Hi
as the nights are drawing out and we can look forward to warmer weather 8) I thought I would share with you all some of the things I do to protect my pigs from fly strike and other nasties when they are living outdoors.
The first, and best, discovery is fly mesh! My daughter thought of it when we bought some from Aldi for our house windows. Its very cheap and you can buy it from lots of places including eBay.
Its a fine nylon mesh which attaches to the hutch via velcro which we staple straight on to the wood. The other side sticks on to the fabric. You can cut it to any size/shape you want. This means its easy to undo for cleaning/feeding etc. Just make a hole for your water bottle spout (so that the bottle goes on the outside of the mesh) and away you go.
Only the tiniest nasties can get through the mesh, so no worries about fly strike, and air flow is not inhibited at all. My guineas definitely don't mind it and I find it gives real peace of mind
The other thing I HATE, and I don't know if you have the same problem, but I can't bear it when there are slugs patrolling the hutches. It makes me feel sick when I see slime all over the mesh and the blighters have even tunnelled UNDER the mesh when they found a weak spot. I have found them in the feed bowls! UGH!
I know the guineas don't care, but I flippin do!
So I had to think of a good, no chemical way to keep them away. The best thing I have found are crushed shells which come up from the sea with gravel dredgers. A big box full from garden centres is about a fiver or so and goes a very long way. Its made for protecting plants but works well on hutches too. I just put a barrier of the shells, about 2 or 3 inches deep on the roof edge where it overhangs the hutch, and around the legs etc, in fact anywhere the slugs can climb from. They won't walk (!) over rough stuff so it works a treat.
The only bit you have to watch are the legs/bottom of the hutch as you will disturb that area yourself so just make sure you keep replenishing the boundary! But of course the shells are reusable and you can just sweep them back into place. When the pigs come back inside I just scoop the shells back into the box and use them again next year.
I hope these ideas appeal to someone and help a pig or two -c
as the nights are drawing out and we can look forward to warmer weather 8) I thought I would share with you all some of the things I do to protect my pigs from fly strike and other nasties when they are living outdoors.
The first, and best, discovery is fly mesh! My daughter thought of it when we bought some from Aldi for our house windows. Its very cheap and you can buy it from lots of places including eBay.
Its a fine nylon mesh which attaches to the hutch via velcro which we staple straight on to the wood. The other side sticks on to the fabric. You can cut it to any size/shape you want. This means its easy to undo for cleaning/feeding etc. Just make a hole for your water bottle spout (so that the bottle goes on the outside of the mesh) and away you go.
Only the tiniest nasties can get through the mesh, so no worries about fly strike, and air flow is not inhibited at all. My guineas definitely don't mind it and I find it gives real peace of mind
The other thing I HATE, and I don't know if you have the same problem, but I can't bear it when there are slugs patrolling the hutches. It makes me feel sick when I see slime all over the mesh and the blighters have even tunnelled UNDER the mesh when they found a weak spot. I have found them in the feed bowls! UGH!
I know the guineas don't care, but I flippin do!
So I had to think of a good, no chemical way to keep them away. The best thing I have found are crushed shells which come up from the sea with gravel dredgers. A big box full from garden centres is about a fiver or so and goes a very long way. Its made for protecting plants but works well on hutches too. I just put a barrier of the shells, about 2 or 3 inches deep on the roof edge where it overhangs the hutch, and around the legs etc, in fact anywhere the slugs can climb from. They won't walk (!) over rough stuff so it works a treat.
The only bit you have to watch are the legs/bottom of the hutch as you will disturb that area yourself so just make sure you keep replenishing the boundary! But of course the shells are reusable and you can just sweep them back into place. When the pigs come back inside I just scoop the shells back into the box and use them again next year.
I hope these ideas appeal to someone and help a pig or two -c