Dilemma and stress

[PopcornPigs]

As you may have seen I lost my little guy Terry recently. This has left me with the following piggy combos:

Willy (Neutered male) and Tilly (Female) - Top hutch
Frazzle (Neutered male) and Annie (Female) - Middle hutch
George (Complete male) on his own - Bottom hutch

Separate Ferplast cage - Two complete males (Foster pigs).

I am hopeful that my fosters will soon find their forever home.

However this leaves me with one single piggy.

The pigs are currently all indoors in my former bedroom at my parents' house. I visit every day to check them/put in run/sweep out etc.

To make matters more stressful, my Mum and Dad are planning to move house.. and there's little hope of this when my bedroom is full of a three tier hutch, large cage, 7 guinea pigs and all of their stuff..

No way would I ever give them up, they are my children and I love them all.

I would just like advice on possible outdoor housing? I am very worried about the winter though.. some of my babies have never lived outdoors.

I am also worrying about how to pair my pigs. I am not sure I want to take more on.. this is just because I feel as though I will be able to provide better care for less of them (not judging anyone that has lots of pigs, this is just how I feel in my situation). I am currently on minimum wage, I pay for everything, I am also saving for a deposit on a house (this is also stressing me out but we wont go there!). I am also currently suffering from illness, which has been ongoing for two months and looks to be a long term problem, I look forward to a possible diagnosis next week..

My dream of pig housing is a large shed with hutches inside and a run attached to the side where I can let them run around free range when I'm in... but I only have a small patio so a shed there would block the window and no room for a shed anywhere else As I said before I'm looking to move out where I would have the pigs indoors but this wont be for a while.

I'm just really stressed and can't think of a solution :... I would just like some suggestions, especially from people who keep their pigs outdoors.

Thanks

 

[PopcornPigs]

Just to add is that one possible combo I was considering was trying to bond Annie with Willy and Tilly then bond Frazzle and George. But Willy and Tilly are sooo in love and Tilly is very feisty whilst Annie is a scaredy pig so I'm not sure this will work

 

[Wiebke]

I am very sorry about your quandary!

As to reshuffling your piggies. You CAN try and see how they get on by letting them mingle on the lawn, first next to each other and separated by bars or mesh to give you an idea whether it is worth proceeding with bonding or not. It is often easier if you give piggies time to meet without the pressure of having to bond straight away.

Bonding a second sow to a very closely bonded cross gender pair can be a very tricky one indeed; they often don't want any more company. It may be easier with a submissive sow, but Annie will miss her own husboar quite a lot and will probably not be happy about playing second fiddle in an already established relationship! Frazzle may also not appreciate being demoted from a husboar to a bachelor boar again and not take to living with another boar.

If you move your indoors piggies outside while it is still warm, they can slowly acclimatise as the autumn progresses and there shouldn't be any problems. We have members who have to keep their piggies outside all year round and do so successfully. With adequate protection for the hutch and lots of hay for insulation in the sleeping chamber, that is possible, especially if you can place the hutches in a protected spot against the house, away from the worst of the winds.

 

[PopcornPigs]

Thanks for your help Wiebke, I am still debating what to do as what you have said about the pairings I was thinking is correct. I don't think Annie will like being a third wheel, whilst Tilly wont like to share her man.

I can't ignore that George is now very depressed He is no longer the same guinea pig. I can understand why - he has lived with Terry since he was just weeks old and has never been alone. It's as if he's saying 'ok, can I have my friend back now?'.

I have another form of blood test tomorrow with results Friday which will hopefully help me in making a decision on how I will be able to care for my pigs in the future. I never thought my health would affect my guinea pigs.