How do you house your herds? I'm paticularly interested in outdoor set ups. Looking for a few ideas before I expand!
Thanks
Thanks
How do you house your herds?
- Thread starter ariel&oscar
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Mine are living indoors and are allowed to roam the living room during the day, as I'm working from there.
Thanks for your replies, My set up is a 5ft by 2 ft hutch with a 4ft square run attached via a tube to the hutch. So this is 26 square foot in total, is this suitable for 4 piggies?
thanks
thanks
The hutch is a bit too small for four piggies, especially on a rainy day (4 piggies = 6x2 ft space); the whole area is certainly big enough.
Doeylicious
Adult Guinea Pig
I have a newly bonded herd of 6, and they live here
It is 5ft x 2ft and two floors, so 20 square ft apart from the gap where the stairs go down.
But with more bedding etc. obviously! My six are well bonded though, despite only being together a few days, so noone is territorial over any particular area and they all get along well. The ramp is too steep for the older girls, I will be modifying it at the weekend to allow them upstairs too - it should have happened last night and then again tonight but my OH and I's flat hunting has got in the way!
It is 5ft x 2ft and two floors, so 20 square ft apart from the gap where the stairs go down.
But with more bedding etc. obviously! My six are well bonded though, despite only being together a few days, so noone is territorial over any particular area and they all get along well. The ramp is too steep for the older girls, I will be modifying it at the weekend to allow them upstairs too - it should have happened last night and then again tonight but my OH and I's flat hunting has got in the way!
7x5 foot shed ground floor.
10 pigs.
assorted igloo's inside plus several sleeping boxes,attached is a 6x6 ft outdoor run enclosed on three sides with a roof to make it rainproof.
My herd are very spoilt though as the shed is fully insulated,has a heater in winter and a fan in summer.They usually have free range of the garden when i'm about,that too is fully enclosed with no escape areas,they have tubes,log rolls and assorted other guinea pig things in the garden to laze about in.
al
rspca west suffolk branch
10 pigs.
assorted igloo's inside plus several sleeping boxes,attached is a 6x6 ft outdoor run enclosed on three sides with a roof to make it rainproof.
My herd are very spoilt though as the shed is fully insulated,has a heater in winter and a fan in summer.They usually have free range of the garden when i'm about,that too is fully enclosed with no escape areas,they have tubes,log rolls and assorted other guinea pig things in the garden to laze about in.
al
rspca west suffolk branch
SDRB_TP
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My pigs live in a shed, 4ftx4ft (3 piggies), but I'm hoping to bring it down a bit so it's 5ftx4ft, and add an extension at the top so they'll have 4ftx1.5f of an extension, aswell at their 5ftx4ft. 
|)
You're set up seems okay, but it's like people have said, it's not so good for rainy days. Is there any chance you could perhaps invest in getting a shed?
___
Best regards,
Isabella, Tallulah, Penelope & Lily.
x
|)You're set up seems okay, but it's like people have said, it's not so good for rainy days. Is there any chance you could perhaps invest in getting a shed?
___
Best regards,
Isabella, Tallulah, Penelope & Lily.
x
Claire W
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My 4 girls live in a spacious 6ft by 2ft by 2ft single story hutch. They also have an outdoor run for nice warm days and an indoor run for rainy days
Thank you for your advice. The run I have attached is covered on wetter days with plastic roofing which helps keep it dry, but I suppose it depends on whether they fancy exploring on wetter days!
What if i added a mezzanine floor to the hutch? A shed wouldn't be possible, I have already taken over the garden with my rabbits, what with tunnels running around the perimeter of the lawn leading to extra runs!
What if i added a mezzanine floor to the hutch? A shed wouldn't be possible, I have already taken over the garden with my rabbits, what with tunnels running around the perimeter of the lawn leading to extra runs!
suzannejoy
Junior Guinea Pig
This sounds brilliant , have you any pics you can share with us plz
Little Piggles
Senior Guinea Pig
My lot (of five) live in a double hutch (but will hopefully be moving into a triple when/if we move house soon).
They have a run too for the lawn but it is seperate to the hutch. On rainy days they can stretch their legs in the living room too
They have a run too for the lawn but it is seperate to the hutch. On rainy days they can stretch their legs in the living room too
Pepperdog
Adult Guinea Pig
I have 4 in a 5' x 3' two level hutch
I have a 5' x 4' run for nice days to let them have a run about and eat my grass down, but only on days I am home.
I have a 5' x 4' run for nice days to let them have a run about and eat my grass down, but only on days I am home.
Hi
Thank you for your help and advice. I have been busy building in the garden yesterday as I have aquired a few extra piggies with a second 5ft by 2ft hutch. I was looking for another hutch to match my existing Dandelion Den (P@H) and found one on a second hand website local to me, the seller wanted to rehome his 3 sows with it so I took the lot! Beautiful little girls they are!
So, I have put the two hutches facing each other, took the run apart and used two sides of it to make an enclosed play area in the middle, and raised it off the ground with wood so the lid would fit on so i can climb in for clean outs. This has now made the run bigger, so it is 5ft by 4t.
I'll take a photo of it when it stops raining, I'm quite pleased with my handy work! I had to make an extra panel for the roof so the run is now bigger than it was.
So I now have 5 piggies living in a 5ft by 4ft run attached at either end by 5ft by 2ft hutches.
Does this sound ok?
many thanks
oh forgot to add the run has a plastic roof panel over the top with a good overhang so they won't get wet when it rains, it's belting it down at the mo but the run area is bone dry! The hutches also are open so they have full access to all the space available.
Thank you for your help and advice. I have been busy building in the garden yesterday as I have aquired a few extra piggies with a second 5ft by 2ft hutch. I was looking for another hutch to match my existing Dandelion Den (P@H) and found one on a second hand website local to me, the seller wanted to rehome his 3 sows with it so I took the lot! Beautiful little girls they are!
So, I have put the two hutches facing each other, took the run apart and used two sides of it to make an enclosed play area in the middle, and raised it off the ground with wood so the lid would fit on so i can climb in for clean outs. This has now made the run bigger, so it is 5ft by 4t.
I'll take a photo of it when it stops raining, I'm quite pleased with my handy work! I had to make an extra panel for the roof so the run is now bigger than it was.
So I now have 5 piggies living in a 5ft by 4ft run attached at either end by 5ft by 2ft hutches.
Does this sound ok?
many thanks
oh forgot to add the run has a plastic roof panel over the top with a good overhang so they won't get wet when it rains, it's belting it down at the mo but the run area is bone dry! The hutches also are open so they have full access to all the space available.
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ours
have just got another one of these today!
so now we have 2 double decker 5x2 hutches. both have been modified by us to better suit our pigs.
We have removed the wire mesh and replaced it with ply on the smaller bottom doors on both hutches, and created another bedroom downstairs on both.
The original one houses our older boar and 4 sows and has a ramp that goes from the top level to the roof of the lower bedroom then a shorter ramp from the bedroom roof to the hutch floor.
The latest one is for our sow Lily who we got from P@H and discovered she had been mated before we got her and her 2 babies, a boar and sow.
We have removed the ramp from the newest one and have 2 separate 5x2 spaces now. the boar will live in one until he's been "done", Lily and her daughter in the other, then when he is ready we will duplicate what we have done in the first hutch, and probably take one of the 4 girls from the bigger group to make 2 equal size herds.
have just got another one of these today!
so now we have 2 double decker 5x2 hutches. both have been modified by us to better suit our pigs.
We have removed the wire mesh and replaced it with ply on the smaller bottom doors on both hutches, and created another bedroom downstairs on both.
The original one houses our older boar and 4 sows and has a ramp that goes from the top level to the roof of the lower bedroom then a shorter ramp from the bedroom roof to the hutch floor.
The latest one is for our sow Lily who we got from P@H and discovered she had been mated before we got her and her 2 babies, a boar and sow.
We have removed the ramp from the newest one and have 2 separate 5x2 spaces now. the boar will live in one until he's been "done", Lily and her daughter in the other, then when he is ready we will duplicate what we have done in the first hutch, and probably take one of the 4 girls from the bigger group to make 2 equal size herds.
JoBo
Adult Guinea Pig
at the mo my 9 pigs live in Molly's Mansion.
They are happy enough in there and i actually put newspaper and hay on the bottom run part aswel as the sleeping compartment at the top.
However i feel they need more room so am just in the process of having a 6ft x 5ft shed made for them with a 4ft x 6ft run attached. They will live in it free range and we will put an old 2 storey hutch in so they can go in their for warmth. I am hoping to find a heat solution so i can heat it in the winter, as there are too many of them to bring in during the colder months xx
They are happy enough in there and i actually put newspaper and hay on the bottom run part aswel as the sleeping compartment at the top.
However i feel they need more room so am just in the process of having a 6ft x 5ft shed made for them with a 4ft x 6ft run attached. They will live in it free range and we will put an old 2 storey hutch in so they can go in their for warmth. I am hoping to find a heat solution so i can heat it in the winter, as there are too many of them to bring in during the colder months xx
I have two red lights which are used in piggeries and incubators . They keep my shed nice and warm until the piggies come indoors for the winter. They would give enough heat to leave the piggies out all winter but I do like to have them indoors as much for my sake as theirs!You can get them from Farm Shops and Country stores.
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