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Post by Bean on Sept 17, 2015 8:28:34 GMT
I had a pig who loved climbing stairs - he was only good with the up though, not so good with the down! I'd not have let him do it unsupervised as I'd have worried about him taking a fall if he lost his footing on one.
You'll have plenty of time to observe them over the next few weeks and see if you think it's a risk for your lot for them to be allowed to access to a few stairs all the time or to keep if for supervised playtimes. They do sound pretty nimble!
Gorgeous new pictures - I know what you mean about the babies not looking too much smaller than mum now they've grown a bit more! They all sound so adorable. Let us know what the vet says!
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 17, 2015 18:08:34 GMT
I had a pig who climbed, but like Bean, wouldn't go down. When he did that the first time, I was madly looking for him all over the main floor of the house. I finally started calling his name, and got a Wheeeeeeek from the second floor We had a discussion about it, and he agreed not to climb the stairs again Perhaps putting up a ramp for them to use, instead of the stairs, will give them a safe way to come back down? As long as it's only a couple of steps, they might have a lot of fun climbing up and running back down the ramp
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Post by christine on Sept 17, 2015 23:01:40 GMT
They are both girls!! I'm so glad, as this means no more neutering. The vet says they are strong and healthy, and that Mama is perfect as well. The little family was very glad to be back to their familiar home. Shoutout for Arbutus West Animal Clinic and the excellent team there - for anyone in Vancouver BC I really recommend them. Attachment Deleted
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Post by Bean on Sept 18, 2015 7:15:50 GMT
Aww another lovely photo and great news that you have two girls so they can all stay together and have your boy join them later without any further ops. Fantastic news that everyone has been declared fit and well too. Really pleased for you and great that you have found such a wonderful vet!
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 18, 2015 18:33:51 GMT
Excellent news, all around The babies do grow fast, don't they? My new girls were only 6 months when I got them, and in just a couple of months, they've more than doubled in size. You have a ready made herd, and Dad can come home to his ladies Another thought on the stairs, they don't have to be steps on your stairs. What they are really enjoying is the challenge and the exercise. You could build a C&C cage with different levels, basically steps. Either build them out of wood, or use extra grids to create multiple levels. I had lofts on each end of my last cage, and ramps for each loft. I could have used grids at differing levels, instead of the ramps. You might do that.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Sept 18, 2015 19:10:37 GMT
I am so pleased for your love, it is great to learn that they are all well and healthy. What a gorgeous picture, I want to reach into the photo and give them a cuddle.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by christine on Sept 18, 2015 22:04:25 GMT
The ramps are a great idea. I'm going to go to Bed Bath and Beyond and WalMart this weekend looking for the cube shelving with the right sized holes. I've seen some amazing cages online. I've had them in pens so far (big ones intended for dogs, but with quite small mesh so the babies don't escape). I'd like to continue to give them lots of room, but also to be able to let them climb and have ramps and lofts.
Mama seems to be doing well. I was alarmed today that her weight had dipped into the 580s, but it was probably because she'd just nursed the babies and hadn't had her breakfast yet. I feel a bit obsessive with the daily weighings, but she is so tiny and I want to be sure she and the babies continue to grow and thrive.
The babies were a handful at the vet's yesterday. It took him and two vet assistants to be able to hold them while he did the gender check, and that was with me talking to them and tickling chins for a distraction.
Before the babies came, Mama wasn't much of a cuddler. Now she loves a break and a snuggle, and even falls asleep on my lap for short naps. She's probably worn out from the demands of the little ones.
Wishing everyone a great weekend with your own fur babies.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Sept 19, 2015 18:55:01 GMT
Saying she has landed on her feet with you for a mum love is an understatement. I think what you are doing is wonderful. I remember taking babies to the vets for checks, they are proper little wrigglers aren't they? It is good that mum loves a cuddle now, as you say she probably welcomes the break.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 19, 2015 19:42:35 GMT
I wouldn't have wanted to be picked up and snuggled when I was pregnant, either. Can't say I blame her. Poor baby was twice or three times her normal size. Not fun! Now, she's had her babies, she knows you, and she knows she and the babies have a great home. Good reasons to snuggle Remember, pigs can lose up to 30g of weight just by eliminating a lot of waste. She may done that, and not gotten back to the food. If you're going to weight them all daily, take an average of their weights at the end of each week, instead of using each daily weight. That gives you an average weight, which will fluctuate. As long as neither the daily weighings or the weekly averages show a steady decline in weight, they are doing okay. Any steady decline in weight is a concern, and worth getting them checked by the vet.
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Post by christine on Sept 23, 2015 3:02:53 GMT
Time flies! The babies are two weeks old today and I honestly don't know where the time went. At this morning's weigh-in, both babies were just over 200 grams, and Mama was once again a bit over 600. The advice on averaging Mama's weight over a week was excellent - thank you for that. I don't know if this is always the case, but I find the babies are VERY vocal. If I do anything noisy (vacuum, blow-dry my hair, grind spices etc) one of the girls chirps LOUDLY, so that I can hear her over the noise. I do my hair on another floor of my townhouse so it is pretty impressive to be able to hear the chirping of this tiny piggy over the noise of the blow dryer. She also chirps in response to the clothes dryer's end-of-cycle tone and to the spin cycle on the washer. Her sister is a little bit quieter (although not a lot). When I've been in to check on what the noise was about and to make sure nothing was wrong, they were just excitedly running around the pen and making their voices heard. Funny little creatures. I have only had the good fortune to be a PigMom for a few months now, but I'm thinking about getting a larger place with a third bedroom so I could set it up for them to roam free. They have a big pen now, but they love to explore. I took some birthday photos, but only one fits the size limits to attach here. I will look for others. Attachment Deleted
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Post by christine on Sept 23, 2015 3:07:35 GMT
Here's a picture of my gorgeous boy, the piggy that started me on the path to the pig-farm I have now. He has the sweetest eyes. Attachment Deleted
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Post by Bean on Sept 23, 2015 10:15:18 GMT
Aww nice to meet your boy too - he has similar colouring to my boy, Josh.
You are a proper devoted pig slave, considering moving so you have more room for your pigs - love it! Funny about the noisy baby - that definitely rings a bell, I can remember me hoovering starting off the wheeking! Now mine all start a chorus when they see/ hear me head toward the kitchen if it's around feeding time - ever hopeful I might think of bring them back something. I used to give them little veggie tidbits more often (when I was cooking for example and had some celery ends spare), but stopped after they started drowning out the tv and phone calls with their incessant screeching! I love the sound of it, but not when I'm trying to listen to something else! Now they only expect something at certain times so I still get the mad chorus, but not constantly!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Sept 23, 2015 18:43:42 GMT
Thank you for sharing these wonderful pigtures Christine love, they are just gorgeous.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 23, 2015 19:14:06 GMT
Aw, gorgeous baby picture I do love your boys eyes. He looks like a sweet boy I don't give my pigs any food until they stop wheeking. It's funny, because are in the basement family room, and start wheeking as soon as they here the door open at the top of the stairs. As soon as I verbally greet them, though, the wheeking stops. They all stand along the front of the cage waiting, but not making noise. They learned very quickly that wheeking doesn't get them a treat, but lining up quietly does. If I take too long, they all start hanging over the Plexiglass at the front of the cage. I had one pig who used to dance, she got so excited, but she didn't forget and start wheeking Have you considered a design for a cage that might go along the wall and let them have a lot of space to run? Cages don't always have to be on a table or on the floor. As long as they are will supported, they can be long and narrow, in corners, on multiple levels to clear furniture, etc. If you want to do a bigger cage now, think about where you can build something that would suit you all
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Post by christine on Sept 25, 2015 4:24:16 GMT
You are so right 3piggies!! I will be making an attempt at building a C&C cage this weekend. I have had Mama and the babies in a pen since they were born, with the intention of her not needing to climb to a second level but still giving them a good amount of room. I moved them away from the stairs today so I could expand their square footage (there are doors in the way of expanding where I had them), and put them in a larger pen. I went off to start some laundry and heard Mama almost shrieking,and came back to find the babies free-running ont he outside of the pen and Mama stuck inside giving them heck. They had escaped through the tiniest space behind a dresser...truly very narrow as I had looked at it and thought there was no way they could get through it. But they did! I'd been planning on getting a C&C cage once the babies were bigger anyway, but it seems it needs to be NOW.
They were so proud of themselves over the great freedom run. It was quite funny except for me catching them and herding them back in. They run so fast.
Have any of you experienced that pigs like a chnage of scenery? Every time I move them they seem to be quite excited by the new environment. There was lots of chutting around and popcorning as they explored the new layout.
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 25, 2015 23:27:28 GMT
My Morty pig can find his way into any place, no matter what I do to block it off, so don't be surprised if the little explorers become big explorers Once you get going with the C&C cage, don't be surprised if you keep thinking of new ways to do it
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Post by Bean on Sept 27, 2015 13:33:57 GMT
Most pigs love to explore - just having somewhere new to investigate can be exciting for them, and if they think they're clever for having got there too, all the better!
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