just a thought about piggies and chickens...

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kelspiggies

kelspiggies

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::) i was just wondering,our piggy herd has free range of a shed with an outside run, and we were considering getting 2 rescued ex-battery farm chickens, if we were to have the chickens in the same outdoor run and have an upper level in the shed out of the way of the piggies which only the chickens would have access to,would it be possible to house them together,they would have a solid floor so no dropping etc could get through onto the piggies,i know it sounds like a very odd idea,but if all the food and treats are inside,as they are with our piggies now,then they couldnt eat the wrong foods,i dont know,its just an idea at the moment, as we have a very small garden,and the floor space in the shed is the only space being put to use. any help or ideas welcomed, thanks :)
 
I suppose it could work...except will the bottom half be tall enough for you to get in there and clean it?
And would you clean the run out between the chickens and the piggies? I wouldn't want my piggies running around in chicken crap!
 
I'm only short lol! well id have the chickens up at about 5 foot or there abouts,with ramps to allow them good access, and not have them all the way to the front of the shed,just like maybe 4 foot from back to front so i have a couple of feet full shed height at the front with the 2 hens nesting boxes/ perches up in the roof so to speak,hope this makes sense! 98) hadnt thought about the piggies running about in chicken poop outside! they would all have permanent access to the outside run at all times, so i couldnt clean it every time they pooped but i would go in and clean it once a day to make sure nothing builds up. :smitten: i do love my piggies so dont want them getting ill, is there any illness etc that chickens could pass on to them or vice versa?
 
karenrgpr is there a specific reason? i just want to make sure, as I'm only planning on the 2 hens,and they would only see each other out in the outside pen, thanks x
 
The mess the hens make and guineas would be exposed to would be my first concern. As for what hens can 'give' guineas in the way of disease/parasites etc I don't know offhand because I've never looked into it.
Its not good for guineas to be kept in avaries with budgies for the same reason so I can't imagine chickens would be any different. I don't think you can toilet train chickens so they would be exposed to droppings in the run. I know some farm parks do it but I wouldn't.
 
ok, scrap that idea then,I'm not risking my piggies for that,il look into other ideas so they dont come into contact with them,thanks for the help x ;)
 
Hey :)

We have chickens and I wouldn't keep them in the same place as the piggies. It just doesn't seem right to me, especially with how much chickens poop lol xx0
 
Howabout adopting more guineas or do you have your heart set on chiicken?
 
really :D

Oh and the farm i used to go to had chickens running everywhere and they were aloud in the piggy enclosure well werent aloud but no one moved them out of there ::) there was loadsa baby chickens too and the smell was awful - they had mis sexed piggies all the time as i wanted a sow and i chose one and they just said to me get it yourself so i did and it was a baby boar :P so i put him in the boars pen and got a different sow :)

I wouldnt put chickens near guinea pigs either as chickens do smell awful and poo everywhere i have to clean them out at college :o
 
We had chickens as kids and to be honest their poo really does smell, I would not have piggies any where near chickens as could very easily effect your piggies lungs.
 
karenrgpr said:
The mess the hens make and guineas would be exposed to would be my first concern. As for what hens can 'give' guineas in the way of disease/parasites etc I don't know offhand because I've never looked into it.
Its not good for guineas to be kept in avaries with budgies for the same reason so I can't imagine chickens would be any different. I don't think you can toilet train chickens so they would be exposed to droppings in the run. I know some farm parks do it but I wouldn't.
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We bought an aviary for a guinea run and the chap who put it up told us that bird food could kill guineas. Never heard that before but I remember thinking that it wouldn't be possible to keep budgies and guineas together. Not that I particularly wanted to though :-\
 
sokel said:
I keep both and I dont let the chickens anywhere near the guinea pigs.The ducks do sneak in when i am cleaning the hutches out but they are never left in there.Chicken muck stinks and they drop it anywhere
Chickens can also be quite aggressive and peck at anything that moves,my lot chase the dachshunds and have drawn blood a couple of times.
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Thanks Graham, I was hoping you'd see this :) Poor Dachsunds, I hope they bite back LOL ::)
 
Another thought, a relative has chickens and they've destroyed his lawn. No grass left.
 
;) well ive decided we wont be getting any chickens now,dont want the place to smell,and not taking a risk with my piggies health and well being. I'm not allowed any more piggies, i have 14, 13 sows and 1 boar, who all live happily together,but they do cost an awful lot to keep,so my hubby wont let me rescue any more, i recently rehomed 2 rescue sows to a new home on a farm, so I'm limited to these 14,for now at least,though i do have a couple of sows i would still like to find new homes for, a mother and daughter, who could really do with more of a 1 on 1 kind of home as they have had very little human contact and arent too keen on being handled. i rescued them from a friend after she bred hers on purpose,even though she didnt even want the pigs she had,let alone minipigs :tickedoff: so i took mum off her after she had her babies, and took on her sow babies too, 2 of the babies are ok with being handled now but for some reason 1 of them is very very anti-social,as is mummy pig,they were very roughly handled by kids from birth until a few weeks old when i got them so I'm thinking this may be why,and mum was never handled she was just left to fester in a 1.5ft x 1 ft hutch in the garden with a boar who was quite possibly related to her. if anyone out there can take on 2 sow piggies, and they have the time to give them the tlc they need and deserve,please get in touch. I'm sure they would be lovely pets given the interaction they need, but with 2 childern aged 3 and 4 and 12 other piggies i just cant give them the attention they need. hmmm, may put these on the adoption board thinking about it 98) would make more sense!
 
Interesting you should say about the cost of keeping guineas. Just out of interest, I worked out from my till receipt this afternoon how much I'd spent on dog food & guinea food this week. The dog food was £18.53, which will last probably just over a week. The guinea food (greens & dry food) was £10.21, greens there for 1 week and dry food will last probably 2 weeks. Also bought 4 bags of hay for £10.79 which will be about 2 weeks. This is for 7 guineas and 2 dogs. It's so easy to think, oh I'll just get one more guinea but it all adds up doesn't it? I've already decided not to have any more guineas because of the commitment, time etc. I'm at my limit at the moment.

Is your friend who bred the guineas still your friend?! It's so difficult when someone you know and like is making the animal rescue problem worse by breeding - some people just don't seem to get it ...
 
I have a pet hen that is really great with the guinea pigs.They don't really bother with each other!Spangle is one of the gentle breed of hens (speckled sussex)Chicken poo does stink though!But they have separate hutches! O0
 
My brother-in-law has 3 chickens and he says you can tell who laid which egg. For some reason, I find that fascinating!
 
::) jillybean i know where youre coming from with the costs thing, mine cost a lot more than my 2 dogs do together, but id still not get rid of them, id sell my entire Wade collection before handing over my piggies, had to hand over my old colony to the rspca 3 years ago due to my pregnancy with my youngest leading to HUGE allergies to anything with fur,it was the hardest day of my life, before i had children, i had no allergies to any animals, when i got pregnant with my 2nd everything had to go, my pet rats, my 12 guinea pigs, my cats and dog, i since have gotten over my allergy to guineas and cats and dogs but anything else causes wheezing, blotches,itching and swelling ! nice huh :D
 
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