A Guided Tour of my little lot!
Further to other recent posts I thought I’d share some pictures of my shed and runs, especially as I spent all weekend painting hutches and sorting stuff out for winter! I've got an assortment of pigs here, some are my pets and others are rescues that are waiting for homes.
Here is my shed – it’s 8’ x 6’ - I'm going to paint it like a beach hut when I get the chance!
The big block of hutches came from a breeder second hand, each level can be separated into 3 cubes but I take the dividers out and use them as a whole level. It’s about 6’ wide. The fronts and kick-boards come off for easy cleaning.
I use luggage-label type keyrings to label each guinea’s hutch, just in case I’m not well or something and someone else has to deal with them. Each one is labelled and I’ve got a list that is kept up to date with any special needs etc. I also have a blackboard to write myself notes on, or if anyone has been in to feed the pigs they can leave me notes too!
There are no water bottles in this pic because they were all soaking in Milton at the time! I do this once a week with all the bottles and bowls. The bottle holder springs came with the hutches, they’re brilliant.
The old hutch on the left is ancient but handy to put stuff on top of it. Nobody lives in it but if it’s raining when I clean out then I use it to put pigs in while their hutch is being sorted. My grooming and cleaning stuff is kept on top of the hutch too.
The bins on the right are rat-proof, one for a sack of food and one for hay.
I haven’t got electricity out there but I have a battery-powered bulb and (since yesterday!) a solar powered one on the other side, and a torch in case I need one.
I have various hutches and runs outside, most of these were from Freecycle or donated by friends, so they’re a bit higgledy-piggledy. I painted them all at the weekend so they’re weather proof, and they’ve all got tarpaulin to shield the front if it rains.
Elvis and Sirius share the purple palace:
Biffy and Jaffa's hutch and run:
Jim Jam and Sunny:
The big green one (the tin of paint was called 'Forest Green' which was clearly a lie! I'm going to repaint it.... rolleyes)
And then indoors in my spare room (the piggy room!) I have indoor cages (plastic) for quarantine so that any new pigs are as far away from my others as possible. Any pigs that come in go straight into quarantine and are kept there for a couple of weeks until they get the all clear! The plastic-based cages can be properly discinfected afterwards too. Any rescues that come in pregnant are kept indoors to have the babies, and the babies stay indoors until they’re a good size. I always feed the quarantine pigs last, clean them last, cuddle them last just in case they do have something nasty. Having had a case of ringworm earlier this year on a pig that came in looking healthy, I’m now even more careful about this!
In my lounge I have a folding play pen for piggies to come in for floor time, with fleece or towels underneath it.
My garden is securely fenced so if I’m outside doing the pigs, I have one or other of my single boars free-ranging with me, so they get to socialise with the other pigs. Obviously I don’t leave them alone…
So, that’s it! Tour over. Sorry for rambling. Hope you enjoyed it!
Sophie
x
Further to other recent posts I thought I’d share some pictures of my shed and runs, especially as I spent all weekend painting hutches and sorting stuff out for winter! I've got an assortment of pigs here, some are my pets and others are rescues that are waiting for homes.
Here is my shed – it’s 8’ x 6’ - I'm going to paint it like a beach hut when I get the chance!
The big block of hutches came from a breeder second hand, each level can be separated into 3 cubes but I take the dividers out and use them as a whole level. It’s about 6’ wide. The fronts and kick-boards come off for easy cleaning.
I use luggage-label type keyrings to label each guinea’s hutch, just in case I’m not well or something and someone else has to deal with them. Each one is labelled and I’ve got a list that is kept up to date with any special needs etc. I also have a blackboard to write myself notes on, or if anyone has been in to feed the pigs they can leave me notes too!
There are no water bottles in this pic because they were all soaking in Milton at the time! I do this once a week with all the bottles and bowls. The bottle holder springs came with the hutches, they’re brilliant.
The old hutch on the left is ancient but handy to put stuff on top of it. Nobody lives in it but if it’s raining when I clean out then I use it to put pigs in while their hutch is being sorted. My grooming and cleaning stuff is kept on top of the hutch too.
The bins on the right are rat-proof, one for a sack of food and one for hay.
I haven’t got electricity out there but I have a battery-powered bulb and (since yesterday!) a solar powered one on the other side, and a torch in case I need one.
I have various hutches and runs outside, most of these were from Freecycle or donated by friends, so they’re a bit higgledy-piggledy. I painted them all at the weekend so they’re weather proof, and they’ve all got tarpaulin to shield the front if it rains.
Elvis and Sirius share the purple palace:
Biffy and Jaffa's hutch and run:
Jim Jam and Sunny:
The big green one (the tin of paint was called 'Forest Green' which was clearly a lie! I'm going to repaint it.... rolleyes)
And then indoors in my spare room (the piggy room!) I have indoor cages (plastic) for quarantine so that any new pigs are as far away from my others as possible. Any pigs that come in go straight into quarantine and are kept there for a couple of weeks until they get the all clear! The plastic-based cages can be properly discinfected afterwards too. Any rescues that come in pregnant are kept indoors to have the babies, and the babies stay indoors until they’re a good size. I always feed the quarantine pigs last, clean them last, cuddle them last just in case they do have something nasty. Having had a case of ringworm earlier this year on a pig that came in looking healthy, I’m now even more careful about this!
In my lounge I have a folding play pen for piggies to come in for floor time, with fleece or towels underneath it.
My garden is securely fenced so if I’m outside doing the pigs, I have one or other of my single boars free-ranging with me, so they get to socialise with the other pigs. Obviously I don’t leave them alone…
So, that’s it! Tour over. Sorry for rambling. Hope you enjoyed it!
Sophie
x
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