How do you keep outdoor piggies warm?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Newtopiggies

Newtopiggies

Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Our two piggies are kept in a hutch outside, in a very sheltered garden, and we can't bring them inside due to my husband's allergies. So now I'm worrying about keeping them warm as the weather gets colder.
1. What's the best thing to cover their hutch with? I've heard that insulated hutch covers are a bit of a waste of money when you can do a DIY job for much cheaper, but what would you recommend? Duvet? Blanket? Shower curtain? And how to you ensure that they can breathe properly when the hutch is covered?
2. How cold does it be to have to cover the hutch? Personally I REALLY feel the cold, so I'm probably not a very good judge!
3. If the hutch is covered, is it also necessary to buy things like heat pads and cavy cosies to put inside the hutch to keep them warm? And if so, what works best? And if I put something like a heat pad inside the hutch, how do I make sure they actually use it? At the moment they tend to sleep in different places, and often on different floors, of the hutch. Should I be putting their ramp up at night to ensure that they're both upstairs?
4. At the moment they go into their run during the day. We've only got concrete in our garden, but we put hay in the covered part of the run, and then pick grass for them to eat (their favourite food!). When does it get too cold to put them in their run?
Apologies for all the questions - my username says it all!
 
Hello! I'm not too sure as I'm new and my piggies haven't even arrived yet. But someone on here will be able to answer as their all very friendly and helpful. Sarah x
 
Hi, I'm fairly new to piggies too but this is what I have done.

I have an outdoor hutch and I always put the ramp up at night. I have put 2 layers of bubble wrap around the back and sides of the hutch, fastened on with parcel tape. This has a waterproof covernover it that came with the hutch. They have a cosy bed in the bedroom section along with an old fleece jumper of mine. This is fastened up like a tent by trapping it under the lift up roof so that they can burrow and snuggle inside it. At night, the rain and windprrof flaps are fastened over the fronts of the hutch and topped of with a fleece picnic blanket.

My piggies are indoors now, but if I had to keep them out, I would probably start adding old duvets to the layers over the hutch at night.

Other more experienced people will be along later, I'm sure but hope this helps.
 
outside piggies

I have outside piggies and I get so worried about them when its cold. What I do is make sure the hutches are wrapped in bubble wrap or a hutch hugger or both, keep them in the garage, give them loads of hay and when it's really cold I give them snuggle safe heatpads at night. (its like a hot water bottle, minus the water!) I find the piggies love them and snuggle up when I put them in- only good if you have a microwave though
 
Hi

I've had piggies outdoors over winter and used to do the following.

Place an upturned cardboard box (with a hole cut out) inside the bedding area, stuff this full of hay and put a snuggle safe head pat inside. Place a small fleece type blanket over the top of the cardboard box and then pack more hay around it - you will get through a lot of hay :)

Over the hutch I used to put a sheet of radiator reflector foil, you can get this from most DIY stores and comes in big rolls. This helps to insulate the hutch and reflects any heat back inside.

You will then want something over the top of that, a piece of old carpet works well with a thick blanket over the top as it is heavy enough to not flap about in the wind and adding layers helps keep the hutch warmer. Duvets are ok but a bit difficult to build up layers as they are very bulky and they don't really retain any heat.

If you have a large hutch cover you can probably fit all this underneath the cover but over the hutch (does this make sense!) if not a piece of tarpaulin over the whole lot will keep the damp and rain out. A couple of brick tied onto the bottom will stop it blowing away.

Don't worry your piggies will have plenty of air as you are just keeping the draughts and damp out not making it air tight.

If you have a two tier hutch it may be worth removing the ramp at night time so they have no choice but to sleep in the bedding area, you could always cover the hole with hardboard etc to make sure the piggies don't accidentally fall down the gap and to stop any draughts coming from downstairs.

HTH

Claire

x
 
Hi
I've just re read your message and realised I hadn't answered the question about putting them out on the grass!

It depends on the weather as to when to stop putting them on the grass, when we had the unseasonably warm weather a couple of weeks ago they were outside for most of the day. They haven't been out this week as while it is sunny and the grass is dry the ground is quite cold and a little damp in places. I stood on the garden in bare feet and it wasn't pleasant - you might look odd walking round the garden in bare feet but its not bad way of testing the ground!

Also make sure the grass is completely dry as damp coming up from the ground is not good for them either. I probably wont be putting my two out again this year, as for putting them out next year, same thing applies really check for damp ground and make sure the grass is really dry. Generally once the frost is over completely they can start going out but just judge for yourself if its still cold, damp or raining its not a good idea.

When the temperatures start to drop to around 10 degrees and below at night you need to start doing all you can to keep them warm so yes you need to cover and insulate the hutch AND provide extra bedding, heat pads etc at the same time.

Claire

x
 
Hi my pigges are outside too and I stuff their igloo with hay, put a cardboard box over that and cover the lot in more hay. ALWAYS take the igloo out during the day though, as it gets damp with their breathing. They have a perspex cover over the front.

One thing I would add to those of you that worry about guineas in the winter. Last winter in the minus 6 temperature, I had a panic and went out about midnight. I crunched up the garden in the ice and snow to put more hay in. I slid my hand inside the igloo, between them and they were as warm as toast. I was really reassured by that.

Last year they were in the shed, this year they won't be so I will be looking at something to put round the hutch. My hutch is a top opener which makes a cover difficult.
 
Last night in the rain I improvised by using an old waterproof mattress protector we used when my eldest son (now nearly 13) was little! It kept the rain out fine, and hopefully will provide a little extra warmth in winter too.
I've been putting the pigloo into their sleeping area and putting the ramp up the past couple of nights so that they're confined to the top storey, but I'm not sure they like it - they seemed to be wandering out of their sleeping area more than usual, and they're not too keen on sharing the pigloo (Professor is a great big scaredy-pig around humans, but is a bit of a bully towards his brother Vauxhall).
 
If they're not keen on sharing then I'd suggest giving them more options within the sleeping area - two cosies, a fleece 'tent' like someone else suggested (hung so it has two entrances) or a box with two entrances or a combination of things. That way you can be sure Vauxhall doesn't get cold if Professor hogs the igloo.
 
Hermes said:
If they're not keen on sharing then I'd suggest giving them more options within the sleeping area - two cosies, a fleece 'tent' like someone else suggested (hung so it has two entrances) or a box with two entrances or a combination of things. That way you can be sure Vauxhall doesn't get cold if Professor hogs the igloo.
Click to expand...

I have this problem with my boys at the minute. While they have a lovely big two storey hutch there is only one, what I call 'bedding box' so they have a fleece bed with a snuggle safe pad in there and then another one downstairs just in case they have a bedtime bust up :)) nine times out of ten I go out in the morning and they are both curled up in the bedding box :)
 
Hi,
Our piggies are all outside although within the next few weeks we will be moving them into our shed which my hubby has reorganised so we can fit both our double hutches in it. We also had some insulation left over from our extension and we put this around the back of the hutch. Then loosely covered them with blankets overnight (obviously allowing for ventilation!). This seemed to work well all through the snow last year.

The head pads sound quite interesting though so I may get a few in for this year.

Hope this helps x
 
half a dozen said:
The heat pads sound quite interesting though so I may get a few in for this year.
Click to expand...

You can buy the heat pads from vets or online they are called snuggle safe heat pads. You pop them in the microwave for the time specified on the pad (dependant on your microwave wattage) and they stay warm for hours.

The word pad is slightly misleading as it makes you think they are soft but its like a rather hard disc. It needs to be placed inside something and most of them come with a protective cover. I treated my boys to a snuggle oo ultra from cosy cavies amd the heat pad sits in a pocket underneath the fleece bed - they love it :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top