What Should I Do?

[Kate.Pig]

Hi, I have 4 beautiful piggy's.
Right now they live inside in their C&C cage.
They have started stinking up the house, and my parents aren't that keen on the smell. I thought that to cut down on the smell, I could have the piggy's outside during the day. We have a long strip of grass going down our driveway. Right now I have a small run, I thought that if I dog proofed it they could live outside during the day and come inside at night. I go to school so I wont be able to supervise them during the day, however my mum is normally around so she can check on the every so often. Right now the coldest it gets to is around 12 degrees Celsius, so I don't need to worry about the pigs being cold. There run would sit under a tree in the shade and have one side against a fence to stop the wind. We have 2 cats and there are also many cats in the area, as well as some dogs.

Do you think that this would work?
I zip tied c&c grids around the outside of the mesh and I am thinking about putting them on the bottom too. Do you have any other suggestions on how I can dog proof it?

If this did work out I would probably purchase a large chicken coop so they had plenty of room and a way to get off the ground if it rains.

 

[DM030819]

You could also look into why their cage is starting to smell, I've never had an issue with my indoor pigs smelling.

What bedding do you use? How often do you clean them out?

I would be reluctant to leave them outside unsupervised with so many predators around.

 

[Kate.Pig]

You could also look into why their cage is starting to smell, I've never had an issue with my indoor pigs smelling.

What bedding do you use? How often do you clean them out?

I would be reluctant to leave them outside unsupervised with so many predators around.

They live on fleece, and it is changed every 2-3 days, they also have a massive litter box with care fresh and all of their food inside. So I don't really see, where I went wrong. I think your right though, I would never want to risk my piggy's.

 

[DM030819]

I'd recommend a vet check to see if there is a medical problem causing the smell as a cage that's cleaned out completely every 3 days shouldn't have a smell.

A friend of mine wanted to let her pigs go outdoors unsupervised but was worried about predators. She created a secure outdoor run that had a bottom that was buried into the ground so a fox/cat/dog/whatever couldn't get at them from underneath either.

 

[Critter]

May I ask what kind of smell? If it smells of fish it can mean a bladder infection. Are their poops normal?