L
Linden
Hi, some of you may already have seen my posts about my 3 new arrivals. Well, they're now 2 weeks and 2 days old and all doing well, even little Cinnamon who's now putting on weight well.
My new problem now is that it would appear that Nutmeg is definitely male - have noticed some bum sniffing going on and today he tried to mount his sister Saffron (assuming she must be a female). I was planning a trip to the vets on Saturday when they'll be almost 3 weeks old to have them sexed, but I reckon if Nutmeg is feeling frisky today's the day to separate him from the others.
I have 4 adults (3 females and a neutered male) and the 3 babies, and they all live in the garage in a 2'x4' hutch connected via a ramp to a 6'x4' run. The upper hutch has fleece bedding and the lower run is about 30% fleece / 70% concrete. Food, hay racks, water and various igloos/carboard boxes are in the lower run. I also have a spare smaller wooden hutch and a large plastic 'Zoo Zone' hutch.
So what are my options now? I don't want to have Nutmeg all by himself (that would be too sad
), so am thinking about pairing up him and Jaffa (the neutered male) and separating them from the girls. My concern is that while Nutmeg and Jaffa get along okay in the big run with all the others, that they may not be quite so happy together in a smaller enclosure.
So 'Solution A' - I'm therefore thinking about sectioning off the far end of the lower run (about a 3'x4' area) for the boys and leaving the girls in the other end with the upper hutch. This would give the boys a bigger living area than either of the spare hutches, however, (and finally we get to my real dilemma!) do you think they'll all be happier to be able to see and hear each other even though they can't interact together; or, will the boys just get frustrated and start fighting between themselves?
Other options include:
'Solution B' - take away the ramp and the boys live in the upstairs hutch; girls below - boys would hear, smell and, to a limited extent, see girls.
'Solution C' - boys stay in Zoo Zone in the garage - boys would hear and smell but not see girls.
Or, 'Solution D' - I could bring the boys inside in the Zoo Zone - they wouldn't hear, smell or see the girls, however Jaffa has always been an outdoors piggie (garden in the summer/garage in the winter) and I think it could all be a bit too much for him.
Solution A is my preferred option, but has anyone else had any experience of keeping boys in close proximity to girls? Please let me know what you think?
Hopefully, any solution will be temporary, as I would like to either have Nutmeg neutered (not sure if vet will agree to do op though) or find him a new home. Would love to have my little family all together again!
My new problem now is that it would appear that Nutmeg is definitely male - have noticed some bum sniffing going on and today he tried to mount his sister Saffron (assuming she must be a female). I was planning a trip to the vets on Saturday when they'll be almost 3 weeks old to have them sexed, but I reckon if Nutmeg is feeling frisky today's the day to separate him from the others.
I have 4 adults (3 females and a neutered male) and the 3 babies, and they all live in the garage in a 2'x4' hutch connected via a ramp to a 6'x4' run. The upper hutch has fleece bedding and the lower run is about 30% fleece / 70% concrete. Food, hay racks, water and various igloos/carboard boxes are in the lower run. I also have a spare smaller wooden hutch and a large plastic 'Zoo Zone' hutch.
So what are my options now? I don't want to have Nutmeg all by himself (that would be too sad
), so am thinking about pairing up him and Jaffa (the neutered male) and separating them from the girls. My concern is that while Nutmeg and Jaffa get along okay in the big run with all the others, that they may not be quite so happy together in a smaller enclosure. So 'Solution A' - I'm therefore thinking about sectioning off the far end of the lower run (about a 3'x4' area) for the boys and leaving the girls in the other end with the upper hutch. This would give the boys a bigger living area than either of the spare hutches, however, (and finally we get to my real dilemma!) do you think they'll all be happier to be able to see and hear each other even though they can't interact together; or, will the boys just get frustrated and start fighting between themselves?
Other options include:
'Solution B' - take away the ramp and the boys live in the upstairs hutch; girls below - boys would hear, smell and, to a limited extent, see girls.
'Solution C' - boys stay in Zoo Zone in the garage - boys would hear and smell but not see girls.
Or, 'Solution D' - I could bring the boys inside in the Zoo Zone - they wouldn't hear, smell or see the girls, however Jaffa has always been an outdoors piggie (garden in the summer/garage in the winter) and I think it could all be a bit too much for him.
Solution A is my preferred option, but has anyone else had any experience of keeping boys in close proximity to girls? Please let me know what you think?
Hopefully, any solution will be temporary, as I would like to either have Nutmeg neutered (not sure if vet will agree to do op though) or find him a new home. Would love to have my little family all together again!
