Moving outside - few questions/thoughts

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catherine

catherine

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Hi all

At the moment my three piggies (boar + 2 sows) are living inside in a c and c cage which is an awkward shape but works out at about 10ft sq with a 3 x 1 hay loft and floor time too.

I am moving house in the next couple of weeks and in the new place there is a lovely little brick outhouse type thingy, I would estimate it is about 7-8 ft long by 3ft wide and 7ft tall. Now, I think this would be a lovely little summer house for my trio, but I have a few concerns!

First concern is the area isn't the nicest area and I know the house has been burgled twice before, and the garden isn't fenced. However, the outhouse has a secure wooden door which has a yale lock in it, great! So my intention is to close this door at night for security. However - the outhouse has no windows, a little bit of light gets in at the top and bottom of the door but obviously I will open the door on a morning before uni and close it on a night. Is this OK? mI am a little worried about them not getting enough light!

Secondly, obviously I will be getting a mesh panel to fit inside the door with a internal door in that for when the main door is open in the day-time. I've never seen any foxes around here but am worried about them - what sort of precautions would I need to take to make sure the door is fox-proof? I was thinking of enclosing the bottom quarter of the door so the piggies can't see and don't get scared of any cats etc, but that would limit the light a bit. Also this would protect from rain more.

As the out-house is ground level I am a little worried about rats/mice trying to get in to eat the food - what can I do about deterring them?

I will be buying a small hutch (annoying cos I promised myself that I wouldn't encourage those nasty small ones but a 3ft one is all that will fit mallethead ) and having it as a shelter but it will always be open, and will lay a large fleece on the floor as the floor is concrete and as-well as being cold I think it might be slippy!

Think I've covered everything :))
 
This is just my opinion but I would have them staying indoors with you so you know they are always safe. I think they will miss you and the noises of the house if they are transferred outside. Guinea pigs are part of the family so having them with the family is lovely. You will miss them if they are outside and changes of weather is a real worry too.
 
piggyfan said:
This is just my opinion but I would have them staying indoors with you so you know they are always safe. I think they will miss you and the noises of the house if they are transferred outside. Guinea pigs are part of the family so having them with the family is lovely. You will miss them if they are outside and changes of weather is a real worry too.
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I feel like this too, but unfortunately the new landlord doesn't permit pets indoors so it is the only option I have.

I'm very worried about it all which is why I did a long post asking for advice on it all :...
 
The concern I have is when you say the outhouse has no windows. It would make it awfully dark in there once the door is shut.

Also, if the floor is concrete, you have to think about the risk of damp. We have a small outhouse that is full of damp :(

Do you have the possibility of may be buying a small shed to keep them in instead?
 
Claire W said:
The concern I have is when you say the outhouse has no windows. It would make it awfully dark in there once the door is shut.

Also, if the floor is concrete, you have to think about the risk of damp. We have a small outhouse that is full of damp :(

Do you have the possibility of may be buying a small shed to keep them in instead?
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Yes, I agree, however at the moment they are inside and by the time I get in from uni, it is dark outside so they have a few hours of artificial light then I go to bed and it's dark again...so shutting the outhouse door at dusk and opening at dawn (or very early) considering the days are drawing out will actually give them more 'light hours' than they currently have.

Floor will be covered with newspaper and a massive fleece that I have :), and the hutch which they can go into too

I know it's preferable to keep them inside, which is why they are now! This will only be temporary for 3 months at the most and it's really my only choice, I know a lot of people successfully keep piggies comfortably outside all year round even in the dark/wet winter days.
 
My piggies are outdoor piggies. They live in a well insulated 6ft hutch with plenty of bedding, snugglesafe heat pads, cosies, fleeces, plenty of hay etc and they are perfectly fine so in no means am I getting at you for having to house your pigs outside :)
 
Claire W said:
My piggies are outdoor piggies. They live in a well insulated 6ft hutch with plenty of bedding, snugglesafe heat pads, cosies, fleeces, plenty of hay etc and they are perfectly fine so in no means am I getting at you for having to house your pigs outside :)
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:)

I'm a bit nervous about it all really but I'm more worried about the cold than anything else so I have my snugglesafes at the ready and hope it warms up before they are due to move out (late April)!
 
What's the condition of the outhouse like? What's it made of? What's the roof like? Is it painted inside? Is there any ventilation apart from the door? Is the door south facing?

Sorry loads of questions but just wondering what might need doing to improve it, how much light actually gets in and how stable the temperature would be in such a building. I also thought that with a concrete floor you might have damp but you can seal it using an epoxy paint or something similar. Painting the walls white may also help brighten it up. I think if you're going to use fleece then putting towels/mattress toppers/puppy pads down aswell would improve absorbency and make it warmer.

For fox-proofing the door will need to be strong mesh, 12 gauge is best (the higher the gauge the weaker the mesh). Double layering it so it's on either side of the door will make it even stronger and give the door more structural strength. You could put perspex over the door (or over half) but you need to ensure there is some ventilation. I'm not sure that I'd be overly concerned about cats or whatever outside the door so long as the piggies have places to hide unless this a regular occurence. If you use perspex you can get translucent patterned stick on plastic sheets that would let light in but may reduce the view. For mouse and rat prevention you need to make sure there's no holes and no food left lying around, mice can fit through spaces of a centimetre and small rats will get through a few centimetre gaps.

That's about all I can think of right now, hope you get them sorted. :)
 
Hermes said:
What's the condition of the outhouse like? What's it made of? What's the roof like? Is it painted inside? Is there any ventilation apart from the door? Is the door south facing?

Sorry loads of questions but just wondering what might need doing to improve it, how much light actually gets in and how stable the temperature would be in such a building. I also thought that with a concrete floor you might have damp but you can seal it using an epoxy paint or something similar. Painting the walls white may also help brighten it up. I think if you're going to use fleece then putting towels/mattress toppers/puppy pads down aswell would improve absorbency and make it warmer.

For fox-proofing the door will need to be strong mesh, 12 gauge is best (the higher the gauge the weaker the mesh). Double layering it so it's on either side of the door will make it even stronger and give the door more structural strength. You could put perspex over the door (or over half) but you need to ensure there is some ventilation. I'm not sure that I'd be overly concerned about cats or whatever outside the door so long as the piggies have places to hide unless this a regular occurence. If you use perspex you can get translucent patterned stick on plastic sheets that would let light in but may reduce the view. For mouse and rat prevention you need to make sure there's no holes and no food left lying around, mice can fit through spaces of a centimetre and small rats will get through a few centimetre gaps.

That's about all I can think of right now, hope you get them sorted. :)
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It's a brick outhouse, with a sloping concrete roof. It's totally watertight with a concrete floor. Not actually sure what direction it faces :{

As far as foxes go, I'm actually going to go ahead and buy a Foxwatch as that will deter cats and dogs too, so well worth it IMO and will always be useful anyway.

The piggies have a huge litter tray which they are good at using now (as all their hay and food is in it) so I will probably just layer the fleece on the floor and wash it weekly as I doubt much pee will get on it! :)

The aviary panel we are getting made for the door entrance will be flush, so hopefully no room for mice and definitely not rats to get in :))
 
Update!

Can I just say thank-you to all of you that commented on this thread!

However, I re-emailed the landlord today expressing my concerns (mainly regarding security) and he has just emailed back giving me the go ahead to keep them indoors.....yippeeeeeeeeeee!

So all that needs doing is a cage remodel and they can have even more space now as the area I have to put them in is much bigger! :)) :(|)
 
:)) That's good, sounds like they're going to have a lovely place to live.
 
Thanks

I feel bad that I wasted everyones time who originally answered my original post :...

I'm just so happy they can stay in the warmth and security of my room now :)) :(|)

Now to design their new C&C, how exciting!
 
My buns are in a set up like this.
I have an internal mesh door which i pin open through the day - i have different length 'pins' so that the door can be open wider or not as the weather dictates! I only shut the door at night so never have a problem with them being shut in the dark, although i think twice i have left the door shut when the weather has been vile, sideways rain etc and then i just leave a light on inside for them
I have never had a problem with rats or mice but i have had a problem with slugs going in! urgh!
Also i never once had a problem with the temperature dropping too low over this last winter, i never had frozen water bowls!
I love my little set up and so do my buns, i wish i could have another one the same for my piggies :) Feel free to ask me another questions if you have any, i can show you pics too.

D'oh just seen you're now keeping them inside, serves me right for not reading the whole thread before i replied!
 
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