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Post by cordane on Nov 21, 2012 2:40:20 GMT
In saying that, I do hope you guys will accept me on your forum  My name is Stephanie and I live in Whangarei all the way in New Zealand. I live on about 11 acres breeding/showing Scottish Highland Cattle and Mice but I also own rabbits, cats, fish and of course.. Guineas! So in saying that, I suppose I best introduce my small bunch  My first two guineas I received from a breeder not far from me though I have since found out that she is.. not the best, (back to back breeding, polydactyl toes running rampant etc). They are smooth coat peruvian x, born on the 13th of June 2012. They were so tiny when I got them! About 250g when I got them at around 6 weeks. I checked them both over when I first got them and found out one had polydactyl toes.. Thankfully they were removed with the help of a guinea/rabbit breeder friend. So without further a due, here is Abby and Athea!   Next up is Boxa. I'm not sure of her age at all. A breeder friend rescued her from a terrible situation. She was put on pregnancy watch and then she came to me. The reason she is called Boxa is because there were two left from the rescue and I wasn't sure which one I wanted - I couldn't take both - so I told her to put a guinea in a box and I'll open it when I get home. A Box-a-guinea!  I do apologise, I feel like I'm just yabbering on.. So those are my 3 little girlies and now for the boys! I had been in contact with a breeder who specializes in longhaired piggies, (coronets and shelties mostly) and she had a few litters born so of course I asked to see pictures. Low and behold, I fell in love with two. They were fluffy little boys who looked like my two of my cattle, (a torti which looks like brindle and a de gold which looks like a red). I had to have them! So once they were weaned, they were put on a pet bus and traveled from one island to the other! They are coronet peruvian x with merino and sheltie in the background. The pictures are about a month old and their coats were chewed prior to their arrival but anywho.. Meet Cooper and Israel!   And lastly. Little Mr Tobi! He is my inside solo boy - there is a good reason for this. I was at one of the A&P shows for my Cattle and what do you know, came home with a guinea pig! The reason he is inside and alone is because when I brought him home, I introduced him to my older boys, Cooper and Israel. It seemed to be going great until one day I took Israel out for a brush and there was a decently sized scratch on his side. I put him back in the cage and observed for a while. Turns out, Cooper and Israel had been fighting over Tobi so for now, Tobi is inside to confirm, (or not) this. Anyway, heres Tobi!  And that is all! |
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Post by Kayleigh on Nov 21, 2012 7:45:44 GMT
Big welcome to the forum.
Your guineas are lovely. Tobi is a stunner.
Im sure you will find this forum helpful and good place to chat pig.
Kayleigh
Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards
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Post by Orlaith on Nov 21, 2012 9:58:00 GMT
Welcome to the forum  Your piggies are lovely. You have some fab colours. I hope you enjoy it here |
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Post by cordane on Nov 21, 2012 19:56:15 GMT
Big welcome to the forum. Your guineas are lovely. Tobi is a stunner. Im sure you will find this forum helpful and good place to chat pig. Kayleigh Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards I can't believe how attached to Tobi I have become already. I've only had him since the 10th. I found the mouse forums I'm on super helpful and I seem to just have endless questions about guinea pigs.. Thank you for the warm welcome Welcome to the forum Your piggies are lovely. You have some fab colours. I hope you enjoy it here Why thank you. I do love Israel and Coopers colours the most, probably just cause they remind me of my highlands but still.. This is the picture used to advertise the boys before I got them..  And here are the brindle and "red" versions in my moo's :   |
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Post by Orlaith on Nov 21, 2012 22:15:31 GMT
Oh my god, I LOVE your cows! They're fab! (I have quite a soft spot for cows, dunno why).
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Post by cordane on Nov 21, 2012 22:29:42 GMT
Oh my god, I LOVE your cows! They're fab! (I have quite a soft spot for cows, dunno why). In which case.. Meet Elfynn!    She is my bottle-fed baby. Her Mum's udder gets to big for such a small baby to latch on properly so she wasn't able to feed. We were only going to bottle-feed her for a short amount of time till Mumma's udder shrunk but by that time, she was no longer producing milk so now she is my baby She drinks 7L of CMR a day spread out between 3 feedings. 3 more months to go! |
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Post by Kayleigh on Nov 21, 2012 22:53:40 GMT
Now im not usually a fan of exposing fears.....but im petrified of cows......since a young age......i just panic and freeze.....
Some cattle are cute.....highland cows and the ones you have pictured are cute.
Maybe someday ill get over it!!! Lol
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Post by cordane on Nov 21, 2012 23:11:15 GMT
Now im not usually a fan of exposing fears.....but im petrified of cows......since a young age......i just panic and freeze..... Some cattle are cute.....highland cows and the ones you have pictured are cute. Maybe someday ill get over it!!! Lol Oh don't worry, every one is scared of something. I actually have a cow related fear. You see the bull in the previous picture? The brindle boy? I lead him in the show ring and I'm afraid of something cow related. How silly. Now, since you exposed your fear, I'll tell you about mine. Fair enough? Very very beginning of this year, we were continuing our halter-training with our calves. My Dad and I each work on one calf each and then after they are mostly trained, we swap to sort of.. desensitize then to strangers. Anyway. The one Dad usually works on, it was my turn. She was tied up to the fence and I went to her side and started brushing her. She was fine for a while and then spooked. She ran around my legs and back under her own halter lead, pulled and I fell down. This spooked her even more, she pulled tighter and started kicking frantically trying to get away from me but I was completely stuck, trying to "untie" my legs while avoiding her hooves. A year old heifer.. Never again. So now I pretty much refuse to work with any but the one I get attached to. I also have a fear of any new cows we bring in. The last one "turned" and went after Dad who jumped 1.5m high railings to get away from her. And after all that, to anyone who reads this, not all highlands are like that. The crazy has to go somewhere. haha. |
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Post by Kayleigh on Nov 22, 2012 7:14:02 GMT
Oh dear thats not good. When i studied animal care we had to go an agri section which included cattle, spring time so calves were about ...fine i thought until we jad to go in a pen pull of hyper calfs and move them.....
You could hear the cows calling and the calves started to bolt about ..... right at me . . . .
Im a small person only about 5 2 but i cleared a 5ft fence in wellies and a boiler suit whilst standing in fresh straw bedding. Landed wonderfully....no idea why but the cattle always go for the scared one. (Me)
I refised to set foot in the pen again....stick or no stick.
Ill stick to looking from a safe distance
Iv seen the size of some of the conti's at local agri shows and they just freak me out no end!! How an earth they are under control i dont know, they must know they could take everyone out if they wanted lol.
Ill stick with guinea pigs . And dogs haha.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards
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Post by cordane on Nov 22, 2012 7:39:48 GMT
Oh dear thats not good. When i studied animal care we had to go an agri section which included cattle, spring time so calves were about ...fine i thought until we jad to go in a pen pull of hyper calfs and move them..... You could hear the cows calling and the calves started to bolt about ..... right at me . . . . Im a small person only about 5 2 but i cleared a 5ft fence in wellies and a boiler suit whilst standing in fresh straw bedding. Landed wonderfully....no idea why but the cattle always go for the scared one. (Me) I refised to set foot in the pen again....stick or no stick. Ill stick to looking from a safe distance Iv seen the size of some of the conti's at local agri shows and they just freak me out no end!! How an earth they are under control i dont know, they must know they could take everyone out if they wanted lol. Ill stick with guinea pigs . And dogs haha. Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards Ah yes! I can understand the fear! Luckily we only have 4 calves a year max and we start working with them when they are a few days old. The best part about them? They are tiny! Below knee height and like you, I'm not a tall person - I'm 5'3 or 5'4. In saying that, even our bull who is 8 years old is about my chest height |
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Post by Orlaith on Nov 22, 2012 12:45:03 GMT
Elfynn is gorgeous! Oh, I love her face! She's beautiful!
I'm not from a farming background but I am from the country (and have gotten a few scares when our neighbours bull would break into our garden), and I've always thought cows were lovely. I love lambs, but when they grow up into sheep I feel like when you look them in the eyes there isn't much in there, but when calves grow up, you can still see intelligence in there. If that makes any sense! Out of my five close friends from college, three of them are from farming families (maybe country people gravitate towards each other?) and they always tell me their scary stories about moving cattle, but I still think they look lovely. One of the girls even did her PhD on cows (Seriously! She was looking at markers of weaning stress), and she took pictures of all the cows in her study. I was in heaven!
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Post by cordane on Nov 24, 2012 23:19:50 GMT
Elfynn is gorgeous! Oh, I love her face! She's beautiful! I'm not from a farming background but I am from the country (and have gotten a few scares when our neighbours bull would break into our garden), and I've always thought cows were lovely. I love lambs, but when they grow up into sheep I feel like when you look them in the eyes there isn't much in there, but when calves grow up, you can still see intelligence in there. If that makes any sense! Out of my five close friends from college, three of them are from farming families (maybe country people gravitate towards each other?) and they always tell me their scary stories about moving cattle, but I still think they look lovely. One of the girls even did her PhD on cows (Seriously! She was looking at markers of weaning stress), and she took pictures of all the cows in her study. I was in heaven! That's why we like her as well. Her face is what you are after in a highland. Nice short muzzle, everything nicely placed. And she looks like a girl which is a major thing if you want to show them. I would say people from farming families would gravitate towards each other but that could always be because they live closer to each other. In Highschool, I had a few friends who lived in town but plenty who lived in the country. I did tend to gravitate towards those in the country because they were about 10 minutes drive from me while the "townies" we more like 40 minutes to an hour away. I wouldn't mind doing a PhD on cows, sounds like fun! Though I'd rather be a vet who specialises in small animals - not cats and dogs, I mean rodents, cavies, rabbits, birds. No vet around here knows anything about mice. |
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Post by Orlaith on Nov 25, 2012 10:57:18 GMT
It's the same here. There's actually only one exotic vet in Ireland! I was lucky to find a normal dog-and-cat vet who has a personal interest in guinea pigs, but I'm not sure how he'd do with other smallies.
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Post by cordane on Nov 27, 2012 8:31:02 GMT
Most vets around here don't have much interest in guineas or rabbits either. Right pain in the bum but they know more about them than mice so that's a plus. Thankfully, a lot of my friends are guinea pig or rabbit breeders and are quite knowledgeable |
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