Freerange?

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sophiew (EAGPR)

sophiew (EAGPR)

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I grew up with dreams of piggies free ranging in the house after reading Peter Gurney's books and loving his 'Free range Fred' - his rule for a house pig was 'it must be a boar, and it must not gnaw'!

Since having pigs of my own I've wondered how this was ever possible for him, as all of mine seem pretty unaware of when they're pooping and weeing - surely there must be mess all over the place?

Does anyone here have a freerange pig? I only ask because my wonderful Zippy pig has taken to wandering the house lately, and he's the only pig I've seen react like it - he loves it, isn't at all phased by anything, trots around like a little dog (in fact, he just went up to my dog and nibbled his paw! rolleyes) (don't worry, the labrador would have come off worst!)

Sophie
x
 
Free rangers

I had a guinea as a child who was a free ranger when we were in the house. His cage would be left open and he would jump in and out and trot around merrily, following you to the kitchen and trying to raid the fridge. He always used to pee and poo only in his cage. The girls I have now will do all their pees and most of their poos on a piece of newspaper I put down for them in one corner. They are only out roaming for an hour or so a day though, and they tend not to venture out of the kitchen even though I never shut the door. I'd like to say I toilet trained them, but I think I'd be lying!rolleyes
 
Both my boars, one of which is still with me, his name is Archie, have been free range when we are in the room. He can't get at any wires, I have blocked acsess to them. The only time he goes in is if it is bed time, I call him and tell him to "get in" and he rushes in and waits for his treat, usually cucumber. Most of the day he spends lying under my table, I have put old sample carpets you can buy from carpet shops under there incase of the odd accident, most of the time he goes back into his cage though to use the bathroom so to speak. He is so tame that he will come up to you when you come in the room, and follow you to the door when you leave to go to the kitchen. :))
 
I let Pops free-range when I am about. I just leave her cage open and she jumps in and out. When she was being fully syringe fed she would jump out of her cage and come and find me when she needed feeding. If I was upstairs she would stand at the bottom of the stairs and shout loudly! :))
 
Yes well the labrador also acts as a pooh hoover! rolleyes :))

Funnily enough when I try and cuddle Zippy now, he's always trying to get down to the floor to explore... he won't relax! And he ALWAYS ends up in the kitchen under the dog bed - which is right near his cage. But the cage is on a stand so he can't hop in... might try putting it at ground level and see what he does!

Worried about forgetting he's there and treading on him :x

Sophie
x
 
Montgomery gets outs of his cage, and free run of my upstairs when I'm home. He wanders in and out of every room, including my bedroom and bathroom. He has never piddled or pooped anywhere other than on the towels I put down for him in the piggies room. I think he has scented his preferred toilet areas and sticks to them.
 
My 5 year old boar, Noggin, lives in a cage in our lounge. The cage front is kept open and he is free to come and go at will. He waits by the fridge door if he gets hungry, comes to the door when we arrive home, and just comes out for a wander several times a day. He has never chewed anything and always goes back to his cage to do his business. Noggin is a larger than life character and just seems to love people.
 
Thanks everyone - sounds like there is hope for Zippy then! He's in with Captain Jack (who is too old and doddery to go wandering!) but I hope Zippy might have a free range lifestyle if he can be a good boy with his poops and wees!

Sophie
x

PS he is my avatar pig ^)
 
My free-ranging guinea pigs started with Minx, who was such an avid explorer - not only of the whole house (unless I "piggy-proofed" my stairs), but also the garden. She was more like a tiny dog for me.

Since then I have kept them like that - the cage is open and accessible all day over a ramp; the sofa has been blocked off, cables are out of the way and "toilet/sleeping corners" have been established. We've had the odd attack on the wallpaper, the radiator valve insulation thread and any plastic in reach and the occasional accident on the carpet - mainly with new guinea pigs. But as our hall has now laminate, the piggies stay mostly in the living room.

Watching them gambol all over the lounge is such a joy; I wouldn't go without it anymore! (PS: Not to be recommended for rented accommodation, though!)
 
AW that's really cute! If I didn't have any cats / dogs i would be there. That's sweet!


Vickyt said:
My free-ranging guinea pigs started with Minx, who was such an avid explorer - not only of the whole house (unless I "piggy-proofed" my stairs), but also the garden. She was more like a tiny dog for me.

Since then I have kept them like that - the cage is open and accessible all day over a ramp; the sofa has been blocked off, cables are out of the way and "toilet/sleeping corners" have been established. We've had the odd attack on the wallpaper, the radiator valve insulation thread and any plastic in reach and the occasional accident on the carpet - mainly with new guinea pigs. But as our hall has now laminate, the piggies stay mostly in the living room.

Watching them gambol all over the lounge is such a joy; I wouldn't go without it anymore! (PS: Not to be recommended for rented accommodation, though!)
Click to expand...
 
Reading this thread has inspired me to try and let my 2 guinea pigs out and about the house. I took them out of their cage and put some fresh food outside for them, and sat nearby, to give them confidence in exploring. Both of them tried desperately to get back inside the cage!

So I can see it's going to take a while to get them used to free ranging:)
 
My rolo is free range totally, he doesnt have a cage anymore. He is about 3 and i used to let him out to run round and as he was nervous he used to jump into the free range rabbits litter box and eat all their hay. Then i noticed he didnt actually poop on the floor apart from an occasional one found in a corner, but actually less than the rabbits do :)
Then when he fell out with revel i moved him out for the day whilst deciding what to do etc and he had a great time so he never went back into a cage.
Strangely our 12 year old cat also gets in the tray and sits next to him it is very sweet.
He has become very tame aswell after doing it. When he was young he was a terrified little thing but he has really relaxed.
I read the book about fred too and loved that book.
I found that if i put them out they always look for a table etc and poop under it and as our rabbit trays are under a coffee table it is perfect.
I read somewhere that if you make a cover for them with a hiding place full of hay they choose to stay there and see it as their home safe place so just venture out when they are brave and because of that they tend to do their poops there too.
Revel was a nightmare and pooped everywhere when i tried him, but now he is older if i put him out when rolo is in the garden, he too goes straight for the trays and stays there eating hay and didnt poop everywhere else.
Our house is noisey with lots of other animals and 3 little boy children so maybe that adds to their needing a place to hide and so doing their business in there.
xx
 
I love watching Archie gallop round, it makes me smile. When they are out all the time I think you become aware to look out for them. I would be tempted to do as you say and put the cage on the floor and see what happens, they are quick at learning new things. We had Archie for only a week and he had figured out how to get in and out as he pleased.:))
 
I'm preparing to let my pigs free range in this flat. They seem to be doing well at keeping their mess in their area... someone once told me that it helps to have "hay points" in each room since pigs seem to like pooping and peeing while they're rooting through hay.

I'll let you know what solution I come up qwith since I'm going to work on my boys cage just now :)
 
My sister and brother in law had an unexpected free-range piggy - they had 2 ginger piggies called Arthur and Fudge - it was new years and we were fairly sozzled watching TV at theirs when i glanced up and saw a piggie trotting past the fishtank - i said "theres fudge", so which my bother in law said - "nah thats Arthur" took a second for the penny to drop and then it was "thats ARTHUR"! - cheeky begger had figured out how to open the cage door, plopped gently down 2 flight of stairs and trotted accross the living room like he was taking his evening constitutional!

Kept us giggling well into the early hours!

Tony
 
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