Raising guinea pigs for food

There's an interesting thread over on permies about this and I'm curious to hear if anyone here is doing it.
GPs could be a really doable meat source on my small, suburban place.

 

If your gonna raise them for food do a little reading on the breading habits. If I remember right they HAVE to have a litter early in life otherwise there pelvic area hardens. If impregnated after it hardens the pregnancy will kill the pig cause the young have no way out. Can anyone confirm? Due to where I live GP's are one of few meat sources the city hasn't outlawed yet for raising in the city.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0BTctUfPvI

 

Not much meat on them , mate has them and brought several around to try ,
We tried fried , baked and in a soup . Soup was best .

 

I did mine years ago - as teh Peruvians do it - split in half and baked/BBQd - they do it with a heavy piece of steel under and over the body

not much meat - very tasty

if you are looking for a small animal for mea t- rabbits or muscovy ducks would get a better return for your efforts

 

My place is too small for ducks and I reckon rabbits would be pushing it size-wise.
It's very much a question of inputs/outputs, but at this point it's pretty theoretical anyway.
I have a very nice, openminded boarder/flatmate, but I've got a feeling that breeding herds of 'pigs', dispatching them with a spanner and cooking them up out the back might make him a bit uncomfortable!

 

When Roberto Perez from Cuba (as seen in the DVD 'Power of Community') was in Australia I had this very conversation with him; because growing meat Guinea pigs is featured in the film. His reply was somewhere along the lines of 'small they may be but they are meal size and with no leftovers there are no concerns about how to store food afterwards when you don't have reliable refrigeration'.
After that I did have a go, but my daughter started to name them...and that is always a problem!

 

I had a dream once of setting up a mowing service using guinea pigs ! 90mm tunnels to all my neigbours properties and even a GP multistorey trailor behind the pushbike.
Little shelters across the yard to hide from preditors and to trap them in when finished. GP fences to protect the garden. Deck chair with book! Once the grass season slowed down they would be lemmingised ! Free fert service as well ! Lots of squeaking and animal health issues though !

 

Guinea pigs for food

Is there anyone out there who is actually actively involved in raising guinea pigs for food?
It would be helpful if I could locate another person who is not just talk but is actually raising guinea pigs and slaughtering them for food.
I have been doing this for the last 12 months and have searched high and low for quality information on the subject.
The problem I have now is progressing a breeding program with the focus on high fertility / quick grow rates and good temperament.

If there is someone out there who is interested or already undertaking growing guinea pigs for food it would advantageous to discuss breeding programs leading to sharing of unrelated stud boars to ensure inbreeding does not occur.

The best recipe we have tried so far has been a guinea pig and pork terrine with a good pickle on the top.

Good breeding - good base stock - great meat - good food

 

Most of central and south america are big on eating guinea pig so maybe people from these communities in Australia might be giving it a go. I know a few Bolivian's I could ask.

Can't see them getting on masterchief for a while but maybe with the economic down turn they might have a chance - save lawn mower fuel and the meat bill !

 

Get out of the City...move to a regional town. We can have ducks chickens and in NSW rabbits in the back yard with only roosters banned in some places. We have all mod cons out here, good coffee shops, schools and even employment opportunities. Leave the GP's to being cute child friendly pets.
Cathy

 

bluesireapph, while "Get out of the City" makes sense for some, I don't drive and have poor balance (no bikes or horses...) so use public transport, which is rubbish outside the cities. There's no way I'd want to rely on others to drive me round the place.
NZ regional towns and cities generally have identical rules re animals: I suppose people usually have more space in smaller towns.
I think sometimes the city is actually the most practical, sustainable place to live and I quite enjoy the special challenges of suburban permaculture. I'll always hanker to live in the country though!
I'm not 'having a go' BTW, I just think it's always worth presenting another side.

 

We could start another neverending debate over counrty v's city so I suppose vegetarian is an option if you can't raise animals. Have you looked at the fish and vegie systems, they work well in a small space, and are on my wish list. I'll need the money to buy a system as doing it myself isn't an option, so maybe when i set up for retirement. I am getting some GP's for my very large chook run just for colour and interest. Will need some strong fox proff boxes for them (would love to see the bounty on foxes returned) as I can't manage the biodynamic answer to ferals.
Cheers
Cathy

 

Just for those who live in Queensland thinking about having rabbits. It is illegal in Queensland to have rabbits......unless of course you are a magician and then you can get a licence. seriously..........

 

I love meat but I just can't kill my own. I wonder what the mobile butcher would charge for a guinea pig, ha

Lol, that's funny annette. I'll remember that if I ever move to QLD ;P

 

Probably more for the embarassment factor.
I did thinkof taking them to the home kill butcher but wqs afraid he would laugh at me, or worse, have me certified a loony.

 

I have just started keeping guinea pigs for food. I'd love to see posts from people who are doing this and I'm planning to write about my experiences.

So far I have bought two females who have just reached breeding age, and I added one male about a week ago.

I'm keeping them in a cage designed as a medium-sized dog crate (this should keep them safe from predators!), and it's just big enough for the three of them. I'll be getting a new cage in time for the first litter so that I can keep the babies and mothers separate from the male. I'll probably get a new female at the same time to keep the male company and increase my breeding stock.

I'm feeding them on fresh grass which they seem to be loving. They're so cute when they excitedly start eating each new batch of grass!

I'm a little concerned about how much they eat - more than I expected. I live right next to a park that has a lot of grass growing wild, so I have a good food supply for them right now, but I'm not sure what I'll do when winter comes and the grass slows down, or if our current semi-drought continues. I live in Brisbane and it's been a few weeks since we had some decent rain. I'm trying to be as environmentally sensitive as possible about this, so I don't want to ship in food if I can avoid it, or use up a lot of water in growing my own grass. Because of this, I'm not sure how well this guinea-pig-for-food experiment will go, but I still think it's worth a try!

 

Looking forward to hearing more about this from you.
I have been considering them and my son in law to be said he knows someone with the larger type so....soon.

 

Gps are still the only animal I'd get for meat, but considering any grass that shows up at my place gets pulled out, feeding them could be quite a mission

 

Make you a guinne Pig tractor and see if they can keep up with your chickens