Help! Come home to a baby guines pig in the cage!

Question
Hi there, I emailed this site when i first brought my 3 female piggies home and I was worried about them squeeking loudly, but they've all settled in nicely :)

I noticed a couple off weeks ago 2 of the pigs were getting fatter, but never thought theyd actually be pregnant! and today i came home to find an extra little piggie in the cage!
My girls are 15weeks old and i got them when they were 8weeks old, so im guessing they must off got pregnant before i got them.


The baby looks healthy but when it trys to suckle under its mum she walks away, so it trys another pig (grace who is not fat) and she walks away too. (im guessing which one is her mum (ezzy) by her being rather large lately!) is there anything i can do to make sure the baby gets all the nutrients and food it needs? should i separate the mum and baby from the other pigs?

Also the third pig (poppy)who has got rather large, and today is just lying around, still eating but looking uncomfortable, is she in labour? should i remove her? or could she be the mum even though shes staying away from the others?

can two mums and babys live in with each other and another girl pig?

all this has happened in a couple off hours so im not sure what the next step is..

thank you
rachel

Answer
okay wow lol,

well first things first all four (and any additionals) should be kept together at least until after weaning, the other females will help rear the child whether they let it suckle or not, kind of like a house filled with aunts, everyone chips in. now as for the baby feeding, chances are that the mum does feed the baby but you just dont see it. you would really need to spend a few hours watching (without the pigs knowing) to see whether or not she does always reject the baby. if so then you have two backup plans but we will get to those in a bit.

for the other female who is still pregnant check where her bum is, there should be a hard lump of bone. you can test this against the other two pigs, when she is within two days of giving birth this will part almost enough for you to fit your little finger between, again you can test this against the other females.

now back to the baby, if it is the case the the mother has rejected it which is unlikly but possible, then you need to get a kitten formula and feed it that four times a day at regular intervals, ideally more if you can, and feed it with a syringe. now for plan B. assuming the two are sisters both will have come into season at roughly the same time and be inpregnanted at roughly the same time, the births are therefore likly to be close. now there is a reasonable chance that if the babies are born pretty soon then the new mother will "adopt" the baby and so the kitten formula wont be needed, though this is not a certainty.

right now i know that i have written alot here but bear with me im almost done, the baby, assuming that it is being fed well will mature quickly given that it is the only one meaning that by three weeks it must be seperated if it is a boy, to work out if it is id look up some pics on the internet, boys have a fairly clear circle on there whatsit region whereas girls form a Y shape, if you look carefully you can spot which are which from day one.

best of luck and write in if you need any more help.