It’s cold outside

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Ridingscarlet

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Hi fellow piggy parents.
My 3 piggies are outside in a non insulated shed. I’m worried about them as the weather has dropped in the uk,it’s around 7 degrees overnight and will go lower over winter. I cannot use straw as one pig keeps getting eye poke so the vet said discontinue, I have heat pads and cardboard boxes filled with soft hay. It feels freezing in there though , is there anything else I can do, I could bring them inside but my house is very small so their space would go to a quarter of what they are currently in. Thankyou for any help
 
Straw isn’t really a recommended bedding anyway (it’s too sharp and has no nutritional value) - hay is the best thing for a bedding, fill their space with it.

I would recommend you do insulate the shed. My shed has silver foil insulation stapled all over the inside.
However while it helps a bit, without a heat source in the shed then it is always going to be chilly.
The good news is they tend to get used to being a little cooler and manage better with it than they manage with heat.

My three piggies (a pair and a single) are in c&c cages in an insulated but not heated shed, with lots of hay everywhere, multiple heat pads, lots of hides filled with hay and at night I clip blankets and silver foil insulation over the top and down the sides of the cages (leaving a gap for ventilation). It obviously doesn’t produce warmth but it stops cold air falling.
The floor is insulated with silver insulation, and they have old thick oilcloth tablecloths down along with newspaper then a layer of absorbent bedding, then a layer of hay so that makes sure no cold is coming up from the floor either.
I really don’t like that they are in c&c cages now (had no choice but to do it though) as it is harder to keep warm. They used to be in insulated and covered hutches within the insulated shed and I was able to keep each hutch at 15 degrees regardless of the outside temperature.

If they really are struggling being too cold (can’t hold body weight, not active etc) then you will have to bring them in. Their space being smaller than they are used to doesn’t matter as long as it still meets the requirements for three sows which is 180x60cm.
 
I second shed insulation. My shed is insulated with the same foil stuff as @Piggies&buns and it does make a difference. I also have curtains up at windows and doors to help with any drafts. It dropped to 3°C here last night and the shed itself was 9°C. I have covers for the hutches as well as hay stuffed hides. I lifted the cover to get in to give a piggy eye drops (hay poke) and it was so toasty in there it was like there was a radiator in there.

My piggies current fave combo is 2 wooden bendy bridges pushed together making one long tunnel (I use the large ones so it spans the width of the hutch) stuffed with hay and a bobble mat over top with some of it dangling over the ends. On extra cold nights I add a snuggle safe. I've had 3 piggies be very snug under that (all at once) with plenty of room to have their own space from each other.

Id get a thermometer for the shed as they can help you gauge when to start adding extra measures to keep them warm. I use a greenhouse thermometer that records the current temp as well as the minimum and maximum temp it was in a 24hr period. It has really offered me peace of mind.
 
Engel said:
I second shed insulation. My shed is insulated with the same foil stuff as @Piggies&buns and it does make a difference. I also have curtains up at windows and doors to help with any drafts. It dropped to 3°C here last night and the shed itself was 9°C. I have covers for the hutches as well as hay stuffed hides. I lifted the cover to get in to give a piggy eye drops (hay poke) and it was so toasty in there it was like there was a radiator in there.

My piggies current fave combo is 2 wooden bendy bridges pushed together making one long tunnel (I use the large ones so it spans the width of the hutch) stuffed with hay and a bobble mat over top with some of it dangling over the ends. On extra cold nights I add a snuggle safe. I've had 3 piggies be very snug under that (all at once) with plenty of room to have their own space from each other.

Id get a thermometer for the shed as they can help you gauge when to start adding extra measures to keep them warm. I use a greenhouse thermometer that records the current temp as well as the minimum and maximum temp it was in a 24hr period. It has really offered me peace of mind.
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Thankyou so much, do you bring them inside if the temperature drops below a certain number please?
 
I have never had to bring mine inside in winter as all the measures have kept them warm enough.

Summer is a different matter though - it’s almost always been too hot for them to stay in the shed and they’ve had to come inside .
 
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