Outdoor hutch for 2 naughty boars

falkor.kratos

falkor.kratos

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Hi everyone,

We are looking at an outdoor hutch for our 2 boars as we'd like to get them a nice and cozy outdoor home to put up on our roof garden terrace hence we hope to also have a nice wind/ rain cover for it for when it gets a bit wet and windy. There is some noise that can come up from the road up front, however, we have been taking them up in a box and a small run to get them adjusted to the outdoor noise.

We looked at the Home & Roots 4ft double hutch, and to also get the hutch cover for it - anyone has any experience with this one, please?

Our boars are currently in a 4x2 C&C double cage but can sometimes get into a fight with some hair pulling when they get their testosterone hype :xd: so hope to be able to split them out if they need a bit of a rest.

We are quite new to this so any advice would be very helpful! Thanks
 
I think that would be too small for your boars if they are getting into scraps occasionally. Chartwell do a 5ft and a 6ft hutch too. They aren't the best quality but for the money are good. Especially if you have the insulating cover and the weatherproof cover to help protect it (and to protect the piggies of course). If you went for a bigger hutch you may find that the boys scrap less as there is more space for them to escape each other.
 
:agr:

A 4ft hutch will be too small for boars. It’s 8 square feet.
You really do need at least a 5ft hutch (10 sq ft), but ideally a 6ft hutch (12 sq ft) for boars.
Upper levels of a hutch/cage Dont count towards the cage size

You also don’t want to be separating boars too much. A short separation to allow hormones to settle is fine, but separating too often can disrupt them too much
 
Thanks for your advice! We do have a 4x3 C&C cage as I mentioned but we've actually created it in a way that they have two separate full levels with a middle level in between both to get up the ramps from one to the other but they still seem to have occasional daily fights. Will look at the 5ft & 6tf as unfortunately can't have more space indoors to expand beyond the current 4x3 cage. @Piggies&buns any advice on what would be good timing to allow the hormones to settle, we were afraid of separating them overnight due to potential disruption.
 
falkor.kratos said:
Thanks for your advice! We do have a 4x3 C&C cage as I mentioned but we've actually created it in a way that they have two separate full levels with a middle level in between both to get up the ramps from one to the other but they still seem to have occasional daily fights. Will look at the 5ft & 6tf as unfortunately can't have more space indoors to expand beyond the current 4x3 cage. @Piggies&buns any advice on what would be good timing to allow the hormones to settle, we were afraid of separating them overnight due to potential disruption.
Click to expand...

You have to be a bit careful here - you say ‘fights’. You also say occasional and daily - could you please clarify - are they occasional or are you seeing issues between them every day?
How old are they?
There is a difference between normal dominance displays and fights. A fight is full on blood drawing and warrants immediate and permanent separation with no physical contact again.
Dominance displays are entirely normal and you do not step in for those. You can, however, give them a day or two to let hormones settle but you do not want to do this often. You are better to leave them to sort things out themselves.

these guides explain further

Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

in your first post you say it’s a 4x2 c&c cage but here you say it’s a 4x3 c&c. Could you please clarify?

A 4x2 measures approx 150x77cm (5ft by just over 2 ft) and is considered to be the minimum size you would want for two boars. It’s recommended that boars have a 5x2 c&c (180x77cm/6ft by just over 2ft)
A 4x3 measures approx 150x112cm (5ft x just over 3ft) and is a brilliant size for two boars.

If you get a 5ft hutch and your cage is a 4x3 c&c, then the hutch is going to give them considerably less space than they have in the c&c cage. I only mention this as you say they are getting into fights and pulling hair so you don’t want to put them in a smaller space than they already have - they need a bigger space if their relationship is tense due to a space related issue. If their relationship isn’t working because they aren’t compatible then you cannot fix that and then they need to be permanently separated.
el ghen you cannot fix that ationship relwfipnship i s
 
If you do have to temporarily (or even permanently) separate them, they still need to be live side by side. So a two tier hutch wouldn’t be of use because it can’t allow for that.

How exactly do they behave? Does one back down and allow to be mounted and chased etc? Have a good read of the guides linked to above.
 
Hey @Piggies&buns , @Siikibam sorry for the confusion we have a 4x2 C&C cage on two full floors with a ramp that leads from the lower level up onto the upper floor. We literally rejigged it earlier today as they had a medium space between the floors with two ramps where one would block the space to the other boar so was not ideal.

They are around 13-14 months old and we adopted them over a month ago now. When they came in they were very shy and Falkor is the dominant boar, however, Kratos has been humping him and generally challenging his dominance it seems since we got them. We got them separate water bottles, hay feed, hiding houses, and all as we noticed they were getting teritorial around it.

What happens with their episodes is basically a show of dominance and territory challenging it seems based upon reading the guides. It starts off with general dancing around each other, humping, and once every second day getting on the back of their feet and charging at each other. They seem to be backing off right after this very short rumble between each other and there haven't been any bloody fights so far just some fur off each other has gone a few times and it seems for now they are settling the scores on dominance between each other.

We are now thinking that we need a bigger outdoor hutch and we are torn due to pricing limitations between getting them a double layer 5ft hutch that also has a door where we could potentially close to separate them overnight in the two levels of it. The second alternative is getting a single layer 6ft outdoor hatch, however, worried about their bond in case it gets worst we will not be able to separate them maybe that easily and the 5ft per level could still give them some space.

Thanks a lot for your advice, we are very new to guinea pigs but we do love them more than anything!
 
I would get the bigger one. But you have to bear in mind that if they need separating they will still need that interaction through a divider. They can’t be one above the other as they won’t get that. So I would go with the 6ft hutch.

Space can be an issue and, as mentioned, 4x2 isn’t big enough for boars. Yours are just out of their teens but dominance behaviour can continue into older age. Where do they sit on the scale in the guide below?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
:agr:

A 4x2 is the minimum size for two boars (the upper level does not count towards the cage size in any way), and in my experience, too small. Mine were originally in an equivalent 4x2 and they were in a new, bigger cage within weeks - they settled almost instantly (although not totally, as they were teenagers after all and were hormonal anyway) so it became clear they just needed a bigger space.

A 5ft hutch has a smaller footprint than a 4x2 c&c so if they are having a space issue, then a 5ft hutch isn’t going to make things better at all And could in fact make things worse.

A 4x2 c&c measures 150x77cm
A 5ft hutch measures 150x60cm externally, internally its smaller (often more like 140x50cm) . So by getting a 5ft hutch they will have less space than they do now.
I would really urge you to get the 6ft hutch

As siikibam has said If they do ever need to be separated they cannot live in a double storey hutch as they cannot have interaction that way and will get lonely. Separated piggies must be in side by side cages.
 
@Siikibam I just read through it together with my partner they were in the first normal dominance phase with occasional humping when we got them and now they are definitely in the orange warning phase, relieved to hear that getting in time to stop their full-on fight is a good thing.

@Piggies&buns thanks so much - yes we are definitely going to be going now with the 6ft single-level hatch.

Thanks both for your advice!
 
Is there any way you could expand their space now? Perhaps set up a play pen that they can have access to 24/7? I’m just thinking that it will be difficult to house them outdoors if they need permanently separating (fingers crossed they won’t though).

So does neither of them back down? You said that Falkor was the dominant one but Kratos has been contesting that. Does Falkor let himself be humped? Is there any submissive squeaking? The issue comes where one refuses to be underpig. There can only be one top pig.

I hope they sort themselves out.
 
I would be keeping a very close eye on things. I agree with Siikibam, if you move them out and they do fall out, then you need a second hutch and it will need to put with the two hutches facing each other so they can at least see each other, not ideal but the best you can do with hutches (a c&c cage, you simply put a divider in between the two cages and they can have a full range of interaction through the bars (each cage needs to be a minimum of 4ft x 2ft for separate piggies).

Any time you change their environment/territory or move them to a new cage entirely (some boars can even be affected by cleaning the cage too often, too much or even being moved into a run) they go into a period of reestablishing their relationship.
Ensure you use soiled bedding from their old cage when you move them to a new hutch as it can help them feel like it is still their territory, but you are still going to see an increase in dominance behaviours while they mark their new territories. In a pair who are already having underlying problems then the increase in dominance caused by the move could end up being the thing which makes them make a decision about their relationship, and it could be what breaks them up.

More explanation in the guide below
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

I would watch them closely, and let them decide how their relationship (using the bonds in trouble guide below) is before buying a new hutch because you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a large hutch and then find they need to be separated which means moving them out into a hutch might not work (as we said, separated piggies cannot live in a double storey hutch, they need to be side by side so they can smell and see each other through the bars which isn’t easy to achieve with hutches).

Bonds In Trouble
 
Hi @Piggies&buns & @Siikibam,

I just wanted to share that the two piggies have very happily adjusted in their 6ft single hutch outside and seem to be getting along so much better! We bring them in during the day for a few hours indoors and they are currently pop-corning their way around enjoying fresh grass and kale XD :love:.

Thanks so much again for your advice it was really useful!
 
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