| Care and Husbandry |
| Brood sows enjoying their time in a 8' X 2' community cage |
| Here at Kar Mar Cavies we believe in producing nationally competitive show cavies with sound minds and able bodies. Sows chosen to reside at Kar Mar usually live their entire lives here. They spend their time in the show pen and move on to producing better than themselves. Boars on the other hand have to earn their place in our barn. While some stay a life time, most reproduce several litters and move on. Only the best of the best have a place here for life. Our husbandry practices are just that, ours. We have methods and practices that work for us. Feed: Here in Alaska it is very difficult to find fresh quality feed. So we have developed our mix of feeds based on what works for us. We use a combination of Nutrena feeds along with oats and Calf Mana supplements. Housing: We use a variety of cages. Some are traditional wire condos, some are metal troughs and some are home made 2' X 4' chloroplast cages. Bedding: Again, here in Alaska it can be a challenge to find affordable bedding for our animals. I use a pelleted wood product and pine shavings on top for comfort. I have tried just about everything on the market and this is what works for us. Pens are cleaned once a week. The Barn: The barn is 10' X 20', completely insulated with R30 in the walls and roof. My husband and father worked very hard to make a warm and comfortable place for my critters. The barn is heated during the winter and has a custom air exchange system to keep fresh air in the barn at all times. During the summer, we have fans in each of the gable end windows. On the rare occasion that we actually reach temps above 80*, we have frozen water bottles waiting in the freezer to comfort the pigs. |