2009 2009 has been a tremendously good year for the stud. We reached our 2nd generation of Lunkarya, imported new lines and acheived many successes in the New & emerging classes. We are looking forward to how our line develops over the next year and hope to have some more examples of the breed on the showbench early 2010. On a sad note, we lost our Yspahan who was the main Lunky stud boar here and he lives on even today through his great-grandchildren. Also we have just lost our gorgeous Creme, who was irreplaceable. In total, we had 5 still-borns this year, two of which were 2-weeks premature. With a total of 26 babies starting their lives here. We hope 2010 will be a better year for all our cavies and babies alike.  
28/12: we have lost our little men, Creme and Caesar. They will be sorely missed. 28 December Creme was taken to the vets first thing yesterday and sadly passed away this morning. He had a kidney infection which just seemed to much for the little chap. Truly gutted as I had not even got any babies from him. He will be sorely missed and another bad ending to the year. We also lost Caesar today. I am unsure if the two recent deaths are connected at this point. Still rather shocked. I just hope they are both okay now over the rainbow bridge and will be monitoring the stud very closely for any further issues. 12 December Maddie finally had her babies late this evening. She had a 71g white sow and a 115g huge silver agouti & white boar (right). I shall take some photos in the morning once they are dried off. 23 November Maddie is confirmed pregnant!! Felt some good kicks in her!! Still having few problems with my pairings. Due to Nola beating up Caesar and Hollie still not pregnant by Jonkhy, I have switched the pairs. So Caesar and Hollie are living together, with Jonkhy and Nola paired up. Hopefully they should be successfull! argh!! On another note, the babies are all doing well, which is good enough for me! 15 November Charmed littered this morning at 10am to three boars! I was present to give her hand with a huge silver agouti, that got stuck, along with a cream,chocolate & white and a black & white. I was expecting some chocolates!! She is settled with all three and hopefully later today I can merge both litters together for nursery duty! 14 November Eliza littered this afternoon. She had a lovely chocolate, cream and white sow and a lilac boar. Sadly the boar didn't make it and was equal in weight as the sow. Again, I missed the birth by ten minutes!! Still the sow has lovely, tight curls and will be staying here - our first baby for 4 months!! I am now looking forward to Charmed babies,as they should be a similar colour and possibly some silver agouti. 8 November Rearranged the hutches in the garage so a good 'autumn' clean out. Think I scared the wits out a few spiders! I am eagerly awaiting Charmed and Eliza to pop!! They will be the first babies born here since 'Juliard' in July. Maddie and Faith are not showing any immediate signs of pregnancy, so they have been returned to their boars. Isabelle has been living with Troy for 2 months and nothing!! Onto his third 'wife' - I think I will have a fertility test done on him!! Due to the slow breeding of my lunky's, I have had to re-shuffle my Breeding schedule. Tad annoying as now I have quite few littering in one month... 18 October Felt little kicks in Eliza today as she went out into the run and some even larger kicks in Charmed - so really relieved they actually are pregnant! I have returned Hollie back to Jonkhy for a second attempt as he is the best combo for her. Nothing felt yet in Maddie or Faith.... Also Truffle, my homebred ix year old rex, is starting to feel the cold, so we have provided her with a (somewhat comical!) wooly jumper - photo to follow! 10 October Finally the day of the Cornish Championships arrived!! Had a lovely day out with the pigs and see those familiar faces! Hope won Best New & Emerging on the Cornish side and came 2nd Best emerging in the Southern CC. Hazel also won Best Pet Overall on the Southern side. So a good day allround!! Sadly, my wallet along with my friends camera were stolen towards the end of the show - which I would really like back! So if you do know anything please do contact me!!! 28 September The months are whizzing past! Can hardly believe it has been over 3 months since we imported our Holland pigs. They are fully integrated into my group now - and can finally tell the difference between Maddie, Nola and Genesis!! We are just waiting for Felisha to pop - as Troy still isn't proven, Hollie still isn't showing any signs of pregnancy, so having to wait a bit longer to see what happens there. The other pairings are are still quite happy and hopefully things are cooking! 13th September
Yesterday was the London Championship Show. This was our first entry into the show and it was a large entry of 853 pigs! We left cornwall at 4am and arrived in time to prepare the pen the pigs. Hazel made me proud by getting 2nd place in her class, so I was very chuffed with her! Things got slightly more confusing as there seemed to be a lack of pen cards. Hope won her New&emerging class and then went on to come 2nd place in the challenge. Through a lack of preparation, poor jam got third!! The judge said some lovely comments about her, so I know it is down to me!! Still, it was good experience to get her out to the bigger shows.
Now the focus turns to the cornish champs in a month's time so Hope and Jam are being bathed today!!!
11th September
Not a tremendous amount has happend over the last month!!
Updated photos of the Holland Sows!!
Quite a few pairings this month as some of my Holland girls reach the 8-month old birthday: Eliza and Charmed are currently living with Gambit. Maddie with Phantom. Faith has gone in with Arnold and Isabelle in with Troy for their last litters.
The London championships are tomorrow and we are pretty apprehensive as it will be our first 5* show. Having been kept busy with work, my show pigs will be slightly let down, however it will be a great day! 15th August
Well for my birthday I had a day out at Penryn Cavy club!! Nemo II, who shares my birthday won 2nd Best Overall Pet so he had a good day too! Hope and Jambolini had another good blast in the RV class, with Hope just winning over Jambolini to gain another best New & Emerging (this time awarded with a funky lime rosette!). The judge, Ian Cinderby made some lovely comments about the Lunkarya's which was good to hear :) CAVIES ISS.211 (Ian Cinderby Penryn Show Report)
'Very enjoyable day though, in good company, with a fair selection of varieties and some top-notch exhibits - which included the best Lunkarya's I've seen to date, of even, strong coats, well shown, owned by Rebecca L..'
9th August
My first 'big' show today was Fareham with a massive entry of 550. Nemo II won his class out of 14, so I was pretty happy with him! Again, the open judge was unfamiliar with Lunkarya and judging proved to be difficult without knowing what to look for. Still, Hope came second and Jambolini, third.
On the RVCC side, under the experienced eyes of Gerry Harvey, Hope came 1st and Jambolini 3rd again. It was Jambolini's second show today and she did really well to keep so still and she was literally 3 months old. I think she will improve heaps for London Champs. Still, I was utterly gutted to discover I had not entered the AA category also, so Hope couldn't go on to win the Challenge and possibly more. 2 years of hard work and I almost got a taste!! I guess next year I will have to re-win it.
8th August
St Austell show today. One of my favourite local shows where you spend the entire day talking cavy!! Sadly, the judge had not seen Lunkarya before and didn't seem to enthralled to meet them either - as is the norm for the first-timers! Still, it was a good practice run for them and on her debut, Isolde was placed third. Today we had three new people entering their pigs and each did remarkably well - so congratulations!!
26th July
Yesterday was the first Mid & Devon show. It was a lovely day out and the weather was great for the last agricultural show. Hope won her NEV class and then the challenge, so I was even more proud of her. As she matures I think she will just get better, like her parents. Luckily I have a good selection of shows to attend whilst Hope and Jambolini (and Isolde!) are in coat.
19th July
Updated some pigs photos - namely Genesis, Gambit and Fancyface's babies. Hollie and Jonkhy have been living together for a few days now and I finally put Felisha in with Troy. I am hoping Troy has success this time, or I may have to think he is sterile! Mid Devon show is next Saturday, so should be nice to attend their first show.
11th July
Had a great day out at Liskeard show for the East Cornwall Cavy Club show. It ws my first time showing Lunkarya's since I first got them back in 2007 - so I was slightly nervous!! Brian Emmett was judging so I was slightly more anxious than normal!! Hope came 2nd in her breed class (out of 7) and 3rd in the Challenge, out of ten, so she made me proud!
Nemo came third Best Pet and Felisha was not far behind him! So a good day out for the pigs and lots of catching up with fellow breeders.
6th July
I had a suprise when I fed FancyFace this evening - she had littered to two healthy 101g peruvian babies!! I was sure she had a while to go yet!! One is a black, cream & white sow and the other is a black & white boar. I was also expecting chocolate colours - so I was even more suprised!!
4th July
Few updates to the site. New photos taken of Jambolini, Isolde, Hope. Hope makes her showing debut next saturday at Liskeard show. If Jambolini and Isolde stay in show coat, they will be shown throughout August.
The Cavies from Holland have settled in now. They are much more talkative and certainly coming 'out of their shells' - which is so nice to see. Hollie is 9 months old now and after 2 weeks in quarantine without any symptoms is to go in with a boar soon for her first litter - before its too late! I don't like to risk pregnancies during summer, but she is an exception.
Fancyface, the peruvian sow from Holland, is doing well. She is such a friendly pig I don't know how someone could sell her! She expects her litter in the next two weeks.
Amaya's remaning two boars are doing well and losing so much facial hair they are starting to resemble skinny's!!
21st June
The piggies from Holland are starting to settle in. They are still slightly 'shell-shocked' though! I bathed some of the girlies as I don't think the travelling was kind on their coat! I also photographed some of them along with the peruvian baby boars!
Sadly, Amaya has been refusing to feed her two silver agouti babies out of her litter of four. Typically has to happen when you go away for a couple of days. Despite constant hand-feeding, the little sow passed away. Her smaller brother is getting stronger, so I feel confident he will be okay. He later passed away too. Totally heart-wrenching.
18th June
Had a fantastic day in Holland collecting the cavies I have been drooling over since I first selected them two months ago! Fantastic to finally meet them and give them a cuddle! I was certainly not disappointed - they are all utterly wonderful! I feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity to not only collect some brilliant pigs, to further my Lunkarya line, but also made some friends whom I shall certainly meet again one day! I would like to thank Sandra, Louise, Loes and Christina for their patience and for trusting me with their fabulous piggies!
16th June
Amaya littered at 3am this morning - quite the wake up call! She had two silver agouti's (one sow, one boar) and two tricolour boars. So a really nice, healthy litter, which was a relief. This was Yspahan's last litter. Luckily she littered today as leave for Holland in six hours time!
Gashun and Cookie moved to their new home with Nikki at Rich Cavies. So they will be pampered and live out their days! I am glad I finally found them the right home. Good luck with them Nikki!
15th June
Had a lovely day out at Wessex CC Show yesterday. I just love to go and spend the afternoon chatting to Myra and Caroline! The quality of pigs is brilliant and such a diverse range of breeds. Hazel won her Rough Sow class out of ten, so I was very chuffed with her.
Tomorrow is the trip to Holland which I am utterly excited about!! two months planning is finally about to come into fruition - so I can finally stop drooling over their photos and finally meet them!
6th June
Had a fab day out at Royal Cornwall agricultural show. Lots of the usual suspects to catch up with! Creme won Best Adults Pet and Isabelle came second best pet! So it was a good day overall. Lanyon and Petrock also moved to their new homes, so I hope they have a happy long life.
1st June
Well May certainly had its ups and downs. Still can't believe Yspahan has gone, I think I will always miss him. Looking forward to the upcoming trip to Holland - only two weeks to go. Gosh, that has come around so fast! finally get to put a personality to the photographs! On another note, I weighed Isolde and Jambolini - both at 350g at 3 weeks old! little monsters!! The girls are all enjoying the timeout in the sun and the babies are dosing up on their vitamin D!
New photos of Isolde and Jambolini looking ugly as they lose their facial hair(!) and also individual photos of the seven Peruvian babies.
28th May
In the morning Eggnog suprised me by littering to THREE babies! I was certain she would have two at the most as she isn't exactly huge! She had no problems and is proving to be a better mum than I thought she would be. Just glad the two boars and one sow are all happy and healthy! Just have Amaya and Cosmo to go.
Then at 10.30pm, Cosmo had FOUR babies!! I thought she may have three, so both suprised me and have been really good mothers. All the babies are tricolour peruvians - without extra rosettes! She had three boars and one sow. I have put all the babies and mums together so they can all share nursing chores! Amaya is being brought in later so she can litter under my watchful eyes!!
26th May
Another unforgettable Bank holiday evening. Yspahan passed away this morning. This was his third home and he would stayed here till the end of his ripe old days - but it wasn't meant to be. Stayed up the whole night with him trying to maintain him, but it wasn't enough - he did the classic 'getting better before keeling over' routine. I have been so lucky to have him start my lunkarya line and I will never forget him for that. Can't describe how gutting it is to not see him in the hutch and I never imagined this day would happen. He is over the Rainbow Bridge suffering no more. Still, Amaya carries his last litter and I have so many of his offspring to remind me of him everyday.
Also, I was fortunate to have my first meeting with a Skinny Pig - despite their reputation, I was suprised at how healthy and cute she was!! Very interesting and maybe one for the future! Also Mario, Holly and Daisy moved to their new 5* star, they will be reunited with my other Peruvian sows, Avril and Tabitha - so I know they will lots to catch up on!!
23rd May
Devon County show today and through a mixture of stewarding and book-stewarding selfs proved to be a very interesting, though knackering day! Had last minute changed of who was being shown, so they weren't as prepared as the original entrants, but it was still a good day out!
21st May
New photo's taken of Hope, Englantine, Alabama and Georgia.
May
Finally booked the ferry for Holland after working out which dates were best for everyone involved. Only 4 weeks to go!! Pretty excited! Isolde has lost tons of facial hair, I shall try to get a photo - so she is a serious ugly duckling! Both her and Jambolini are doing brilliantly and may I say 'fat'! Devon County show this weekend, should be a great day out and I hope to meet some new faces. Eggnog and Cosmo are soon to be expecting their first litters, I'm slightly apprehensive about them - but I have bought a baby monitor now which is with me in the house - just in case!
Also, Holly, Daisy & Mario will be leaving us and moving down the road to a breeder who is restarting longhairs after a ten year break. So that will be a sad moment, but I know they will be going to a 5* home!!
10th May
More heartache today. Again I checked on Zarah (for the 20th time today!) to find another disaster. I could see a baby so rushed over and picked it up - it was still inside its sac. Why she had not opened it I can't comprehend - this was her third and last litter. Sadly it was a 132g gold and white sow. I ripped off the sac (which was pretty tough, having never had to do it before) and my partner tried everything for 10mins to get the baby alive - whilst I concentrated on the other one. A chocolate and white sow weighing 122g was soaking under Zarah, so I grabbed her and rubbed her with a towel. Once she was ok, though wobbly and breathing faster than normal, I rushed Zarah off for a bath. I know births vary in their bloodiness, but I knew she would feel heaps better after. Once back together the little sow and Zarah seem fine, but another gutting day and another reason to contemplate just what is going on with my sows.... Picsof the little sow to follow.
7th May
I was at the gym, and I had one of those 'off'days and thought I would head back home earlier. I got back and checked on the girls. I had (again!) missed the birth by 15-20mins. Why RG would have babies now at 3pm I don't know! Sadly I am utterly gutted as she had 2 still borns. I take still-borns really seriously and a sign of failure - to have 2 litters each with 2 in is unprecendented by my standards. No one really understands why they occur and even humans have 5 stillborns in 1000 births. Even so, to walk in and see two damp curled up foetuses is a heart-wrenching sight. One was a lilac/saffron argente sow about 120g and a tricolour boar about the same weight. My guess was the argente sow was first as she was the coldest and had a clean bottom half. Then the boar must have got stuck.
The only good news is a lilac and saffron sow did survive. She weighs 110g and is gorgeous, her curls are brilliant. Sods law though - why litter in the middle of the day!!? I'll post up a pic of her once she has dried a bit. Still, I imagine this will be RG's last litter so at least she has given me another beautiful daughter.
April
Having spent the last month discussing with lunkaya breeders in Holland - I have made my selection! Very excited as this brings in fresh blood and some 5 generation pure lunks that will provide a good bolster to the lunkarya population in the UK. Now have the horrible wait till June until I can meet the breeders and collect the lunks!
On another note, Hope and Harvey have lost facial hair. Harvey lost so much he is the ugliest thing to look at!! However his coat will be utterly harsh! I am hoping Hope stays in coat long enough to sit her on the show bench. I don't have much luck so far with pure-breds!!
Also, Gambit's coat deserves a mention as I am beginning to think it is too harsh! I wish he could gone to the RVCC show at Devon as it is outstanding. I guess he can go into pets instead.
Rich-Girl and Zarah are getting huge and getting through so much grass, so I am expecting fairly large litters as a result. They should be due by the end of next week - poor things!!
4th April
St Austell Cavy Club show today. A lovely local show to ctach up with other breeders and talk cavy for the day! It was Tracey Wade's first time judging - so she soon got into the swing of things! Smudge did well, coming 3rd overall pet and Nemo won his 5/8 challenge. So a few more rosettes for the wall! Fingers crossed I can take a lunky to the RVCC section at Devon County.
31st March
Holly finally littered this evening. She had a tricoloured whooper of a boar. He weighed 111g and is gorgeous! I am sure Dougal is also proud!
29th March
Fallen littered this evening. I missed the birth by 15 mins, which is such a shame as she had one stillborn. This is a really rare occurance here and I often wonder if I had been there just as he was born - could I have revived him? She also delivered a partially formed baby - most likely from her second cycle and this was a large baby. I have never had one before so this was a slight shock. Thankfully she did deliver a little 75g sow who is a mini clone of her! Also a chunky, big-eared 111g boar. It is always heart-wrenching as a breeder when littering does not always follow book. All three are doing great now and she makes a great mum.
14th March
Penryn Cavy Club show today. Hazel had another successful day scooping Best Rough Sow, Best Adult's Pet and Best Overall Pet. Nemo II won his 5/8 Overall Pet Challenge - again proving his laidback temperment - and he came 3rd in the Overall Pet challenge AA. Cosmo and Smudge both came 3rd in their Challenge's also.
11th February
Curly and Drops had their first litter. As it is my first 'Second generation' I am super-proud!! finally seeing the beginning of my lunkarya line. Out of the litter a cream, lemon agouti and white lunky boar weighed in at 129g - becoming the heaviest ever born here! He was named 'Kalusha's Gambit' and has such a remarkable lunkarya coat!
24 January
Alabama littered to one saffron & white lunkarya boar. She had a little trouble littering so I was on hand to help deliver the chappy. He has been named 'Kalusha's Kings of Leon' and is son to Arnold.
17 January 2009
East Cornwall Cavy Club show today and first for the year! I took my u/5 cream peruvian boar, 'Kalusha's Creme Brulee' along as he was still in coat and he got a rosette. A week later his littermate had a ruckus, so he is no longer to show coat. He has now gone to live with Aingie at Tydu Farmhouse Cavies to further her Cream peruvian line. |  
  
     
      
27/09/06 - 26/05/09 Missed Forever  
 
     
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