New Zealand Plume Rare Guinea Pig Breed

New Zealand Plume Pedigree Guinea Pig Breed

New Zealand Plume with a Luscious Rooster Tail

New Zealand Plume is the first unique pedigree guinea pig breed that was created in 1976 in Wellington.

This rare breed has a well raised "mohawk" like ridge about 1cm in height and progressing from the shoulders straight down the body and sharply rising in length to form a high-arched, luscious rooster tail. This unique breed must avoid the 'Fan tail', where the hair spreads horizontally rather than vertically.

New Zealand Plume are a rosetted cavy, which is best described as circles of hair radiating from a centre point, and you need rosettes to help form the plume. Normally there will be two or more on the body that help form the ridge and two on the rump which raises the rooster tail.

Plumes have a fringe, with hair that falls from between the ears towards the nose, and 'chops', which is hair growing from the cheeks.

With New Zealand Plume genes it takes time narrowing down the genetics. This involves selective breeding, and this is done to isolate genes and bring out the desirable traits. The aim is to produce the good traits from the parents, or having the offspring being superior to the parents.

This unique pedigree guinea pig breed has a satin version, which shines and shimmers in the light.

The photo above is Mamaku Snowbird taken at The Nationwide Cavy Show 2022.

CHAMPION Mamaku Snowman

Mamaku Zorro

Mamaku Batman Returns - 4 months old

Taranaki Cavy Group with New Zealand Plume

Mamaku King

New Zealand Plume Best U5 at Capital Cavy Club show

The Nationwide Cavy Show 2022 New Zealand Plume

The Nationwide Cavy Show Satin New Zealand Plume

Mamaku White Knight - Satin New Zealand Pliume - 5 Months old

New Zealand Plume Cavy Genetics

The dominant gene R gives rosettes in the coat while rr cavies are smooth coated. The effect of R is enhanced by the modifying genes mm, so that RRmm cavies are fully rosetted. Rrmm cavies may lack some rosettes. Where the genotype is RrMM or RRMM the cavy nearly always has the hair on its toes growing backwards up the foot or in small whirls

The rest of the coat is usually smooth, though occasionally there is a ridge down the back and one or two rudimentary rosettes on each side of the spine (the basics for Bonnet). R-Mm cavies nearly always have two rosettes and a marked ridge between them (the basics for pedigree breed New Zealand Plume).

The photo is Mamaku Batman taken in 2015, he was close to a Champion.

Mamaku Robert and Chamption Mamaku Snowman when they were 2 months old

New Zealand Plume Breed History

Many years ago in the 1950's, a woman migrated from England to NZ with her English Peruvians and Abyssinian cavies. There were no cavy shows or clubs, so she mixed mated her cavies and sold the babies as pets. She lived in Wellington. Christa Krey found her when she was looking for a pet for her 9-year-old son and saw some of her longhairs and bought some for herself. They had more than two rosettes and a coarser coat.

When the inaugural meeting to form a cavy club was held in Wellington in January 1976, over 70 people attended with some of their guinea pigs. Many of these were NZ Plume and NZ Peruvian typed cavies.

Lots of these people wanted to show, but English pedigree imports were few at that stage and did not breed fast enough. Therefore, the Committee of the newly formed National Cavy Club of New Zealand (later renamed New Zealand Cavy Club because they were not allowed the word National when incorporating), drew up standards for two breeds, the New Zealand Plume and the New Zealand Peruvian for members to work with to produce showable cavies.

There were some lovely NZ Plume shown for some time until more pedigree stock from English imports became available and breeders turned to those. Just a few breeders continued, thankfully the breed is still around today.