Davids piggie run diary

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DavidEscapes

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ok. So, yesterday I started builing my hutch and run. I thought people might like to see some photos of work in progress and the completed project. As well as seeing some of the research and planning that has gone into it.

Briefly:

A 2x4, 2 story hutch. With no ramp between floors. The ramp is fiddly to make as the hutch has pull out plastic floors. It is going to be hard to get the ramp to fit while still allowing the floors to pull out. This will be perminatly connected to a 5x4 outdoor run which I am building myself. The entrance to the run will have a door so the piggies can be kept in the hutch overnight.

I started work on the run yesterday. The timber I am using is a mixture or 2x2 and 2x1 pressure treated, part planed. The treatment used is a chemical called Tanalith 'E. This is safe for pets as long as it is fully dried and the wood is not knawed on excessivly. It is the replacement for the earlier system (outlawed in 2004) which leaked toxins and is considered unsafe. When complete the whole run will be treated with a second coat of pet safe preserver to seal sawn ends and to give the run a uniform colour.

To ensure full dryness the run is being built about 6 weeks before we plan to add piggies. The mesh will be on the inside of the frame, making knawing very difficult and unlikely to happen at all. If it does I think it will be very minimal.

The work I got done yesterday is shown below. Didn't do much to be honest. The two excuses are the fact that I started late so it soon went dark, and also that I just had knee surgery. So I am working very slowly :) Limping around with a drill unable to kneel and put weight on wood when I am cutting it sort of slows things down somewhat!

The run will be covered on all sides (expect the bottom) in very strong wire mesh (16g welded and galvanised). It is very unlikely a fox could get through it. At the rear 18' the top will be covered in planks to offer some shelter and also to give me a place to stand my food trays. I plan to grow a lot of the grass, herbs, weeds etc that piggies love to eat. This will also have mesh protecting the seeds and small plants from birds.

The run will stand on a roughly paved area, well sheltered with surrounding trees etc. Out of direct sunlight pretty much all the time. The area currently has plants growing through the cracks (some poisonous to piggies). All will be cut right back and the nasty ones will be de-rooted. Again, this will happen straight away so we have time to see what regrows and do-root a 2nd time if required. Some of the surrounding plants which could grow into the run will also be cot back and de-rooted as required. The only plants in the run space that won't be de-rooted are forget me nots and dandelions.

The total space will be 28 square feet. This will be for two piggies.

The run will be secured to the paving below so it cannot be lifted by goxes etc. The top will be hinged and removable. Locked down with good latches. I am also adding extra latches to the hutch. The heart latches it has now are pretty, but I am not convinced of their reliablility.

Links:

Mesh: http://www.meshdirect.co.uk/Wire-Me...-1-2ins-x-1-2ins-holes-3ft-x-49ft-pr-522.html
Hutch: [ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002SQGSQY/ref=oss_product[/ame]
 
Photos:

Part completed run. Waiting for extra screws to secure fully, the removable top sections, the mesh, and the tray/shelter planking at the rear. It is 5x4 and is 2 high so they have loads of overhead space.





Wood for top of run



The location of the run and hutch



 
Very nice, I can't wait to see it all finished...

Can we get pictures of the piggies hutch too please? I remember you were building it a while back :).
 
Very impressed by the amount of serious thought gone into all this. Am looking forward to following your progress and eventually seeing piggies in situ. :)
Best of luck. Hope your knee is healing well. x
 
Hi guys

I have done a bit more this afternoon. As I said earlier, not doing huge amounts as I need to take care of my knee and not push it too far.

Just finished my tea and am about to get on with a bit more while there is still light. When I come back later and post the list of plants I will be growing for the piggies to eat.

David
 
Actually. Having a cup of tea. So may as well post my list of plants.

I have 6 trays, each 16'x10'.

One tray will be Timothy grass on its own

One tray will be dandelions

One tray will be various grasses, a mixture of:
  • Meadow fescue
  • Cocksfoot
  • Sheeps fescue
  • Tall fescue
  • Creeping red fescue
  • Red fescue
Three trays will be grasses, wild flowers, leafy weeds and other goodies. All pretty fast growing stuff.

  • Meadow fescue
  • Cocksfoot
  • Sheeps fescue
  • Tall fescue
  • Creeping red fescue
  • Red fescue
  • Timothy grass
  • Dandelion
  • Chickweed
  • Crimson Clover
  • White clover
  • Red clover
  • Aslike clover
  • Chicory
  • Plantain
  • Trefoil
  • Yarrow
  • Shepards Purse
  • Vetch
  • Ladys bedstraw
  • Hedge bedstraw
  • Knapweed
  • Chickweed
  • White Musk Mallow
 
JoanneG111 said:
Very nice, I can't wait to see it all finished...

Can we get pictures of the piggies hutch too please? I remember you were building it a while back :).
Click to expand...

I ended up seeing a great hutch on Amazon. Price was fine too. So I saved myself some trouble and bought it. Only thing I left to do there is install a ramp as it didn't come with one. [ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002SQGSQY/[/ame]
 
Well. Got the frame for the run finished today. Only thing left to do with that is paint with preservative and put in place. Bolted down of course. That will be done tomorrow. The mesh will arrive on Wednesday so that will be added then, I will add the latches etc then too.

The space has been mostly cleared. My lovely girlfriend Nikki did that for me while I wasn't looking :) I just have to dig out the most stubborn roots there now.
 
Completed frame for the run.

The open sections are hinged so they can be lifted up from either side. It is two sections with the hinges in the centre. So you can fold the centre forwards, or the front back. Alternatively you can fold one over and lift the whole section off altogether to open it up completely.

The planked bit at the back has a few functions. It gives the structure much needed strength. It gives the piggies somewhere to hide if it rains and they don't want to go inside, and it is the place my wild food trays will go. The ramp from the hutch to the run will be under there too. So if the piggies poke their noses out in the rain they won't get wet :)





As you can see the place it is all going is now much more clear. Including surrounding bluebells close enough to grow into the run. Thanks Nikki :) Just some tougher roots left for me to remove.





Next update will probably be wednesday night when I have added the mesh.
 
Last edited:
I read the list of plants to my senior piggy - she would like to come for a visit once the trays are ready to eat please!
 
grrr... It was a lovely sunny day so I did the coat of preservative. Ten minutes after I had finished the skies went black, and downpour!

Guess I am doing it again when its all dried out :(
 
I'm guessing you'll get a mass emigration of guinea pigs from all over, heading your way!
 
phew. Just been out to check and rain didn't do as much damage as it might have done. Will just need a little touching up when it has properly dried :)
 
I have been away for the last two days and went back to building today.

The mesh arrived this morning. This has now been cut into the correct sized pieces. Including a piece to protect the seeds and seedlings of the piggie food I am growing from getting eaten by birds and dug up by squirrels. It took quite a while to cut the mesh pieces, and I am covered in lots of little cuts! That stuff can be sharp, and the ends roll up and hit you with surprising speed.

The internal piece is 230' long. So given that the mesh squares are 1/2', that's 460 cuts just to get the correct width. With the other pieces my guess is around 800 seperate cuts total. There is excess depth in the piece I have cut for the inside of the run. This means I can tuck it underneath so their are no edges near the piggies.

Two things learned.

1) If you are cutting mesh wear tough gloves. I have lots of little cuts from the edges, and a couple of blisters from the wire cutters.

2) Leave the begining and end cuts until last. Start a couple of squares in. If you don't the mesh will roll up as you go. Getting in the way and jabbing you all the time with even more sharp edges!

I also completed the coats of preservative so everything now looks nice and will last for years.

Lastly. We were visiting my girlfriends mums house for Monday & Tuesday. She lives in a very rural area and had lots of leftover slate from drystone walling. We selected a couple of really nice pieces which I am going to make a small covered area with. The piggies will be able to hide under it and it will be low enough from them to go on top of it. It is thick slate so it will not rot, and the piggies will never be able to knaw it away. Also, this means that underneath should remain cool even in the hottest of summers. So it will give them some nice shade. Obviously it is also waterproof so it gives another place to hide out if intrepid piggies decide to stay outside in the rain :)

I had play with a design. Pictures to follow. The pieces are largely flat, top and bottom so it will be easy to site it in such a way as the weight of a piggie will have absolutely no hope of rocking or moving it. So no trapped paws etc.
 
A couple of pictures of my (unfinished) piggie hide and platform. It has three entrances and an open space underneath. Note the extra flat pieces of slate to the left which acts as steps to allow them onto the top and provides more play interest in general. Giving them three levels in total as well as the underneath arear. I have a few more pieces of state and will be trying out different configurations to see what works.





Finally the painted run and mesh all cut and ready to be attached. Along with my protective piece for seedings in my piggie food trays. The piece of pipe will also be in the run, though I am going to shorten it. Piggies love tunnels :) I am certain it is more than wide enough but will be checking carefully before putting it in the run! The black plastic container is an old waterproof recycling bin. It will be used to store piggie food.

 
For those who are interested here is a general outline of the overall costs involved in such an endevour:

Hutch: £100
Wire Mesh: £90
Timber: £30 (I already had about £10 worth, so this would actually be £40 from scratch)
Preservative: £12
Screws, nails, hinges, latches, etc: £15
Seeds, seed trays and compost: £14
First 2 months food, treats, bowls, hay manger, water bottles etc etc etc: £50 ( approx )
 
Finally. The run is complete!

As the piggies won't be moving in until mid-late June, I haven't worried too much about getting things done. Just put in work whenever I have had some free time.

Apart from the latches for the top, and of course some piggies, the run and hutch are now done. Pictures are below.

The whole thing is bolted to the ground, the hutch is attached to the run too. The whole thing is very secure indeed and shuld keep the foxes out with no problems at all :)

I need to finish making tea right now. But I will come back later to answer any questions etc.











 
Wow. wow, wow, wow!

That's some pretty impressive carpentry skills! I love the run and how you've joined it with the hutch. The slate "hidey" is a fantastic idea. It will really help them to stay cool in summer I think!

I'm often accused (not by people on TGPF :))) of making my piggies pen look like a doll's house, but I love how yours is so natural! With a pile of hay in the run it'll be like the andean plains (in a run-format :) )
 
Thanks for the comments guys :)

Just thought I would share a few things I learned, and some ideas I came up with.

1) The slate hidey. I am really please with that. Yes, it will be great for helping them to stay cool in the summer I think. They can also go on top of it too. After quite a bit of playing around even my own 80kg can't shift it, so the weight of a couple of piggies is going to have no effect at all!

2) The mesh. Firstly, if you build something like this I suggest you build the sides seperatly, attach the mesh in 4 flat pieces and only then attach the sides together. I wish I had done that. Making that mesh go around the corners was a massive challenge that is best avoided, trust me!

3) More mesh stuff. The ground the run stands on is not level, their are some dips here and there. Obviously the wood is flat which leaves gaps underneath for mice and so on to crawl through. To overcome this I put the mesh on with the run upside down. Leaving 2 inches of mesh sticking out of the bottom. I then folded the excess mesh underneath and installed the run, bolting it down firmly.

Following that I went around the underside with a screwdriver, pulling the excess down to fill any dips in the ground. The result is that any sharp mesh edges are hidden underneath, and all gaps are filled with mesh so nothing can come underneath where there are dips.

For the surface of the ramps I cut a piece of roofing felt to cover the plank, then stapled thin wooden runners all the way up to give lots of grip for the piggies feet, and minimize any possible slippage. A particular issue in my opinion given how fragile piggies toes are.

The trays at the back are seeded. After taking the pics I put them in the run to protect them while the seedlings take. They should be flourishing by june!
 
What a piggie paradise! Well done. Can't wait to see the lucky piggies that get to live here. You could have a neutered boar and a harem for him there's so much space! ;)
 
That looks fantastic and has given me lots of ideas for when we get ours as we will be keeping them outside. It's nice to see a Natural set up if that makes sense as many people on here have them indoors I was beginning to think I was being Cruella De Ville for keeping mine outside! But sadly with 2 dogs and a toddler and a 3 up and 2 down house there is no room at the Inn!
Are you going to put them inside a shed etc in winter or is this set up for all year round? I think its brill well done! Where did you get your hutch from? Presumably you cut a hole in the side to access the run? Or is it closeable?
 
Sorry just read your first point and saw where you got your hutch from-but I see you have added a ramp inside too? And then one outside. I do like the idea of an attached run like that and having the seed trays too. Although was wondering how using the trays works? Won't they get through it quite quickly?
 
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