What do you do to make life easier?

brilapiggies

brilapiggies

New Born Pup
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I am 8 guinea pigs deep! No regrets and everyone is healthy right now, thank goodness. Our current set up includes: x1 2x4 C&C for a senior boar who is next to some neighbors; x1 2x4 C&C for a neutered boar and his girlfriend; x1 2x6 for my gang of 4 girls; and x2 2x3 C&C connected with a barrier for two unaltered boars who love being neighbors but would not like to be housed together (hormones raging there).

Okay financially - x3 adults working full time contributing to care costs. We didn't really anticipate having this many but several were charity cases we couldn't say no to!

TLDR my question is: what do you do to make life easier? Any cleaning hacks, things that make guinea chores go by faster, even corners you cut financially? Do you have success using a vacuum for spot cleaning? Things like that.

All of our set ups include fleece bedding, a large "kitchen" with care fresh (all spot cleaned x3 daily, full clean x2 weekly), unlimited hay in feeders and fresh water in bottles.
 
Wow what lucky piggies you have - I don’t think I can offer any hacks as I’m sure you’ve discovered them all !
It’d be lovely to see some pigtures and know their names 🥰
 
brilapiggies said:
Roll call! View attachment 249776View attachment 249777View attachment 249778View attachment 249773View attachment 249780View attachment 249781View attachment 249783View attachment 249782
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Uh oh, some blurry pictures and a little out of order. Tricky uploading from mobile!
In order: Butterscotch, M 5yr; Snowbell, F 3y (Butter's gf); Junie, F 1yr (gang leader); Cinnamon, M 5yr (curmudgeon - his pic was out of order!), Emmie, F 8mos (second in command); Hattie, F 5mos (underling); Teddy, M 3mos (love hate relationship with Henry); Henry, M 5mos (loverboy)... Also even I counted wrong lol, there are only 3 girls in the 2x6!
 
They are all gorgeous. No hacks from me I’m afraid.
 
Your group looks fantastic! I don't have too many tips, but I will add what I do.

I'm sure you already do this, but I buy hay in bulk to help save money. I also grow lettuce (birds ate it all this year), bell peppers, cucumber, and cilantro in my garden for the piggies. I just sweep all the hay and poops up every day and then vacuum up all of the tiny bits, but if I were in your shoes I would use a shop vac to clean/spot clean.
 
I have 6 piggies in 5 cages. I use fleece bedding in the main cages and newpaper for a hay area, my 2 seniors have cardboard boxes for hay lined with newspaper as they sleep in these for warmth as well. I spot clean with the nozzle of a Henry vacuum turned sideways so it doesn't suck the fleece up. The piggies are not bothered by the vacuum and stay at one end of the cage while I'm cleaning and then swap ends. I just scoop the hay up in the newspaper, changed daily. I have a large builders bucket to throw the paper/hay into before taking it outside to sort out for composting, the dirty paper goes into the compost or bin the clean goes to recycling. I used to use hay trays etc but found they made cleaning fiddly and time consuming.
I grow a lot of my own veg as well as forage weeds (I'm not a tidy gardener!), they also get grass daily which saves on veg. I buy hay in bulk and only feed 6 pellets each twice a day so a bag lasts a long time.
 
In all seriousness… to try and make life with 5 to 7 pigs easier (2 recent losses, one pig on trial..who’s currently in prison).
I keep their hay in hay trays that I can just lift out, empty clean and refill every 2-3 days. (New hay added twice a day).
I do not spot clean everyday..sometimes every two days :shh:.. reality of life!
I buy farm hay bales, for cost rather than easiness.
I use a silicone/plastic dustpan (rather than normal bristles) to sweep the fleece. Works really well for poop and hair! I did use to use a handheld vacuum but it was too powerful and would suck up the fleece and stress me out lol.
I can’t think of anything else right now. Pigs are hard work!
 
Hannah_xx said:
Pigs are hard work!
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I put in the search bar ideal children's pets and this was the first thing that came up on the Bright Horizons Website.

We wouldn’t blame you if the thought of your child having a pet brings on a sudden headache! Animals are a big commitment and you will most likely end up shouldering most of the responsibility – no matter how solemnly your children promise they’ll do everything to care for their new friend.

But a pet can also be incredibly rewarding! Animals are a brilliant way to teach your children about responsibility and considering the needs of others. Not to mention the love and companionship the right animal - child paring can create.

Above all the new addition has to be a good fit for your family life and, if you don’t want to jump in at the deep end with a cat or dog, there are plenty of lower maintenance animals you could consider as a first pet.

1) Guinea Pigs

These fluffy, friendly rodents come highly recommended by everybody from animal experts to mumsnet. Guinea pigs have a sweet and sociable nature which means they’ll enjoy being handled and should have the patience for a young caretaker – so they’re ideal if your child wants a pet they can have a lot of interaction with.

Guinea pigs enjoy the company of a companion, so it’s recommended you have a pair. Avoid housing guinea pigs with rabbits however, as rabbits are known to bully the smaller animals causing them a lot of stress.

Guinea pigs require a little more time and effort than other rodents though they do have a longer life expectancy, living on average for between five and seven years. Guinea pigs have a healthy appetite and need plenty of fresh vegetables and hay to eat, plus their cage will need cleaning very regularly.
 
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