Replacement hutch dilemma/ponderings

[Tewdric]

Before I get started on this thread please be assured that I dearly love my monsters and they are properly and thoroughly loved and cared for. This post is partly soul searching partly hard headed £ wise for the future.

I mean, who couldn’t love this baggage!?



Long ramble coming up!

My two girls will be 6 at the end of August.

Deep cleaning + pressure washing their double deck 6ft hutch yesterday I found the floor in their upper decks is beginning to split. Indeed there is a small hole in the night side. I’ve covered the upper layer in some old Lino so they’re safe for now. But that is obviously not a long term solution and I need a new hutch.

The issue: do I go for another double deck, or do I get a single layer? Whichever I get will be a 6ft by 2ft. I also need to replace all hutch protectors as they’re also on their last legs after multiple years of use. TBH I wasn’t sure the girls would make the spring at one point in March. Thankfully they have.

My girls are OAPs now, (6 in August) I’m not 100% sure if I’ll replace them when the time comes….. The weather extremes of the last few years have been hard to deal with and due to my husband’s health the pigs have to live outside in their aviary in the summer and their shed overwinter. I’m wondering if it’d be nice to have a break from the responsibilities of pets for a while?

On the other hand we both love the pigs. I’ve had something to look after since I was 7 (thirty something odd years ago) and I miss the caring routine when they’re at their holiday boarding around our travels.

My girls like going ‘upstairs’ to bed each night. They tuck themselves up, it’s not something I’ve ever imposed on them. They also enjoy sunbathing on the top deck of the hutch in the winter when they’re in the shed. Would they adapt to a single level?

On the other hand, if I don’t start the next generation of rescues is it worth investing in a double deck hutch?

Will the inevitable happen and whilst I think we’ll have a break my OH will turn up one day with the next gang and that needed a new home after a sad tale from a work colleague?

Help!

What do I do?

Double or single decker?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Your question, would they adapt to single level?
The answer - absolutely they would. They don’t ‘need’ two levels.

Long story short(ish), a few two storey hutches (and a few more piggies later), I closed up the ramps in both my two storey hutches and now only keep piggies on single levels (hutches in shed). The pair who lived in the two storey hutch originally do not care one bit that they ended up living in a single storey!
I find it much easier to keep a single level warm in winter.

Personally, the only reason I’d keep two storey hutches going forward is so I can keep a pair upstairs and a pair downstairs (albeit makes free roam shed floor time a timeshare!).
(Ive kept small animals (primarily rabbits) for 35 years. I tried to have little a break from pets for a couple of years after my first child was born….it didn’t last long, I couldn’t stand not having animals in my life!)

 

[Tewdric]

Thanks for reading my ramble and for your reassuring reply.

I suspect you are right about not being able to stand not having animals in my life at home.

 

[Roselina]

As the girls are senior piggies a single level hutch would probably be best - just thinking of possible arthritis/ mobility in the future - they would get used to it very quickly and with enrichment areas/tunnels etc I don’t think they’d miss it.
I also had a break from little animals for a few years and rehomed two boys in lockdown. So glad I did as they helped me thru that time and I enjoy the care and interaction with them now

 

[piggieminder]

I've never had a hutch but my boars used to have lofts in their C&C cages which they loved. When Red and Brillo were diagnosed with arthritis last year I was advised by the vet to remove the lofts. They looked for the ramps for a couple of days but soon stopped and settled down to one level living.
I managed 6 years pet free before I went back to piggies. I had some losses last year that resulted in me saying I wouldn't have any more, the ones I have will be the last. I'm getting too old for all the cleaning out and too poor for the vet bills. 3 weeks ago I took in a young lonely boar with a sad story. Best laid plans and all that! Once these little furries are in your heart ..........

 

[Tewdric]

…. Once these little furries are in your heart ..........

That’s the thing, their little personalities get to you.

 

[Bill & Ted]

I would get a single level, that ample room and they will adapt. You may find as they get older they might struggle to go upstairs to bed anyway. Life is so much richer with pets