Post by Dawn - Admin on Mar 25, 2009 10:57:24 GMT
I wanted to post this to warn everyone about difficulty in labor. If you are to breed, you must be prepared to help. You can't expect every labor to be quick, easy, and painless. That would be the perfect litter, but unfortunately, things don't always turn out like that.
I wanted to note, this is a lot like "helping with a troubled delivery" but I feel they both have their differences. I just wanted to make a reminder.
Let me clear a little up for some people that are new to breeding. Mothers rarely need any help unless they are older and this is their first pregnancy. The hip bones grow closer together with age, unless she gives birth making it difficult to get the babies out. Any Guinea Pig over eight months of age is at great risk if she becomes pregnant. That may be negotiated so don't take my word on that.
Ok, so to describe the labor process:
No longer than 10-15 minutes should be spent on the delivering of a baby, as after 20 minutes the baby may be still born, or the mother may give up from exhaustion and this would present problems for both mother and babies. The first baby should appear after 5 minutes of labor. The time between the birth of each of the babies is between 3 and 5 minutes. Guinea Pigs will usually give birth to 2 to 4 babies. Sometimes only 1 will be born and on the rare occasion a Guinea Pig may have up to 8. If the labor extends longer, be prepared to rush her to the Vet. She could die of exhaustion. She will remain sitting while the babies emerge underneath, head first. She will pull the ambiotic sac with her teeth by reaching between her legs. As the babies appear she will clean them off as they appear. When all have been born, a bit of blood and the placenta will appear. She will eat the latter.
Now, be prepared to help remove the sack off of a baby if the mom won't get to it. Sometimes this happens so if you're around, you may want to stay and help. Some moms will have their first baby clean it a little, and then have the next one. If that mom misses cleaning the face, the baby may suffocate so if you are around and notice that she hasn't cleaned it's face, reach in VERY slowly and quietly and pull the sack off. Be VERY sure not to disturb the mother as it may stress her out and cause more problems.
Another common thing is oversized pups. Sometimes the mother will only deliver one or two babies, but they are much larger than the normal baby. If the animal is older and the hip bones have began to close, complications may result in the mother not being able to get the babies out. Be sure you can get her to the vet if that would happen, but better yet, just don't breed them when they are older. Anywhere from 6-8 months old in my opinion would be fine to breed.
Long, slow births are bad as well. The babies will almost always pass. You may really want to help out on those. There are small things you can do. If you see they can't get them out or something or they are not coming head first, you can do things to help...just do not disrupt the labor. Don't complicate it more than it already is. I've experienced this where the mother can't get them out, and it's a bad site. I had one that we had to push the baby back in so it would come out right. (It was coming sideways) I mean, the little things help. Yes, it was still born, but the mother was fine. The best thing will ALWAYS be to get them to the vet though.
Premature babies happen often as well. Sometimes something will make the mother feel that she just has to get them out before they are ready and she will go into labor. There is nothing wrong with the sow. She will be fine unless something else complicates the birth process. The babies will not be alive though because they will have not fully developed. All you can do is try and make that sow feel good because she will be depressed. Many things can cause premature babies. Overall stress is usually the problem though. I know someone who drove the sow over to a friends house and bred it and a month into pregnancy, they brought her home (at least a 30 minute drive). Do not move a pregnant guinea pig. The next day they had premature babies.
Now, I assume all know about pregnancy toxemia so I won't post about that. There is another post on the board about that if you don't.
Ok, so this is just a brief list of complications that happen. If you want to get into breeding, you must be prepared to face these things. There are many other diseases that may develope but these are just the complications. I guarentee some of these will happen if you stick with breeding and you must be prepared to help. Clear your schedule around these litters. Check on the sow often. Put your vet on speed dial. Be sure to get to the vet ASAP. Be sure your vet will be available at any time. Have a piggy first aid kit ready. There are so many things that you must know if you begin breeding. Do not breed if you aren't prepared to face these things. Keep all of this in mind when you do decide to breed and I hope your litters and mothers are successful.
I post this because recently I have had many complications... only one sow has passed though, so these do come in handy.
For a final note, (not a labor complication) larger litters tend to lose babies. If you have many, they will probably be small and weak so be prepared to lose a baby or two. Make sure all your babies are drinking, butlosing a baby will happen to many litters, usually bigger litters, but not only large litters. Keep in mind this.
I wanted to note, this is a lot like "helping with a troubled delivery" but I feel they both have their differences. I just wanted to make a reminder.
Let me clear a little up for some people that are new to breeding. Mothers rarely need any help unless they are older and this is their first pregnancy. The hip bones grow closer together with age, unless she gives birth making it difficult to get the babies out. Any Guinea Pig over eight months of age is at great risk if she becomes pregnant. That may be negotiated so don't take my word on that.
Ok, so to describe the labor process:
No longer than 10-15 minutes should be spent on the delivering of a baby, as after 20 minutes the baby may be still born, or the mother may give up from exhaustion and this would present problems for both mother and babies. The first baby should appear after 5 minutes of labor. The time between the birth of each of the babies is between 3 and 5 minutes. Guinea Pigs will usually give birth to 2 to 4 babies. Sometimes only 1 will be born and on the rare occasion a Guinea Pig may have up to 8. If the labor extends longer, be prepared to rush her to the Vet. She could die of exhaustion. She will remain sitting while the babies emerge underneath, head first. She will pull the ambiotic sac with her teeth by reaching between her legs. As the babies appear she will clean them off as they appear. When all have been born, a bit of blood and the placenta will appear. She will eat the latter.
Now, be prepared to help remove the sack off of a baby if the mom won't get to it. Sometimes this happens so if you're around, you may want to stay and help. Some moms will have their first baby clean it a little, and then have the next one. If that mom misses cleaning the face, the baby may suffocate so if you are around and notice that she hasn't cleaned it's face, reach in VERY slowly and quietly and pull the sack off. Be VERY sure not to disturb the mother as it may stress her out and cause more problems.
Another common thing is oversized pups. Sometimes the mother will only deliver one or two babies, but they are much larger than the normal baby. If the animal is older and the hip bones have began to close, complications may result in the mother not being able to get the babies out. Be sure you can get her to the vet if that would happen, but better yet, just don't breed them when they are older. Anywhere from 6-8 months old in my opinion would be fine to breed.
Long, slow births are bad as well. The babies will almost always pass. You may really want to help out on those. There are small things you can do. If you see they can't get them out or something or they are not coming head first, you can do things to help...just do not disrupt the labor. Don't complicate it more than it already is. I've experienced this where the mother can't get them out, and it's a bad site. I had one that we had to push the baby back in so it would come out right. (It was coming sideways) I mean, the little things help. Yes, it was still born, but the mother was fine. The best thing will ALWAYS be to get them to the vet though.
Premature babies happen often as well. Sometimes something will make the mother feel that she just has to get them out before they are ready and she will go into labor. There is nothing wrong with the sow. She will be fine unless something else complicates the birth process. The babies will not be alive though because they will have not fully developed. All you can do is try and make that sow feel good because she will be depressed. Many things can cause premature babies. Overall stress is usually the problem though. I know someone who drove the sow over to a friends house and bred it and a month into pregnancy, they brought her home (at least a 30 minute drive). Do not move a pregnant guinea pig. The next day they had premature babies.
Now, I assume all know about pregnancy toxemia so I won't post about that. There is another post on the board about that if you don't.
Ok, so this is just a brief list of complications that happen. If you want to get into breeding, you must be prepared to face these things. There are many other diseases that may develope but these are just the complications. I guarentee some of these will happen if you stick with breeding and you must be prepared to help. Clear your schedule around these litters. Check on the sow often. Put your vet on speed dial. Be sure to get to the vet ASAP. Be sure your vet will be available at any time. Have a piggy first aid kit ready. There are so many things that you must know if you begin breeding. Do not breed if you aren't prepared to face these things. Keep all of this in mind when you do decide to breed and I hope your litters and mothers are successful.
I post this because recently I have had many complications... only one sow has passed though, so these do come in handy.
For a final note, (not a labor complication) larger litters tend to lose babies. If you have many, they will probably be small and weak so be prepared to lose a baby or two. Make sure all your babies are drinking, butlosing a baby will happen to many litters, usually bigger litters, but not only large litters. Keep in mind this.
