Goals

Blogging seems a far more intersting option then my psychology homework so I thought I'd share my goals for my seven babies.

I'm sure anyone who actually does stumble across this blog assumes I'm over sharing, but this blog is for me more then anything. It gives me an almost day to day record of the cavies. If (god forbid) I should ever have a disaster like last time I'll be able to review this blog and likely find the trigger point.

So my goals for the babies.

Pipsqueak Ebony Charm - With Ebbie I mainly want her to be happy and healthy. I'm hoping to breed two litters from her this year, one by Sterling and one by Edmund. After that she'll be retired and allowed to live out her days in peace as a nanny pig for any other pregnant females. I'm also looking at building a large aviary for retired sows next year so if that does happen she'll get to spend the rest of her life in the lap of luxury.

Pipsqueak Edmund - For Eddie my main goal is to keep him in coat. Depending on shows I'd like to show him until August or so, or maybe a touch longer before trimming him off and breeding him to Ebbie.

Pipsqueak Sterling - Right now I want him fat and healthy. He's still very very skinny, at only 760g at eight months old. He'll only be bred once this year but I will probably breed him back to Ebony and Eddies offspring next year.

Pipsqueak Feather - Like Sterling I just want him to be nice and fat and healthy. At seven months old he's 900g, so I'm hoping that he'll keep putting on weight till he reaches 1200g or so. He'll also be joining my show team soon as a pig for members pets. I've always loved showing in the pet classes and between him and Rosie I'll have a boar and a sow for the classes. But like I said I'd like him a bit plumper before he starts travelling. One day I may also breed a single litter of shebas from this boy but I'm not sure yet. I don't know enough about the sheba standard yet to tell whether he is a good specimen or not.


Pipsqueak Fortinbras - This boys beginning to get a bit plumper now, he's just turned four months and is 650g. So he's finally catching up to Eddie. His dropped shoulder coat is also growing back in so day by day he's steadily moving away from bugg ugly. If he does regrow magnificent plumage I think I'll start showing him at the one day shows. These are the shows at places like Grafton, Coffs Harbour and Armidale that I can do in a single day, rather then having to travel there the day before.

Symphonia Laertes - I am so in love with this pig. He's absolutely gorgeous. He's also quite plump already at 450g at just eight weeks old. Mainly I want to learn how to correctly groom this boy. It looks like it'll be quite a challenge. Depending on how he goes at shows over the next year and the judges opinion of him I may found him a little black sow. But since I don't want to pursue dalmatians as such I'd only do this if he really was an exceptional example of his breed. If not he'll just remain part of my show team until he's four years old or so before being retired with a nice baby boy companion. My other issue is his personality. On the whole dallies are temperamental skittish creatures who hate being handled and would as soon as bite as cuddle. I'm hoping with daily handling in his youth La-La won't end up like that.

Symphonia Rosaline - This girl is adorable but I don't have any goals for her as such. As long as she stays happy and plump and is nice to other sows she'll be perfect. I mainly want her to be a gentle companion for sows. As an adult hopefully she'll also be able to teach baby sows their manners.