Why, raise Guinea Pigs Verses Rabbits?

This thread has been awesome. I've been pondering the guinea pig as livestock for a while, but I am at a loss as to how I would go about finding the *right* pigs. Seems like all I ever see advertised are the small ones they sell as pets... and people want $50 for a single GP (and usually they are over a year old.) Where do you find the larger ones? I bet the dressout variance has a lot to do with the different sized stock. I'd love to give it a try, but not for $50 for a single animal. The free ranging option is super appealing to me right now.

This was my first full year in rabbits. I am addicted, but I have to keep my breeders down to a trio. I had 35 rabbits on my property at one point this year and all those individual cages were just taking SO LONG to service twice a day. I would LOVE to do a colony for the bunnies, but it just isn't feasible on this property unless we suddenly fall into a lot of cash and can put down a concrete pad for a colony and winterproof shelter. I can keep a trio of buns in the chicken coop ... but once the growouts have to be separated, that's when I have to start moving them out.

How do GPs do when they have to freerange with chickens and ducks? Are there health issues that make that a bad idea? Will they naturally stay away from roads?

You can broomstick but you will find it much easier to just grasp them firmly and with GOOD FOLLOW THROUGH, whack them hard upside the corner of a sturdy building. One hit will do the trick and they are DEAD.

You can also hit them with a hard pipe but I have lousy aim so I do up the corner of a building. Cutting head off is easier than with a rabbit, but not necessary. Just gut and scald and deal with as desired.

Chicken and especially waterfowl feces are LOADED with coccidia and I would not recommend you allow GPigs, or rabbits, to come into regular contact with it.

Temperament wise GP are very peacefull and I would also worry about the birds trying to eat the babies - I know my chickens and ducks would

Whether gp go somewhere unwanted depends on the land. They will go where they have a mix of shelter even if it's just an edge of a building to run along and open area to keep watch. I've been told the cocci birds get is not what rabbits and gp get. Even if true there are lots of other problems with mixing poultry and small mammals.

3mina":15erfj6f said:

Akane is right, inbreeding is a very useful tool. Five of my ten breeding rabbits are sets of siblings and I breed everybunny to everybunny. Sometimes I get wonderful things, sometimes I get freezer filler.

I will say that picking replacements has been harder this year than previously, my average quality has increased substantially.

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JMHO, -I have seen "colony style" rabbit breeding [inbreeding non-programs], have major problems in just 3 or 4 years, when rabbits are just left alone to breed whom they may, with no supervision, or selection being made. From what I have witnessed these type of situations where rabbits are just put in a pen , left alone to breed indiscriminately and some harvested as needed for food, have always been a disaster in a few years. Inbreeding / line breeding, is only a useful tool under the guidance of a knowledgeable , and discriminating breeder, who is trying to concentrate favorable qualities in the breed stock. The loss of hybrid vigor in such stock, with the accompanying reduction in litter size, and growth rate, is only the beginning of the trouble, that can be experienced from unguided and repeated inbreeding.

My inbred ND were healthier, fewer lethal genes, better temperament, got pregnant easier, and raised larger litter sizes than the supposedly carefully raised show ND I have now.

I agree with michaels4gardens, inbreeding can be a huge problem if people attempt it with rabbits who have bad genetics to begin with, or can't identify or remove the carriers of harmful genes. Even when inbreeding, we generally know which buck bred which doe and can pay attention to what they produce!

Some of our rabbit lines have been worked on extensively and have benefited greatly from it, but you wouldn't expect any line of mutts to not be carrying SOMETHING unpleasant that inbreeding could bring out.

But the colony thing you mentioned, I'll be honest and admit that I don't know of anyone who has had a colony for more than 3-4 years, even without inbreeding.
It is possible that there are other factors like parasite load and stress that also contribute the the low birth rates and overall lowered productivity.

Inbreeding can go wrong but even in colony it can be managed. Remove any offspring that don't make the cut and keep the best of the litter. I kept about one new doe a year for my colonies. The best I had that year. I replaced the worst breeding doe I had. It's not that much different than inbreeding with cages and plenty are successful with that. There are many closed rabbitries that no longer bring in outside blood. I know of a few breeds like the champagne d'argent that have 3 or 4 breeders working together in an area and not bringing any new blood in because it's a long ways to get some. The people I dealt with for my champagnes had been doing that for about 10 years.

I'm used to rabbit poop and have no problem handling it but GP poop grosses me out. It also stinks to me where as rabbit don't. When I had them in the same cage as rabbits, the rabbits got ear mites but not the GPs. GP babies are born up and running however having babies may kill the mother and babies because babies are so large at birth. Raccoons can easily grab a GP through the wire cause it's smaller and slower. I've had half eaten GPs pulled through the wires like baby rabbits.

I was just wondering this same question, my neighbor said he raised guinea pigs and pigeons and I haven't seen him since to ask if the guinea pigs are even worth the slaughter time. and getting a reply from someone in south western Ontario helped a lot thank you!

This is sort of a bump :trapped: of an almost 5 year old old post, because I want to lure in more cuy-curious people :hooked:, but it is also a very informative thread. I also must remember to never underestimate Akane's experience when it comes to raising rodents. It seems strange that I missed this post when I initially searched Rabbit Talk for meat GPs.

Also here is a LINK to the post that Akane made on Homesteading Today, she referenced it in this post. A long thread, I'll try to so if I can get through the whole thing.

well.. that was fun to read through those old posts.

I do need to update a couple of my facts.

The last two years I had guinea pigs I raise them outside 24/7, in the winter putting them on deep bedding and discovered, much to my delight, that guinea pigs will tunnel in the winter and raise up healthier, stronger pups than in the summer. Lost ZERO sows pupping in the winter. Lost the odd pup that was born outside the tunnel and didn't get down on time but overall.... strong healthy pups.

clean out of the deep bedding was a bit of a pain come spring but over the winter it was great!

If I ever get back into doing guinea pigs I will use the exact same set up.

I have considered the idea of multiple "raised beds" that could be picked up at the end of a season/year/etc and be moved and cleaned. Leaving behind a nice pile of deep litter perfect to plant into. Of course there would be some possible issues depending on the weather, air flow, and drainage.
My thoughts being that you would need it to be predator proof (here at least). Without proper air flow and drainage you could have problems with ammonia, especially as the little critters are right on the ground. So if they burrowed in the litter you'd have more considerations for litter materials.

ohiogoatgirl":2fen8vqw said:

My thoughts being that you would need it to be predator proof (here at least).

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As far at predator proof fencing goes, I like this design from akane. (copied from homesteadingtoday.com)


It might be hard to see at first, but it is a sort of two layer design with chain link and hardware cloth. I would definitely put some sort of top on it, unless you want to turn your guinea pig enclosure into an all you can eat buffet for hawks. I would also be weary of leaving my GPs out over night unless there was some sort of electric fence wire near the top to stop climbers.

I suppose if you wanted it to move it at the end of each session, you could drive t-post into the earth and fasten the landscaping timbers to the post. Rather than digging a hole and setting the timbers directly into the hole.

Yeah I keep going back to the idea you'd need something like a chicken coop. Central coop that's predator proof with several runs to rotate through. Fenced like that with tons of hiding spots (shade and bird protection) and making sure you let them out into the runs at times to avoid dusk/dawn predators. As well as training them to come in to be shut up for the night.

Or something like the big aviaries. I have too much I want to do to have money to build and fence in something like that. Though it'd certainly be a really interesting idea to have a couple sections to rotate around. Maybe some coturnix quail following the GP.

ohiogoatgirl":38rriki9 said:

Yeah I keep going back to the idea you'd need something like a chicken coop. Central coop that's predator proof with several runs to rotate through. Fenced like that with tons of hiding spots (shade and bird protection) and making sure you let them out into the runs at times to avoid dusk/dawn predators. As well as training them to come in to be shut up for the night.

Or something like the big aviaries. I have too much I want to do to have money to build and fence in something like that. Though it'd certainly be a really interesting idea to have a couple sections to rotate around. Maybe some coturnix quail following the GP.

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when I was researching "what's really better about raising guinea pigs" [vs rabbits or something else] I was thinking about low labour colony raising, with a permanent pasture situation.
*I discovered, ... that they also are susceptible to coccidiosis, .. that was the main problem I had with that method of raising rabbits.
*I raise rabbits that eat "almost anything", so the "easier to feed", was not a plus for me.
* I had very low mortality rates in my litters, so "guinea pigs being self sufficient at birth", was not a big plus .
* Guinea pigs being "easy to process" [when scalded] , -- seems incorrect to me. -when it is compared to butchering a rabbit, especially if you compare labour vs yield .[per lb of meat] .

The one thing I suspect is truly a big "plus", is ... that when deep fried skin on, -- they are truly yummy...

I LOVED them! They are funny, the sounds they make are fantastic, they were always happy to see me and would line up along the pen walls to watch me coming and sing at me.

The cuteness factor is hard for dispatch but spare males are such a pita in a colony they are no loss.

The only ones I could find when I started were pet sized but, once they got breeding - it did take a while to get the numbers up - they were an easy easy source of meat.

Long handled loppers worked a treat for dispatch and I scalded as it was super easy and fast. I could have one ready to cook in less than 5 min.

Taste was very VERY like pork.

As to free ranging them, I did try with an ex-pet we were given and he was doing really well and my dog was doing a fantastic job at keeping him safe until my mums dog broke her chain again :evil: and left not even a whisker.

Was going to try again in my veg garden as it is all raised beds so they could keep the paths eaten down and not reach the veg but we are off again and they don´t suit the new place so rabbits it is.

One thing I have wondered about, have researched and am now doing experiments on, is do rabbits ACTUALLY have delicate stomachs or do they just not get enough exercise? Three times in the past I have had a rabbit go down with what should have been terminal diarrhea only to recover when turned loose in the yard to die at its own leisure as I didn't have time to dispatch it. But others left in cages have died. That was what got me started down this road and having just read the Wartime raising rabbit book, it has taken me several steps farther. Have just worked out how to turn a hog panel and cage wire into a 3ft by 5ft top entry cage with a raised floor to allow droppings through but not dogs or coons under it.

Back to GPs, the dress out rate of the smaller pet ones is well worth the work, 4 of them fed my family of 4 to bursting point and only took about 20 min to clean. One day perhaps I will do them again as we really loved the taste.

GBov":jie71n05 said:

I LOVED them! They are funny, the sounds they make are fantastic, they were always happy to see me and would line up along the pen walls to watch me coming and sing at me.

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Yeah, them coming out to see me, is what makes them so endearing. It is amazing that even after a CULL they can still be eager to see me. I kinda want to say, "boy, don't you all realize that the last time I was here I whacked some of your friends?". But when they see me with a milk crate full of tasty weeds, all that culling is left behind in the past. Such simple creatures, they just live in the present. <br /><br /> __________ Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:05 pm __________ <br /><br />

michaels4gardens":jie71n05 said:

when I was researching "what's really better about raising guinea pigs" [vs rabbits or something else] I was thinking about low labour colony raising, with a permanent pasture situation.
*I discovered, ... that they also are susceptible to coccidiosis, .. that was the main problem I had with that method of raising rabbits.
*I raise rabbits that eat "almost anything", so the "easier to feed", was not a plus for me.
* I had very low mortality rates in my litters, so "guinea pigs being self sufficient at birth", was not a big plus .
* Guinea pigs being "easy to process" [when scalded] , -- seems incorrect to me. -when it is compared to butchering a rabbit, especially if you compare labour vs yield .[per lb of meat] .

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I suppose it all comes down to what you expect to get out of it and what you put into it. Remember, I am looking for a little meat without being always stuck at home. But at the same time, I don't wish to neglect my animals.

I just really prefer the idea of colony raised critters to having to keep them in separate cages. I know rabbits do ok in cages, maybe it is just a silly hang-up for me. Maybe I'm assuming that larger pins mean less maintenance, because you don't need to maintain separate food and water for each animal. Also cleaning one large space sounds easier than many smaller "rabbit holes". Maybe, I could be wrong about that.

One thing that could complicate my simplified ideas is having separate 'grow-out' sections for male and female GPs. In David's setup, GPs are taken at all ages. I would only take the larger ones if I had my herd. And that being I would have to have more control of birth rates. If I elaborate farther, it will be on my post called housing for meat guinea pigs.

ladysown said:

well.. that was fun to read through those old posts.

I do need to update a couple of my facts.

The last two years I had guinea pigs I raise them outside 24/7, in the winter putting them on deep bedding and discovered, much to my delight, that guinea pigs will tunnel in the winter and raise up healthier, stronger pups than in the summer. Lost ZERO sows pupping in the winter. Lost the odd pup that was born outside the tunnel and didn't get down on time but overall.... strong healthy pups.

clean out of the deep bedding was a bit of a pain come spring but over the winter it was great!

If I ever get back into doing guinea pigs I will use the exact same set up.

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I have mine outside on a thick layer of woodchips and the growing extra straw they dont eat. Using thowaway styrofoam cooler upside down with a hole and carboard tight box over the cooler as their house. They serm to be doing well, even when it gets down to freezing at night. They always have extra hay for eating or bedding.