Still a suitable cage size?

[hannahs26]

Hi everyone,
This may sound a strange question, but I'm wondering if my cage is now too big for my pair of sows. I've always thought that you should give as much space as possible for your guineas, however I have a query. We had a herd of 4 girls, who very sadly lost our gorgeous 5 year old two months ago, and this afternoon lost our beautiful 7.5yr old. As only a pair of almost 3 years olds now, I wonder if the space may feel a little too much for them? They are in an 'L' shape C and C run, the main area being 2.5 grids wide by 5 grids long, with the side extension being 2 by 2. Perhaps it's good to keep the same size space despite the losses, or would it perhaps make them feel more secure in just the rectangular 2.5 by 5 grids space, which was originally home to just 2 of them? Am I over-thinking it?
Thanks for any opinions :-)

 

[Lorcan]

I have a pair of boars in a slightly larger C&C, and I'd go bigger if I could (I suppose I should be grateful I can't, lol). The thing is there's a lot of stuff in that cage - at this moment it's 2 beds with no roof, 4 beds with, two fabric tunnels, two bendy log tunnels, and two fleecy forests. Now, I don't need to put so much in there, I know that, but it's for their sake. They've got plenty of places to hide well away from their irritating cage mate (lol) but plenty of ways to stay safe and warm.

More things probably sounds like extra work and expense, and I'd like to say "oh look at the difference it made" but honestly they're boars who love annoying the hell out of each other, and the only squabbles I have to deal with involve food.

 

[Swissgreys]

I would say there is no such thing as a cage that is too big.
If it feels big then add more things, or more importantly add covered areas (easy to do with a C&C).

When we were down to one pig, she was in a 5x2 - it previously shared a wall with our other piggy pair who also had a 5x2.
We debated whether to just give her the entire cage a massive, L-shaped 10 x 2, or leave her in the 5x2 and utilise the additional space for something else.
We decided to give her the entire cage, and it was the best decisions we ever made.
It took her a while to get used to so much space, but as an older piggy she got a new lease of life.
She loved being able to run in a straight line along the length of each section.
She loved a lot of the hides, and also never used some of them.
We gave her multiple hay trays and piles, and overall she used every inch of that cage.

So my advice would be keep it big and make it interesting.
Three years old is not old at all, so they have a long time left to enjoy their space.