Odd question

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Kbar

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Sorry, didn’t know where to put this so I figured protecting piggies from potential physical violence may be a stretch but still “technically” falls under daily care. The property I’m looking at buying has chickens. I know chickens can be… volatile… at times. It clicked in my head that they are free range on the property and I plan on taking my piggies outside at least a couple of times a week… in a little pen of course. Is there any reason I should be concerned about the chickens attacking the piggies?
 
I don't think the chickens will be an issue as long as you are with the piggies and keep the chickens away from them. Piggies shouldn't be left outside alone as all sorts of animals could hurt them. I think if I remember right you said that you live in Florida. There are way too many things in Florida that could hurt unsupervised piggies. I used to live in Florida as a kid and I will NEVER forget how nasty the fire ants are!

Personally, I don't take my piggies outside at all. I live in Indiana and we have coyotes, foxes, and the neighbors' cats that roam around. Plus the weather is either too hot or too cold for my piggies. I will go out and harvest some grass for them as a special little treat.
 
I'd be far more concerned about birds of prey, coyotes, and snakes ... for both the chickens and piggies.
Same situation here as RedLoredAmazon: having seen a hawk nab a squirrel, a falcon nab birds and mice, and coyotes trot through the side yard, my piggies will never be going outside.
 
Make sure any runs for your piggies has a small mesh so the chickens can’t peck through it with their beaks. I used to keep chickens and they are generally very inquisitive but unlikely to deliberately hurt your piggies
 
I once kept chickens before as well and they would Love to eat the dead mice around the house, so I think they would see a guinea pig as food. I would defiantly make sure the piggies are housed safely if they are going to be outside alongside the chickens.
 
As above as others have said about the dangers of being outside with predators etc, especially in Florida.
But regardless of that, you would have to be mindful that chickens can pass on diseases to Guinea pigs so personally I wouldn’t have them grazing on the same area as the chickens.
I have chickens and guinea pigs, But I don’t tend to have my pigs outside very often as I live In Australia with many dangers.
 
Hannah_xx said:
As above as others have said about the dangers of being outside with predators etc, especially in Florida.
But regardless of that, you would have to be mindful that chickens can pass on diseases to Guinea pigs so personally I wouldn’t have them grazing on the same area as the chickens.
I have chickens and guinea pigs, But I don’t tend to have my pigs outside very often as I live In Australia with many dangers.
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I'm moving to an agricultural area far from the gators and pythons, lol. Monkey populations haven't made it this far west yet and are kill on sight anyway as the population here in FL are extremely aggressive, completely invasive, and carry HIV. We're far enough away from wooded areas, and close enough to civilization, that bears, coyotes, and foxes, while still relevant, are still of minor concern. The biggest concerns to their safety are going to be feral cats and wild dogs as well as any manor of birds of prey. Based on previous conversations here, the run I have planned for them will be elevated high enough off of the ground to deter the dogs and I plan on surrounding and capping the run with electric barbed-wire fencing that will 'deter' anything else. I plan on 'bedding' the run with actual soil and grass as well.
 
Kbar said:
Sorry, didn’t know where to put this so I figured protecting piggies from potential physical violence may be a stretch but still “technically” falls under daily care. The property I’m looking at buying has chickens. I know chickens can be… volatile… at times. It clicked in my head that they are free range on the property and I plan on taking my piggies outside at least a couple of times a week… in a little pen of course. Is there any reason I should be concerned about the chickens attacking the piggies?
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Hi

You will need to keep the piggies in a covered pen. You also need to consider that you may want to fence off some part of the lawn so the grass that guinea pigs ingest is free of chicken waste, which can potentially transmit illness from their regular roaming.

PS: My Llewelyn - the original Tribe founding piggy - was rescued from a pen at a wildlife centre which he shared with other guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens. I assure you that Llewi (who was missing half an ear) was totally afraid of chickens all his life. If there was chicken on tv, he would dive into cover. Many of the rabbit babies had to be put down because they had their eyes picked out by the chickens.
 
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