Outdoor Piggies

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Hattie&Tallulah

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Hi. I have always had guinea pigs in the past but have recently had a 3 year break. I am looking at getting a 7ft single storey hutch for outside and possibly keeping 2 females and a neutered boar? Would a 7ft hutch be suitable for this? They would have access to a run during the day time.

Also, in the past my pigs have been indoors only, with C&C cages. I've never kept them outdoors before. Do they attract flies in the summer? Obviously I would keep it all as hygienic as possible but we live near a stream and tend to get flies at certain times of the year.

I cannot keep my pigs indoors as we no longer have a spare room. They could go inside our garage in winter.

Thanks for any advice.
 
Welcome to the forum

Yes a 7ft hutch is big enough for two sows and a neutered boar.

My piggies live in a shed year round (having to come indoors in summer when it’s too hot out), and I’ve had outdoor rabbits for 30 years. I’ve never had fly issues but I’m not near water. Hygiene is key to preventing fly issues - ensuring hutches are poop picked and their bottoms are checked as many times a day as possible. You can get fly covers for hutches as well.

this guide covers further information Fly Strike
 
Welcome to the forum
Looking forward to seeing your piggies (when you get them) 😁
 
I've posted on another thread, but do the sheds need to be heated? I would try and insulate the shed as much as possible but an electrical heat source is problematic.
 
It would be ideal if you heated it. But if you can’t that’s okay. I don’t know how it would work but insulation would be good for winter. As well as hutch covers and some duvets/blankets.

If the shed gets too hot (and therefore the hutch) you would have to move them indoors.
 
My shed can’t be heated (no electric). It’s fine but it makes keeping them warm a little bit harder. To keep mine warm in winter I use absolutely tons of hay and multiple snugglesafe heatpads in the hutch (which need to be heated in the morning and again at night). On the hutch there is a thermal hutch cover, two blankets, another hutch cover (a waterproof one but being in the shed it’s obviously not used for it’s waterproof qualities but is instead simply another layer), and then an old duvet over the top. I always have a plan to bring them indoors in a temporary cage though because while it has worked well in previous years and they’ve been able to stay out, last winter it got down to -10 and and my measures failed.

I find that when keeping them in a shed it’s not actually keeping them warm in winter which is the problem, it’s keeping them cool in summer. My shed gets dangerously hot quickly. Early in the summer it’s fine as they go on the lawn/patio for the day and then back Ito the shed at night (as yesterday - 21 degree day meant the shed was 30 degrees yesterday so they couldn’t stay in, today will be the same) but in the height of summer my shed didn’t even cool down at night last year (shed hit 40+ degrees in the day, didn’t cool any lower than 30 at night) , so they had to move out for a couple of weeks and lived in a spare cage in the living room as it was also too hot for them to be on the lawn during the day.
 
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