As many of you will know I (and the 40-ish guinea pigs at Guinea Pig Rehoming Norfolk) have recently moved into an old Victorian house that my partner and I are renovating.
I finally got around to taking some pics today, they're not the best but they were the best I could get in the time I had!
The barn is a small barn on the back of the main barn that we are planning to convert. It used to be a pig shed, and still has chalked pig breeding records from 1939 on the back of one of the doors!
It is about 4 times larger than my previous piggy shed, it has a brick floor and is brick built with a pantile roof.
Inside we have:
The long term piggies! Each level is open plan, 6' x 2', and houses my own pet piggies and long term residents / sponsor pigs:
On the right of this we have a 4 tier block, 4' x 2', that houses the pigs that are ready to go to new homes:
On the other side we have the bachelor pad - 3 levels to hold pairs of boars (4' x 2')
And next to this we have 2 spacious hutches (5') to house new piggies or newly introduced boars who need the space!
In the middle is a high table for preparing veg, filling up waters, treating pigs and grooming
And here is the start of today's dinner!
I also have a couple of double decker 4' hutches which hold single piggies waiting for friends
and a whole lot of indoor / quarantine cages if needed.
Outside we have 5 acres of paddock (unfenced as yet) part of which will be made into a secure compound to allow the guineas to graze safely in their runs (as there are foxes around here).
Our optimum number now is around 40 piggies in total, which may not sound a huge amount but it's about the right number for me to cope with, both timewise and financially.
The other big difference is that previously I had a well paid job and ran the rescue from my own pocket, which runs into several thousand pounds a year. I now have my own business (dog training) and am self employed so am going to have to work much harder on the fundraising side of things to make the rescue self sufficient, especially with so many long term residents that can't be homed.
I also plan to build a proper quarantine / maternity block separate to the main piggies next Spring.
I hope you like the tour!
Sophie
Guinea Pig Rehoming Norfolk
I finally got around to taking some pics today, they're not the best but they were the best I could get in the time I had!
The barn is a small barn on the back of the main barn that we are planning to convert. It used to be a pig shed, and still has chalked pig breeding records from 1939 on the back of one of the doors!
It is about 4 times larger than my previous piggy shed, it has a brick floor and is brick built with a pantile roof.
Inside we have:
The long term piggies! Each level is open plan, 6' x 2', and houses my own pet piggies and long term residents / sponsor pigs:
On the right of this we have a 4 tier block, 4' x 2', that houses the pigs that are ready to go to new homes:
On the other side we have the bachelor pad - 3 levels to hold pairs of boars (4' x 2')
And next to this we have 2 spacious hutches (5') to house new piggies or newly introduced boars who need the space!
In the middle is a high table for preparing veg, filling up waters, treating pigs and grooming
And here is the start of today's dinner!
I also have a couple of double decker 4' hutches which hold single piggies waiting for friends
and a whole lot of indoor / quarantine cages if needed.Outside we have 5 acres of paddock (unfenced as yet) part of which will be made into a secure compound to allow the guineas to graze safely in their runs (as there are foxes around here).
Our optimum number now is around 40 piggies in total, which may not sound a huge amount but it's about the right number for me to cope with, both timewise and financially.
The other big difference is that previously I had a well paid job and ran the rescue from my own pocket, which runs into several thousand pounds a year. I now have my own business (dog training) and am self employed so am going to have to work much harder on the fundraising side of things to make the rescue self sufficient, especially with so many long term residents that can't be homed.
I also plan to build a proper quarantine / maternity block separate to the main piggies next Spring.
I hope you like the tour!
Sophie
Guinea Pig Rehoming Norfolk
I can manage 40, much more than that and it becomes a bit mad
|)
