cavy pedigrees

Question
I am a 4H leader and have bred Polish rabbits. My girls have recently acquired Abyssinians. Are pedigrees as important with cavies as they are with rabbits? I am encouraging my girls to show at PaSRBA and we do not have pedigrees, will this be a problem?

Answer
Fortunately no, the pedigrees are not a necessity for raising and/or showing cavies. If you have rabbits you may already have the Evans program that you use for them. If not you can use any pedigree blank if you wish to raise cavies.

The pedigrees are important for breeding purposes so that you can track the genetic line of your pigs or rabbits. That way you have the information you need for trying to breed for specific genetic traits and colors. But for showing pigs you don't have to have a pedigree.

What I would suggest is to write to ARBA to ask if there are any special requirements for showing in local or state fairs. I would also contact your 4H director in your area as well.  

The majority of cavy breeders keep pedigrees for breeding purposes only.  Unlike the rabbit breeders, most cavy breeders aren't as enthusiastic about registering for champion certificates for your pigs.  

We keep records of the legs as they are issued and know which of our pigs are already champion eligible, but because cavies have metal tags in the ears rather than tattoos many of us don't like to have a tag in each ear as it doubles the chances that a pig will find a way to rip it out.