South American Cuy

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sarahh

Hello All,
It's been quite awhile since I have been able to come to the site and I thought I would share some pics with you. I went on a study abroad trip to Ecuador over winter break where, unfortunately, guinea pig or cuy are a food item. We got to visit a cuy farm and I thought I would share some pictures of the experience with you. I asked if I could take one home...no luck :(

This is the very large male cuy they brought out
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One of the cuy buildings
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A cuy square I guess
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Babies
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Very pregnant lady
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I will refrain from the cooked cuy....to graphic
 
:o :o :o :o OMG that poor little mummy she's enormous :o :o :o :o
i'm glad you refrained it's horrible isn't it :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( >:( >:( >:( >:(
LOL bit too big to stuff into your pockets eh :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
Gee they don't give them much space do they >:(
Lovely to see you back on sweetie :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
OMG!
they are big and that mum is HUGE! :o :o :o
they are cute thou!
i understand about the 'cooked ones' they are very graphic!
how big approx are the runs?
and what are the poor things fed on?
god to see you back!
Ronx
 
that poor mum is massive! it must have been upsetting knowing what was going to happen to them :'( they look so sweet
 
I want one! Look at the size of that first guy! Oh my word!

Sad that they are a food source but at least they are in open runs with hay rather than cramped in tiny boxes like our intensively farmed chickens are kept in the UK!

Can't believe the size of the pregnant one!

Are there any in this country?
 
I'd love a dozen! They are gorgeous! Sad how they end up though. But we all have different cultures although I am against it I understand it. :)

That poor mum though, she must have about 8 in their! :o
 
they are lovely piggies and it is terrible the way they end up :'( :'( :'( but it is their way of life and we though hate it must accept it. that first piggy is a big mamma and the mamma is a huge mamma :o :o :o it is a shame their runs aren't bigger, hoping your studies went well, hoping you learnt heaps. and thanks for sharing the photos, i had no idea guinea pigs could get that big :o :o :o bet you are glad to be back in the UK where piggies are pets. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
Interesting to see! Considering they're being raised for food the conditions they're living in look pretty good and they look healthy. Looks like a Hilton in comparison to how the majority of chickens are kept over here.
 
I wondered just how big the size difference was between cuy and domestic guinea pigs and now i know! Thanks for that :)

I wish i could have one though :smitten:
 
What interesting photos - look at the size of them! :o
 
The first one is enormous!

How can they eat those poor little darlings
 
Fantasic photos! I was wondering if I could use a couple of the to show others the size difference espcially with that boar the man is holding.

When I have been searching around on the internet for my trip to Europe to collect some Skinnys I came across this website...
http://www.cuys.de/ if you look at the 5th bullet point down that is about Cuy.
This is a picture take of it to compair sizes...
groessenvergleich_cuy_ms.jpg

The dalmation is an adult domestic Cavy.

I have been told they are very wild pigs and can be prone to nipping. Someone said on another forum...
The Peruvian guinea pig (NOT the long haired Peruvian cavy breed we know) is a large strain of guinea pig kept and bred by native peoples of the Andes, the Cuy as a breed (the huge evil ones with extra toes) were developed in Europe/ USA as far as I know as a means to alleviate hunger and to provide a good source of protein in Central South American developing countries. Cuy or Cui is simply the Quechua name for guinea pig/ Cavy.

Emma x
 
Awww it's sad when you think of what's going to happen to them :'( No different at all to eating any other animal in my opinion though, and they look like they had a better life than most of the animals people eat in the UK. Guinea pigs are pets to us so we wouldn't eat them, but animals that people do eat are pets to other people. (not that I eat any lol)
 
The breeding of cuy is a very serious business down there. We visited a small farmer who had some cuys and they were the same size as our pet pigs. The large ones have been bred to be that big. Lots of crossing and such. They are only fed fresh forages and this is where they get their Vit C and water. If anyone has any other questions I'd be happy to answer them. :)
 
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