I was looking at this. Do you think it would be ok for a garage?
Thanks so much. Really appreciate any help as want to get this right.
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Ive just found this on Amazon and I personally would not get this.
The enclosed hutch part is only 90x30cm - meaning it doesn’t come anywhere close to minimum welfare sizing.
If you were to have this, then it could be very difficult to keep it warm even in a garage and because the enclosed hutch part does not meet welfare sizing, you would not be able to lock the piggies inside the enclosed hutch part at any time — they would have to have constant free roam of the entire enclosure even if it was too cold. This consequently means you would have to be sure the garage remains above 15 degrees and/or that you insulate the entire enclosure (the wire part of it and floor included as garage floors are cold) to attempt to ensure they were warm enough. You would need to put covers over the whole thing but I still think with such an open enclosure you will really struggle to keep them warm enough.
You would not be able to move this outside for use (should that be your intention) out there as it would not be safe or suitable.
If you have two sows or a mixed sex pair, then you need a hutch (any area they are to be locked into) to be 150x60cm.
As I said, a separate hutch raised off the ground is much easier to insulate and keep warm.
My four boys live in a two storey hutch (a pair in the bottom hutch and a pair in the top hutch). They are in a shed which is insulated. The hutch is also insulated and has a thermal cover, two blankets, a normal waterproof cover (purely as an additional layer, it obviously doesn’t need to to be waterproof given it’s in the shed!) and then a duvet thrown over all of it. The hutches are fully filled with hay and each piggy has a snugglesafe heatpad. I can usually keep them above 12 degrees with these measures.
Do you know what temperature your garage is? Particularly in the cold spell we have just had?
Look on the Home & Roost website for examples of suitable hutches, but i definitely would not get one which has an attached run.