Allen Christian Smith

“ In the spring or summer you can feed more green stuff than in the winter, in fact, we have raised them in the summer on an exclusive green food diet by moving the hutches from place to place on the lawn. But in the winter and fall, when greens are scarce and they are not used to them, a sudden over-feeding might result in severe loss. ”

“ By line breeding you can get almost any color you want. If you wanted to get solid red, say, out of a mixed lot, you should breed your reddest male to your reddest female. Then breed the father to his reddest daughter and the reddest son to his mother. Continue in this way and eventually you will get solid reds.
For commercial purposes, however, we think it is best to get new males every now and then. If you have only one male at the start, you should get a new one when the young ones of your first litter are old enough to breed. ”

“ There is possibly no animal so well adapted for scientific experiments as the Guinea Pig. In the testing and analyzing of serums and antitoxins and for experimental purposes generally the demand is enormous, thousands and thousands of them being used every year. ”

“ In the broken colors the different patches should be uniform in size and the colors not run into each other. Fancy stock is nearly always line bred and great pains should be taken in breeding. To secure the best stock the females are only bred twice or three times a year [24] and every care is taken of them from birth. They are bred for size, shape and color. Even if you are not breeding for fancy stock, it will often pay you to enter your best specimens in local poultry and pet stock shows, as it gives you some good advertising and you will often take good prizes. ”

“ It is best to have fewer litters and stronger stock.
The old males will sometimes fight when in the [23] pen together, but it is seldom that the females do not get along well together. If you have a fighting male keep him in a place to himself, as he is apt to injure the other males.
Good young breeding stock is to be preferred by one beginning to raise Cavies, because they have a longer life before them and if you get old stock you cannot tell how old they are. Guinea Pigs live to be about seven or eight years old and if you buy young stock you have them for their entire breeding age. ”

“ When your young females are about four months old, they should be placed in the breeding pen. Best results and surer are obtained by keeping one male with four or five females and letting them stay together [21] until you are sure each female is bred. They begin to show that they are with young in about 30 days or sooner and get to be very large before giving birth.
It is best to have several females with young together in the same pen, as they will nurse each other’s young indiscriminately and the little fellows seem to know no difference. ”

“ Anyone with ordinary intelligence should be able to raise Guinea Pigs successfully. Women do especially well with them as they require less attention and work than chickens. Boys and girls find the raising of them not only a pleasure but profitable and it is a splendid occupation for them as it requires no hard or laborious work. ”

“ In a few years we will possibly see Guinea Pigs sold in the stores as rabbits and poultry are now. Certainly no animal could be cleaner and being a vegetarian exclusively, its flesh is of the best. They can be prepared just as a rabbit or squirrel. In soups, stews, pies, or roasted, broiled or baked the young Cavy is equal to any other animal. ”

“ From our own experience with Guinea Pigs we would advise anyone who is interested in this work to take up the raising of them. Whether you have only a few for making a little money on the side or a large number as a real business you will find them very profitable. Certainly a great deal of pleasure can be gotten out of it and there is a wide sale for all you raise. ”

“ By saving and curing the lawn clippings there will be no need of buying hay. They are far more profitable than poultry as they not only cost less to feed and keep but are not subject to the diseases that make poultry raising so unprofitable. They occupy smaller [33] space and are not dirty, noisy or objectionable in any way. Many large Poultry Farms have been turned into Caviaries as their owners have seen that it is easier to make money with Guinea Pigs than with chickens. ”

“ Many of the large hospitals and laboratories have been compelled to establish breeding pens of their own in order to be sure of a constant supply. The demand here is steadily increasing and many more would be used if they could be obtained at a reasonable price. A United States Bulletin says, “Guinea Pigs sell at various prices dependant on supply and demand. The average price for several years has been about 75c, but laboratories now report that suitable stock is short and that they have been paying from $1.00 to $1.50 for their supply of animals.” ”

“ At noon some green stuff or roots and at night hay. Give them all the hay they can eat. Keep it before them all of the time, but only feed as much green stuff as they can clear up in a few hours. They are also not apt to overeat grain, which should be fed in an earthen or wooden vessel. If you feed only twice a day, give them the green food in the morning with the hay. Guinea Pigs drink but little water when eating green food, but they should have a vessel of fresh water in the hutch or pen every morning. It is also well to keep a piece of rock salt in each hutch. ”

“ You cannot be too careful in the selection of your stock. Get good healthy animals to start with as on them depends your success. Scrub Guinea Pigs will pay no better than scrub poultry or cattle. Those found in pet stores are frequently unfitted for breeding purposes as they may have been experimented on or the descendants of such animals. ”

“ Give your stock all the room you can spare. Do not see how little room you can use, if you have room to waste. Be sure that they have ventilation, even in the winter. Animals, like humans, need fresh air. See that your hutches are kept clean and dry. Do not let your Cavies get wet. There is no need to build expensive and elaborate hutches, especially at the start. When you get a larger herd you can decide on some uniform style of hutch or pen and make them all alike. This makes them easy to handle and enlarge. Local conditions and circumstances will determine how you will keep your Cavies. ”

“ Even the city raiser, by saving his own and his neighbors’ lawn clippings, can be well supplied. By curing these clippings a good grade of hay is obtained. A little grain, especially for the pregnant mothers, is all that need be bought.
Bread and milk is a good flesh producer and should be fed any weak ones, also nursing mothers. In the winter it should be warmed. [14]
The feeding of Cavies, you see, is a very simple matter, even for a city man. The commission houses every day throw away enough lettuce, cabbage, celery, etc., to feed a large number. ”

“ Cavies are wholly vegetarian in diet, eating about [6] the same things as a rabbit. They are very easily tamed, are very healthy and hardy, are not noisy, are clean in their habits, and have no offensive odor. There is probably no animal in the world that is easier to handle. They easily adapt themselves to conditions and seem to do equally as well in city or country, in large or small quarters and a few of them together do as well as a large number of them. ”

“ It is much easier to keep Cavies well than to cure a sick one, therefore, try and prevent trouble. Sick ones should be separated from the others and placed in comfortable quarters. Feed only choice food. Keep their quarters clean, sweet and well ventilated. Give them all air and sun you can and all the room for exercise you can. Feed no mouldy, wet or half cured hay or grass. Do feed grass that is wet with dew or rain. Just give your Cavies half a chance and you will find that disease will bother your Caviary but little. ”

“ All of these facts make it plain that there is no danger of there getting to be too many Cavies.
Inexpensive to Keep.
The profits in raising Guinea Pigs are large. The price for them on the open market runs all the way from 50c to several dollars each. The cost of raising them to the age when they are to be sold differs, of course with conditions and circumstances. The man on the farm or in the small town who has access to plenty of food for them without paying for it of course, can raise them cheaper than the man in the city. ”

“ It would not be advisable for anyone to start with 100 or more right at once unless he has especially good place for them and a plentiful supply of food. However, by beginning in a small way no risk is taken and you can learn the business as you go along, and you can get extra stock as you make preparation for it. ”

“ Youngsters from 10 to 17 or 18 years old need a responsibility of some kind and the experience gained in the raising and selling of Guinea Pigs will be very valuable to them in addition to the money they will make. Parents will do well to give their children a chance to raise them. To start with Guinea Pigs does not require a large outlay of capital. By starting with just a few and by keeping the young females it does not take long to build up a herd of breeders that are valuable. ”

“ Sometimes in spite of all you can do a Guinea Pig goes light. If the treatment for worms has no effect it may be tuberculosis. Separate at once from the others. Give special diet of milk and bread or bran and oats. If it does not get better destroy it as it does not pay to have such stock around. ”

“ The hospitals in most cases use them in preference to any other animal for experimental [32] purposes but at this time they cannot get them in sufficient quantities. There is and always will be a great demand for them as pets. When the people get educated to the food value, this end of the industry will come in for its share. The present high cost of meat and the decreasing supply of cattle indicate that in a few years the people of this country will have to make other preparations for their fresh meat and the Cavy offers the solution to the meat problem. ”

“ It lets people know you have stock and you can always get good prices for your prize winners. Always enter as near a uniform lot as possible in singles, pairs or trios, or even larger pens.
While it costs more to produce fancy stock, still the higher prices you can get for it makes it pay. If you are raising only comparatively few pigs it might pay you to go in for fancy stock. Even if you have a large stock you can keep a few of your best specimens separate and give them little better attention. ”

“ They thrive better when the temperature does not fall below freezing. If given well protected, tight quarters with plenty of bedding they will get by all right without heat. However, the females that are about to litter should be kept in a warm place, as the little ones will freeze if the weather is very cold. After they get about a month old, you can, during a warm spell, move them out with the others. One of the most successful breeders [18] in the West, whose stock brings fancy prices, opposes artificial heat and says they are better without it. ”

“ Females are occasionally lost when giving birth prematurely to little ones and sometimes the young ones when born are so weak that they do not live long. This is caused by too frequent littering, by fright, over fatness or physical weakness. Over crowding in a cold drafty hutch in severe weather may so weaken the mother that she bears weak ones. Take especially good care of the pregnant females. Give them the choice food and the best quarters. Do not let them breed too often or start too young. ”

“ Almost anyone can start raising Guinea Pigs without having to make any very special preparations or a large investment. In any new business it is always best to start in a small way. From a dozen to 25 females will give you an opportunity to learn their habits and you can increase your quarters as your herd increases. ”

“ If a Guinea Pig is a good feeder and still does not grow, if he looks unhealthy and his coat is not glossy he may have worms. Give a half teaspoonful of any kind of worm medicine such as children use. ”

“ Too frequent littering tends to weaken both the mother and the little ones. If you have a female that gives weak young that are dead at birth or die soon after, give her a rest of several months before breeding her again. ”

“ The cost of rearing them to this age is very little and a good profit is therefore assured the raiser. [10]
As Pets.
The demand for Guinea Pigs as pets is very large. They are so widely used in the medical field that the pet stores have a hard time keeping enough on hand to supply the local demand for pets. They are very interesting and perfectly harmless little animals. They do not bite or scratch and young children can play with them. They are not as common as the ordinary pet, and being more of a novelty, attract more attention. ”

“ Even in the city, however, very little has to be bought and that only in the winter time as in the summer lawn clippings and vegetables from the table will feed them and all that will have to be bought is some grain or hay. ”

“ This is one of the most common troubles that a Cavy raiser has to contend with. Too much green food, mouldy and half cured hay and a sudden change of food is usually the cause. Give them plenty of good sweet hay and cut out the green food for a while. ”