Guinea pigs, also known as guinea pigs, are classified as mammals, rodents, guinea pigs, native to South America, Brazil, Uruguay and other places, and are raised all over the world. It is intended for play or as a laboratory animal for medical and physiological use.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > (i) enjoyment and economic value</h1>
Guinea pigs have been raised as experimental animals as early as 1780 for experimental use in medicine and physiology. The fur of guinea pigs has warm properties, and there are three kinds of short hair, long hair and hard hair, which can be used as raw materials for fur products, so the economic value is very high. Guinea pigs are small and exquisite, like to be active by nature, docile in temperament, responsive and sensitive, lively and cute, and have different body colors of white, black and yellow-brown, which are very beautiful and have great ornamental value. In addition, guinea pigs are docile, easy to raise, have a wide range of feed sources, and have low costs. Therefore, with the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the prospect of raising guinea pigs is broad.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > (ii) morphological characteristics </h1>
Guinea pigs are about 25 cm long and adults weigh 450 to 700 g. The head is larger, the upper lip is split, the eyes are bright, the ears are short, the ear shell is thinner, and the blood vessels are bright red. The body is short and thick, the body is round, and the neck and limbs are short. 4 toes on the forelimbs, 3 toes on the hind limbs, short and sharp claws on the upper toes. Tailless. Guinea pigs have white, black and yellowish brown colours, and are covered with long, short and hard hairs. Most of the guinea pigs raised in China are short-haired guinea pigs.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > (iii) life habits </h1>
Guinea pigs originally live in the wilderness of Brazil, Ulagui and other places in South America, and mostly inhabit grasslands, swamps and forest edges in rocky areas. He prefers to live in groups and quiet environments, is afraid of cold, moisture, heat, gentle temperament, timid and alert, very responsive, and any noise and all kinds of stimuli will cause his commotion and panic. Burrowing during the day, coming out at night, feeding on plant foods. Male guinea pigs are 6 to 8 months old, and female guinea pigs are 4 to 6 months old and begin to mature sexually, and can mate and multiply. The gestation period is 68 to 72 days, and each litter is 2 to 3 litters, and 3 litters can be given each year. General species of guinea pigs can be used for 2 to 3 years, and should not be used for breeding after 2 to 3 years of age.
(4) Breeding management
Guinea pigs usually focus on green feed, artificial feeding guinea pigs love to eat more cellulose grasses, especially creeping stem grass, the digestion of crude fiber is strong, its digestibility rate of 38.2%. An adult guinea pig needs 150 to 200 grams of green material per day, and should also be properly fed a certain amount of concentrate. An adult guinea pig needs to be fed about 50 grams of concentrate per day.
The required concentrate should be formulated according to the guinea pig's comprehensive requirements for nutrition, and the formula is 20% of jade rice, 21% of bran, 25% of soybean cake noodles, 10% of sorghum noodles, 15% of barley, 30% of fishmeal, 2% of yeast powder, 3% of bone meal, and 1% of table salt. Add 1 kg of cod liver oil per 100 kg of mixture. When making solid feed, 25 kg of grass powder is added to every 100 kg of mixture, and guinea pigs are very sensitive to changing feeds and will immediately suffer from loss of appetite.
In the hot summer, it is necessary to properly feed some green feed and ensure the supply of drinking water. When feeding solid feed, the amount of water fed should be increased by 3 to 4 times. It is generally supplied in two installments per day. Guinea pigs can be reared in cages. The cage of guinea pigs should be dry and moisture-proof, requiring room temperature of 18 ~ 22 ° C, relative humidity of 45% to 55%. According to the habit of guinea pigs who are afraid of both cold and heat, they should be sheltered from the wind and keep warm in the cold season, and the nest should be cushioned with clean mat grass or dry wood chips to keep warm; In summer, it is also necessary to prevent heat, reduce the breeding density of guinea pigs, strengthen indoor ventilation, room temperature should not exceed 28 ° C, and do not direct sunlight to prevent heat stroke death.
Guinea pigs have a timid personality, and should keep the environment quiet and prevent guinea pigs from suddenly being frightened. Guinea pigs like to be clean, so the cage must be cleaned regularly every day, and the cages and eating utensils should be washed frequently, disinfected regularly, and the feces and residual food should be removed in time. For pregnant and nursing female guinea pigs, it is necessary to change the mat grass frequently, cut into 15 to 18 cm with dry soft straw and add it to the box for nesting and heating. In addition, the guinea pig breeding room should prevent rat infestation. Guinea pigs generally live for 4 to 5 years, and long lifespans can live for 6 to 7 years.
(5) Breeding technology
1. Identification of male and female guinea pigs
Identifying male and female guinea pigs is conducive to breeding in a certain proportion of male and female. When identifying male and female guinea pigs, grasp the back of the guinea pig's chest with one hand and lift it, and the other hand presses the skin on the front of the genitals forward, if the male guinea pig can see the conical penis protruding and curved downwards; In the case of female guinea pigs, there are no other features except for the inverted "Ya" glyph on the genitals.
2. Reproduction
(1) Selection and breeding Should be selected when the baby mouse is out of the milk, and the parent mouse is required to be physically strong and grow and develop the fastest in the same nest. Breeding can be numbered according to different mating methods.
(2) Mating Male rats are 70 days old, and female guinea pigs are 35 to 45 days old, that is, sexual maturity. Male guinea pigs must be 6 months old, and female guinea pigs must mature at 3.5 to 4.5 months of age, and reproductive organs can be developed perfectly before they can be bred to produce in order to maintain the health of the production population. Guinea pigs continue to have estrus for 1 to 18 hours, usually from 17:00 to 5:00 in the morning. Female guinea pigs mate in heat. When guinea pigs are mated, do not put 2 breeding male guinea pigs into the same female mouse group, otherwise the male guinea pigs will bite each other and the fertilization rate of the female guinea pigs will be reduced. Gelatin embolism at the vaginal opening of female guinea pigs is a sign of mating. Guinea pigs mostly use the following two mating methods to avoid inbreeding reproduction and random mating.
(1) Long-term cohabitation mating method. That is, 1 male guinea pig 1 female guinea pig or 1 male guinea pig polyfin guinea pig cohabitation, according to a female guinea pig can ovulate within 1.75 to 19 hours after giving birth, the female breed mouse after childbirth, together with the original cage male rat moved into another clean single cage, so that the female breed rat very quickly conceived, thereby shortening the birth cycle, improve the single birth indicator.
(2) Regular cohabitation mating method. After the baby mouse is removed from milk, 1 female guinea pig cohabits with 1 male rat, and after 1 month, the pregnant female guinea pig is removed from the cage and fed alone to wait for delivery. The gestation period after conception of female guinea pigs is 60 to 70 days, and most of them are 67 to 68 days to give birth. Management should be strengthened during this period, the feeding density should not be too large, the feed should be sufficient, the environment near the cage should be kept quiet, not easily captured, and when it must be captured, it should be caught lightly to prevent miscarriage.
Generally, about 1 week before the birth of the baby mouse, the female guinea pig and the male guinea pig who were originally mated should be placed in a cage at the same time to be raised separately for the birth of the mouse. Pregnant female guinea pigs mostly give birth at night, the amount of litters is generally 1 to 6 per litter, and the female guinea pigs should check the littering of the female guinea pigs in time after giving birth, and record the birth card of the baby mice. Female calculus Guinea pigs have a strong ability to lactate, and it is advisable for each female guinea pig to breastfeed 4 litters. After birth, after about 3 weeks of breastfeeding, the baby mouse can weigh up to 2000 grams, and then it can be weaned and left the female guinea pig and live independently.