DavidEscapes
Junior Guinea Pig
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2009
- Messages
- 213
- Reaction score
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- Points
- 175
Hello everyone
We are planning to get 2 or 3 rescued piggies in the new year and I want to check that my home plans for them are going to be good.
We have a large wooden garage in the back garden (not used for cars). It is dry and quite warm. The only downside is it has no windows.
Inside the garage we are planning on putting a 4ft x 2ft hutch. This will lead directly to an outside space via a small hole cut out of the back, with a ramp. The ramp should be no more than 10 inches from the ground at the top.
The outside space will be on grass, about 15ft square, with a variety of toys, tunnels ect. It will also have a small house just big enough for the piggies to shelter in. It will be solidly built by me, and use fox proof wire mesh all around. Including underneath where the bottom will be buried under about 5 inches of dirt and turf. The turf will also sit about 2 inches higher here than the rest of the garden, with an inch of small stones underneath too, to allow for good drainage.
In addition to the above the roof of the run will be slightly sloping, and will have a piece of clear polycarbonate which can be attached when there is rain. Keeping the entire run dry. This will not be on all year around.
The area the run is situated in is surrounded by tall trees, so there should not be direct sunlight at any time of the year.
My primary concern is winter care. The outside space will be dry, but still will be cold. Will this be ok. They will always have access to indoors (except during cleaning). We will have a door between the hutch and the run, but it is planned that this is kept open all year around except during very extreme weather (locked inside), and during hutch cleaning (locked outside, obviously!).
Will the piggies be ok using the outside space in the winter, Given that it will be cold, but dry due to the clear polycarbonate roof? We would not want to keep them locked inside for any period longer than 24hrs, and even then only due to serious weather problems, since they will be in total darkness if locked indoors. Outside they will also have additional shelter with a small 'day hutch' outside. And I could even add clear polycarbonate all around during the worst of the weather.
Some of the equipment I will be using is linked below:
Mesh: http://www.meshdirect.co.uk/Wire-Me...-1-2ins-x-1-2ins-holes-3ft-x-20ft-pr-395.html
Roof: http://www.casupply.co.uk/acatalog/6mm_polycarbonate_multiwall_sheeting.html
Sorry for the long post! I am trying to get this perfect for them and would appreciate any comments at all.
David
We are planning to get 2 or 3 rescued piggies in the new year and I want to check that my home plans for them are going to be good.
We have a large wooden garage in the back garden (not used for cars). It is dry and quite warm. The only downside is it has no windows.
Inside the garage we are planning on putting a 4ft x 2ft hutch. This will lead directly to an outside space via a small hole cut out of the back, with a ramp. The ramp should be no more than 10 inches from the ground at the top.
The outside space will be on grass, about 15ft square, with a variety of toys, tunnels ect. It will also have a small house just big enough for the piggies to shelter in. It will be solidly built by me, and use fox proof wire mesh all around. Including underneath where the bottom will be buried under about 5 inches of dirt and turf. The turf will also sit about 2 inches higher here than the rest of the garden, with an inch of small stones underneath too, to allow for good drainage.
In addition to the above the roof of the run will be slightly sloping, and will have a piece of clear polycarbonate which can be attached when there is rain. Keeping the entire run dry. This will not be on all year around.
The area the run is situated in is surrounded by tall trees, so there should not be direct sunlight at any time of the year.
My primary concern is winter care. The outside space will be dry, but still will be cold. Will this be ok. They will always have access to indoors (except during cleaning). We will have a door between the hutch and the run, but it is planned that this is kept open all year around except during very extreme weather (locked inside), and during hutch cleaning (locked outside, obviously!).
Will the piggies be ok using the outside space in the winter, Given that it will be cold, but dry due to the clear polycarbonate roof? We would not want to keep them locked inside for any period longer than 24hrs, and even then only due to serious weather problems, since they will be in total darkness if locked indoors. Outside they will also have additional shelter with a small 'day hutch' outside. And I could even add clear polycarbonate all around during the worst of the weather.
Some of the equipment I will be using is linked below:
Mesh: http://www.meshdirect.co.uk/Wire-Me...-1-2ins-x-1-2ins-holes-3ft-x-20ft-pr-395.html
Roof: http://www.casupply.co.uk/acatalog/6mm_polycarbonate_multiwall_sheeting.html
Sorry for the long post! I am trying to get this perfect for them and would appreciate any comments at all.
David