnant and in such poor condition that they did not have milk for their little ones. Baby guineas cannot co-ordinate suckling and breathing so using a syringe is potentially fatal as they can inhale the milk into their lungs. An eye dropper gives you a little more control but as babes are capable of picking up food from day one, I have soaked some wholemeal bread with their milk and they have taken it from a flat dish. I used evaporated milk diluted 1 part to 3 with water.
You can also use a tiny spoon, angled towards the piggies' mouth, being prepared to move it up if too much is near the mouth. This is OK for one piggy, maybe a runt, but for a litter, I like the bread and milk approach as they can all get stuck in together. Mum can join in too to help with bonding process."
We also tracked down more information:
- Guinea Lynx: the medical reference site for guinea pigs. Note that they don't recommend milk for baby pigs.
- Peter Gurney (guinea pig lover extraordinaire) provides excellent advise in his online book 'the A to Z of Guinea Pigs' under the R from Runts. He also adresses the milk controversy.
As always, we are not vets and if you are worried please consult with a cavy-savy vet.
P.s. Thank you Penny ;-)
Thanks Janneke.
ReplyDeleteIn the US, it seems to be frowned upon to give milk to piggies but it has worked wonderfully for me and my herd. My cavy savvy vet approved wholeheartedly and my wonderful Rodentologists do it all the time.
I also offer a dish of bread and milk to expectant mother guineas in their last trimester to build up both their calcium and that of their unborn babes.
Hey Penny, Yes I know, I try to deal with that by providing different points of view so that people can make up their own minds (Guinea Lynx gives good other tips, that is why I included their lemma). I think what Peter Gurney says about it seems very sensible. And indeed, so many UK people have tried this with good results, if I had baby pigs, I'd do the same ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe've been keeping guinea pigs in the UK for hundreds of years, long before there were any vets or drugs so I guess that many traditional remedies survive - like using home made barley water for UTIs.
ReplyDeleteGuinea Lynx is great and contains so much vital info, especially for our friends across the water as so many meds that they list have different names here.