Do Guinea Pigs Breed All Year Round

And the breeding of guinea pigs generally can occur anywhere during these 8 hours.

Do guinea pigs breed all year round. Before breeding guinea pigs you need to know exactly what you are going to do with the babies. Although the young can scamper about and eat solid food the day they are born they are not fully weaned for about three weeks. Pups reach maturity at 2 3 months old. So you must separate the male and female babies by this age.

A sow can have as many as five litters in a year but six is theoretically possible. Gestation takes 68 days. They can produce as many as five litters per year. There are no breeding season for the guinea pigs and they are able to breed year round with birth peaks usually coming in the spring.

For example if a guinea pig gets too cold their blood flow to the skin is reduced to save heat. However if you re thinking of keeping breeding pigs you re looking at embarking on an all year round occupation. Unlike the offspring of most rodents which are altricial at birth newborn cavy pups are precocial and are well developed with hair teeth claws and partial eyesight. Female guinea pigs come into heat for up to12 hours every 16 days throughout the year.

Typically the heat cycle lasts between 14 and 19 days so a female can go in and out of heat every two or three weeks. Not only do they need to have potential homes lined up but you need to have cage or hutch space enough to keep them all if these homes fall through. There are many breeds of guinea pig or cavy which have been developed since its domestication circa 5000 bce. The female guinea pig is able to breed year round with spring being the peak.

You can do it through the spring and summer months when the weather is generally better and you can arrange the date of your annual holiday so that you can jet off after they ve gone to the abattoir. Guinea pigs eat vegetation and do not require water to drink if supplied with sufficiently moist food but they must have water if fed dry commercial food they breed all year in captivity. Ideally the female should be 6 months to 1 year old. Guinea pigs can breed as early as 8 weeks.

Average gestation period of these animals is between 65 and 70 days. Before breeding guinea pigs. And if they get too hot there is an increase in blood to the skin to keep them cool. Breeds vary widely in appearance and purpose ranging from show breeds with long flowing hair to laboratory breeds being used as model organisms for science from roughly 1200 to 1532 ce the spanish conquest of the inca empire selective breeding by indigenous south american people.

The male should be at least 6 months old. Female guinea pigs reach sexual maturity as early as 2 months of age and can reproduce until they re about 5 years old. Gestation lasts from 59 72 days with a litter size of 1 6 pups. Females bear up to 13 young per litter 4 is average.

Guinea pigs can breed all year round and have up to 5 litters. There will potentially be as many as 8 in a litter if you are lucky. Pups are born well developed and eat solid food immediately after birth although they will still suckle.