What to put on bottom of hutch?

Gradie and the pigs

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Hi there we are building a hutch for our piggies but since our ground is a bit uneven we need to put something on the bottom of the hutch so nothing can get in or get out I know that we can’t use mesh cause of bumblefoot is there any type of product or something to help’ thanks 🙂
 
Normally hutches have wood on the bottom and are raised off the ground with legs for warmth and security. You would ideally put a protective layer on top of the wood such as a sheet of plastic, Lino or Correx to protect the floor from urine

A run is normally made with wood and mesh but is open on the bottom so piggies can get to the grass. The advice is that they are not left in a run while you aren’t there to supervise them and not left in it over night. If the climate is wet in NZ, they also cannot be on grass during any wet/colder times. Instead they would be moved back to the secure hutch.

As you have a young trio of boars, and if you were to build a hutch with a separate run then you need to make sure both a hutch and run cover at least three square metres each and are able to be divided if the piggies need to be separated, with any potential pair which can be made after a trio separates still having a 180x60cm space in the hutch (the recommended size for a boar pair).

if you want them to free roam, then having then live in a fully wooden shed (with a wooden floor) is a safer option for security and warmth and also provide a trio with enough living space. Again with a separate run on grass and the ability to divide the area al they can be split up
 
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If it is a run type thing that you want to permanently attach to the ground, then what we did was to attach chicken wire to the outside of the mesh (making sure to fold any sharp bits away from the pigs) and then fold it out to the ground, if that makes sense? I will try to find a picture of what we did. We also had pegged the whole run into the ground and they then had an (also permanently attached) access to this from the hutch during weather appropriate days.
 
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