Shed ideas!

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Hi All,

I have been talking to Peter about the rescue piggy shed I want in the spring and wanted to run some ideas past you all. :)

The shed would have to be 12ft x 10ft I'm thinking I can get 2 5x2 hutches (all built in) along the 10 wall I can put a divider in to make the 3 hutches and take out if need be and 2 4x2 hutches along the 8 wall with the opportunity to put dividers in or out to make one big hutch of 8x2

I was thinking four tall so I could house 16 hutches and 50 pigs minimum (not including my 6).

I've looked at shed prices for 10x8 it's £425 for anyone who has build their own can you do it cheaper? Peter want to build his own and he will do all the hutches too.

We will iinsulate too and put boards up on the inside and put lights in although Peter wasn't keen on heating it, he thinks by using insulation they will be warm enough, what do you think?

I should have plenty of dosh after February but obviously I want to get everything sorted before then! :)

x
 
My 18 x 6 was about £475. We found a random company in the yellow pages and got it custom made from there.
It was pretty cold in there, so my dad got about 5 packs of insulation and lots of boards and we insulated the side where the pigs will be. We are also building the hutches in there. My dad is a painter and decorator, so we get the boards, insulation, electric things, correx, tubes for piggies and other things like that for free as long as we ask.
Atm the insulation keeps the shed really nice and warm! My dad offered to put some of those lights which people use to keep chicks warm in there, but I definately think it's warm enough.
 
I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but what i would do is this...

Along the 10' wall, you could put hutches, how ever big you wanted. 5'x2 or 3' and only make each hutch mabey 1' high, however have them as high as you can reach. There-fore getting the most out of the space. On the 8' side, you would only then have 6-5' left, as of the hutch width if you no what i mean. So, along the smaller wall, you could have a table top/work bench thing put in, including a sink. Not working though, just so you can fill it with water for baths, and put a bucket inder the plug for draining. Or working sink if poss. Then on the work bench, you can do grooming or whatever and under this, storage shelves for food, hay toys what ever.

How does that sound?
 
Thanks for the info. Aimes just send me a link for Wilkinsons who have10x6 sheds for £250 or there abouts. To be honest after I posted I realised I may not get a huge piece of wood through my house, I've no backgate so everything has to come through the house so I think it will have to be by 6 the bigger the better though.

Tomcat, that sounds perfect I was going for hutches all the way around (except for the door area) but a work bench sounds so much better I could have 32 pigs in a 10x6 minus the six I've got but I want to leave them indoors, just have to persuade Peter that is the right thing to do! :)

Right off to feed the pigguns, I've run out of nuggets until morning, I'm such a bad mummy but they will not stop eating right now! :D

Thanks again!

Louise
x
 
As you have no back entrance and you have the know how it will probably be a lot cheaper to build your own and then you could build it to the exact size you want.
If you order a 12x10 shed thats the external measurments.I have found when i have been looking a 10ft shed is only around 9ft 8" internal.

I am now considering a 16 x 8 shed from these http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZwoodland_wbh but i am waiting till the spring now as the ground is to wet to get ready

edited: as i put buy instead of build ::)
 
Thanks Graham, I think it would be cheaper to make our own, but that's up to him upstairs! :D
 
That was our problem, we had to take the fence apart and put a gate in ::) . Luckily it came in loads of different pieces and they put it all together for us.
In my shed (which is still being sorted out) there's going to be 5: 14ft x 2 cages with dividers every 4 ft but obviously we won't use the dividers unless we have to, so there will be enough room for my three pairs of boars and group of 7 girls in each level with one level spare if we ever need it. There's also cupboard at the end of it for grooming, keeping woodshavings etc. I would love to have a sink in mine, seems a bit complicated for me though ::)
 
Have you tried the shed place in krikby louise? They measure internally :) because their measurement are actual floor space after insulation x
 
Hi Emma,

I haven't tried Atlas yet but will do, I'll compare prices for an already built shed and building our own. I found a website that tells you how to do it as well...lol x
 
Hi, me again lol.


Glad you like my idea, another idea though. Not sure how you will like this one though :P

As i said before, hutches as high as you need on the 10' wall, but, on the other wall, i am guessing the other 10' wall will have a door? IF it does, then have the same style of hutchles there, but work around the door, then have 2 work benches which means more storage. Also, if you carpet the floor, you can have floor time in there
 
More great ideas thanks! :D I think once we have the size sorted then we will have a better idea of what to do. :)
 
I think it's wonderful that you are thinking of setting up a rescue, sadly they are sorely needed. I would encourage you though to start off with a very small number first and see how you get on. So I would probably think of the number I would comfortably take in and then work back from that. 50 plus guinea pigs is an incredible number to have to look after so perhaps it's worth looking at the time/space/money you will have available but particularly time. If you are a one man band (as many of us are) you don't want to be overwhelmed by the number you have in. My comfortable number is around 15 rescues, I have had up to 22 but for me it was too many and couldn't spend the time with individuals that I wanted to, however it's hard to resist when you know a piggie is in need. I find that alot of my time is spent on homechecks/phonecalls etc - that is something that is hard to plan for.

In the first year you will learn so much, many of your original plans will change, it's not always easy to predict how it will go. I would say generally that the most common "rescues" are pairs so 4 x 2 hutches will be great. Sometimes a lone piggie or a family group will come in and obviously need different size hutches. One thing I would say is to get as much storage space in the shed as you can - it's incredible the amount of stuff you end up having , hay and food storage alone can take up heaps of room. Also medicine/shampoo cupboard is ideal. Make life as easy as you can for yourself and have everything under one roof if possible.

I had my hutches made for me and they are three tiers high which I find is perfect for cleaning out, if they are too high they can be difficult to reach. Also I like to have a seat in there too where I can sit with the piggies on my lap and just enjoy the time with them - a perk of the job!

I wish you well with your plans, lots of us rescue on here as you know, it's a fantastic thing to do and I'm delighted that there is going to be another piggie haven ready soon. O0 O0 O0
 
Thanks, yeah I'm probably running before I can crawl which is typical of me! ;D I think having a big shed and starting small would be ideal for me. :)

Runing these things may be a worry but I've some ideas which I need to think more about about funding it. (making cuddle cups and things like that!)

Thanks for your help!
x
 
I completely agree with summerleaze, it's fab that you are thinking about a rescue! O0 I would love to have one but i'm only 13 and I live on a estate so we are pushing it a bit already. ::)
 
I'm on an estate too, well, it's an ex-council estate most people have their own houses here now with only 10% being housing association. It's ok here though, loads of fields to walk dogs! We are buying our house so don't have to worry about limited pets.

I think I will start small, my idea is to help Sokel as he is the one who seems to be getting all the calls, I always look on free ads but there aren't many in Liverpool on offer, I guess once you set up though that is when the phone starts ringing.

Would like to do a piggy holiday hotel as well! ;D
 
So if I wanted to adopt from a rescue I would be allowed even though we live on an estate? I wouldn't get anymore pigs unless they came from a rescue.
 
Well if your parents own or are buying their property I can't see it being a problem. If it was a business though it may be a different kettle of fish. I'm just going to run it as keeping guinea pigs. I have friends here who race pidgeons from their garden with no worries and another friend has 5 rotties and another has 2 ducks a sheep and 2 dogs in a semi detached 3 bedroomed house..LMAO shes mad!
 
I know they are placid but they are huge! He is irresponsible as he lets them walk around the estate without a lead and muzzled, people are still scared of them which is a shame as I think they are lovely but they need to be on a lead!
 
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