Kalusha's Cavies

It is with a heavy-heart we start 2010, having just said 'good-bye' to Crème and Caesar. It has certainly made me question myself as a breeder in terms of why I seem so reluctant to breed my cavies!! Had I  had a litter from both my boys (who were both nearly 2 years old), the heartache would not be so severe. I realise I do breed so slowly, mainly because I feel so responsible for these little furries!! I do worry about the risk of pregnancy, what I would do if complications occurred and of course where the babies will go that don't remain here.

I have so many enquiries about my Lunkarya's and indeed my waiting list is long. I do feel conscious of so many eyes on my 'available' page (which, admittedly, is rarely updated!!) as I just don't have many for sale! I love my pigs and hope that I have done them justice to search for a good, long-term home and that new owner will feel the same delight that the pigs allow me.

This year, I do hope I can provide new-comers to the Lunkarya breed a starting step into this amazing breed and that all my boys do have a chance to have sons before it's too late. Last year, we had a very successful showing career and I hope I can emulate that again this year.

Savannah littered to a 124g buff crested boar. Just glad everything went smoothly. :)

Savannah is looking very pregnant now - another 2-3 weeks to go. She is coming indoors within the next few days so I can better keep an eye on her. Also I felt little kicks in Genesis! Really pleased as she is a really good standard and this will be Chilli's first litter with us :)

Pretty peeved!! the 14week old cream agouti Crested sow (now called Savannah) I bought from the sales pen at Liskeard show is certainly pregnant! Poor little thing! Felt kicks today - so another 4 weeks or less to go. Will be keeping a very close eye on her......

Likeard Agricultral Show today. Our (only just!) 3 month old lilac/gold peruvian sow came Best Adult's Pet and Maple came 2nd Best Pet. We also came home with a Choc tri Alpaca boar from Sunnycott stud to help kickstart out Chocolate peruvian lines. We also found a chocolate peru boar and a cream agouti crested in the sales pens.....couldn't resist!!

Fallen had her babies!! Gorgeous pair of DE red and white fluffballs! Pics to on the 'Litters 2010' page.  Also we have paired up a few matings, mainly peruvians so we shall be expecting our next litters in September/October time.

We came home with a chunky DE cream self named 'Jensen' last night. He had fallen out with his brother in his lovely pet home and was looking for a new home. He was exactly what I have been waiting for and we hope he will have some pet babies with us!

A quiet last month has flown by! Not much to report other than we bought a 10month old Lilac/Gold Argente sow at the Royal Cornwall show. She has been named 'Flick' and will help us to extend our pet line. She settled in immediately and is now living with Diego. Will has been living with Fallen since 1st Feb - I had pretty much given up expecting her to be pregnant when I suddenly felt little kicks! Slightly annoyed with myself as she will be littering at the end of the month - in this hot weather!! Rather dreading it, but she has had a serious haircut and is indoors alongside a fan to keep her cool.

Faith littered yesterday. She had 2 babies - a DE white sow and a DE red boar. The boar was utterly stunning and sadly he passed away this morning. He had some severe central nervous system problem so maybe it is kinder that he is now over the rainbow bridge. Still an absolute shame though.

Today was the Devon County Show. This would have been Qai Qai's first show but her coat was slightly scratched and it is not worth taking her. So she stayed at home! It was an utterly enjoyable day - catching up with old friends, talking pig and meeting new faces.

Sadly, Julliard passed away this morning. She is the first sow to have died here due to the risk of pregnancy. I am unsure if the babies had already died inside of her or if the shock of a long labour was too much. It is the worst aspect of breeding.

Julliard littered this morning to 5 still-born tricoloured peruvian babies. I was really gutted as I have never lost an entire litter before. It was awful to see these babies born and no attempt to move or breath. They were all very small and some under-developed. Sometimes it is not meant to be and Mother Nature takes them back.

On another note, 'Tia Maria', the baby with the umbilical-hernia is doing very well. So far so good!

Kaylee had her litter at 9am this morning. She had a huge 145g PE white boar and a 143g lemon-agouti, cream and white sow. The sow was taken to the vets straight away as she had a hernia in the umbilical cord - very rare! So time will tell if she will survive or if infection will set in - we are going through a lot of iodine at the moment!  

In the last few days, Gucci and Nola had their first litters. So glad they both had them quickly and safely! The babies are all good weights and enjoying the start of life. Kaylee is now indoors waiting her turn! Little kicks felt in Faith - so 4 weeks to go! Quite a few babies and adults are now pictured on the available page. Updated quite a few photos!

The Lunkys from Austria are settling in nicely. As it was a glorious day, all the pigs went out on the lawn - the babies were thoroughly enjoying themselves -  I just love watching them :)

Felt little kicks in Nola and Kaylee!! I think Curly may have aborted her babies as she has suddenly gone saggy...she is now in the big group of sows to keep her moving. Fallen and Julliard  have increased in weight, so may be pregnant.

Sad news: 'Shelby' the 50g baby from Felisha passed away in the early hours of the morning. She was the cutest little thing! I had been debating whether to place her with another sow to avoid competition as the littermates were double the size and very boisterious! She may have even had an underlying health issue. Still, sometimes you have no hand in nature... it just wasn't meant to be.

What a marathon! Today I went to Hull to collect the 4 Lunkarya's I had imported from Austria. So a huge thank you to Richard for doing so. Also, big thank you to Petra for parting with some of her chocolate Lunkarya's! I had been driving from 5am and returned home 8.30pm - so a long day on the road! They are all settling in, updated photos to follow....

'Hot Chilli Pepper' 'Nahema Sue'

 'Espirit'     'Enoesca' 

Felisha had her babies in the afternoon. A 108g Lilac and gold Peruvian sow, 100g Lilac tri peruvian sow and a 99g Lilac and gold peruvian boar. Finally a 50g lilac, gold and white peruvian sow - who is extremely cute and we are topping her up with milk to help her grow!

Jambolini had her babies during the night! No problems and the babies are all fine. She had a black and white boar, a DEW boar and a DEW sow. Not sure where the DEW colour came from!! Pics on the Litters page.

Still waiting for Felisha to pop! They have been indoors for over a week and I can't help myself to keep checking every ten minutes! Felisha is utterly huge, I expect she must have at least 3. Gucci still has a good few weeks to go and I expect only 2 as she is not particularly stretched!

In one weeks time, we collect 4 new arrivals to the stud - extremely excited! Details to follow once they are safely here!

East Cornwall Cavy Club and first ever Western Area Fanciers (WAF) show today!! Had the pleasure of book-stewarding for Pete Holdaway on the WAF side. A very enjoyable day and our first local show after a 6 month break. Despite Mille being hideous(!) she did win Best New & Emerging on both sides - so I was pleased in the end! I think if we attend Bristol I shall be sedating her!

The WAF side had some very impressive rosettes and medals! I was so suprised and over-joyed to have the honour of bringing them home with me.

I was also awarded a trophy for obtaining the most amount of points in the Pet category for the East Cornwall Cavy Club during 2009. This came as a lovely suprise!

I have made the decision to retire Isolde. Her obsessive behaviour of pulling out her cage mates hair and eating it is so severe, that both boars she lived with are utterly terrified of her!

Yesterday was Wessex CC show and we had a thoroughly enjoyable day. We had the pleasure of finally meeting Richard, Fiona and Don in person - so lovely to have lunch with such like-minded people. It just shows that there is great support for the Lunkarya breed! We have Luigi leaving us for Greenstar Cavies, Herbie & Kings of Leon going to Caroline, Odakota going with Don and Black Arrow staying with Richard. Mille did well at her first show experience - winning her class by Gerry Harvey.

At home,I felt little kicks within Jambolini and Felisha - so fingers crossed for safe deliveries within the month. Faith is now living with Phantom for her last litter. Fallen is also living with Will.

I have decided to 'bite the bullet' (so to speak!) and have a number of sows in with boars. So come the end of May, we will have a population explosion! Then a well-earned 3-4 months break over summer so I can concentrate on showing! Gucci, Felisha and Jambolini are pregnant! Another week until I feel movement I expect. Englantine appears pregnant, but not 100% convinced?! I have also introduced a Lunkarya Interest form of the Available page, to allow people to quickly contact me about what they are looking for.

Truffle, one of our original home-bred sows passed away. She has nearly 6 1/2 years old and developed a mammary tumour about 1 1/2 years ago. She was a typical rex and just kept on going against all the odds! In the last 2 weeks, she definately had declined somewhat and her weight was down to the 500g mark. She was still normal in herself, but we knew it was the right time. It is the end of an era!

Our 4 metre retirement pen for the sows is now complete! My partner decided to put all of the sows to test it out - so bit packed! Still they had a lovely time! Photos on our new 'The Caviary' page. I shall get new photos with just the retiree's in soon. On another note, babies are doing well and our latest additions, Will & Matilda, have settled in nicely.

Hope had her first litter today - just the one sow weighing in at 146g! That is a new record here! This is Gambit's third litter - lucky boy! The golden agouti, gold and white sow is named 'Qai Qai' and will be staying here.

Hollie has her litter! A breeched birth wasn't the best start - but we soon wrangled the bugger to the right direction! Out popped a black, cream and white sow who will be staying here as a memento of our efforts! Later a tri colour boar emerged...... then 4hours later.....still no contractions...nothing!

About to go to the vets and she then decided to have contractions. I was on the phone to them explaining, when I returned she had littered to one - so I picked it up but already gone. So I waited for ther next one and grabbed it - still in the sac - tore it open and it took the biggest breath I have ever seen! So a 99g golden agouti and chocolate boar. Fantastic! Poor Hollie just turned around and went to sleep! I have never known to sow to litter over such a long period. Still, everyone is doing well and Hollie is having an early retirement!

In the next month there will be quite a few changes here, hopefully Hope and Hollie will be weaning their first litters. We have quite a few pigs leaving us to start their lives with new owners. Due to a change in circumstances, we will be having Will and Matilda from Tudorvale Stud to hopefully live out their days here. Also, I shall be changing my setup to incorporate a large free range pen for the retired sows. One day I hope I can bring myself to start finding loving, knowledgeable, permanent retirement homes for some of our sows!!

Felisha and Gucci are living with Dougal from today. Mille has been seperated to 'hopefully' stay in coat - although she is alot like Gambit in that she is a finger-nibbler!! So I shall see how she goes before definately putting her in front of a judge!

Hollie and Hope had 'little kicks' today!! SO excited!! Caesar will be a father after he has gone, so I shall have to certainly keep one of the babies for definate! Hope is my little girl, whom I am so proud of - so of course a daughter should stay too! Not 100% sure with Nola as yet - she is not the largest size naturally, so just waiting for little movements still...

We have quite a few boars leaving us soon to help start up new Lunkarya breeding lines. It seems a shame to keep them here under the pretence of 'using them one day' when people need them now! 

 Isolde went in with Jonkhy today, so fingers crossed for ten weeks to fly by! I am waiting for 'little kicks' to be 100% sure, but Hollie, Nola and Hope are all showing signs of prenancy. So beginning/middle of Feb will be a fun month! Once the weather is warmed(!) I shall update some photos of the pigs and babies.