Rescues and those of you with large herds - how do you do it?!

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Jerrybelly

Jerrybelly

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My morning piggy routine consists of:
- Poop-scooping two cages and removing old hay
- Cleaning out bowls and filling with nuggets
- Emptying water bottles and refilling
- Filling up hay racks
- Giving Jerry his daily Metacam and Cystaid
- Standing with the piggies and making sure that everyone is OK and happily tucking into their breakfast
- If all piggies seem happy, then I go and get myself ready for work
- This all takes around 30 minutes

My evening routine consists of:
- Poop-scooping the cages
- Shaking out vetbed and, if need be, replacing it with a fresh one
- Lining the cages with a new layer of newspaper
- Cleaning out bowls
- Preparing a veggie dinner
- Filling up hay racks
- Giving Jerry his evening dose of Dibenyline
- This takes around 40 minutes

Then the piggies go out for floor-time and I sit with them.
On the weekend they have their weekly 'health check' when I weigh them, check their nails etc etc.

Don't get me wrong, I love doing all of this (even the cage cleaning) and I wouldn't have it any other way. But I've only got two cages to deal with. How on earth do you guys with multiple cages and large herds fit everything in? I think you are all fantastically-devoted supermen and women! :))
 
I've been thinking the same. I've only got one cage with two lovely boys, but what with the two cats and working shifts I dont know how people manage to look after more piggies x
 
I have 18 guinea pigs, I don't bed on fleece or newspaper, just shavings and hay...so I don't need to poop-scoop or change them as frequently (ie, every day!). It takes me about 2hrs every weekend to clean out, and then daily check when I feed them - I can tell just by picking them up if they've lost weight, put weight on. Knots get cut off the long hairs if they have them, when I do my daily check, and because they all live inside they don't need grooming every day as they keep themselves cleaner (this tends to be down to the individual pig, some of them do need grooming every day, but I've found that they're much worse for getting knots if they live outdoors). Water bottles, veggies and hay are all done when they get fed as well. Realistically it takes me about half an hour to feed them and do the checks.

But then I have 2 cats, a dog and a rabbit...so feeding time takes about an hour on an evening anyway! :))
 
I actually find my large group (16 piggies - they free range in a shed) to be much, much easier to deal with than my two pairs in hutches!

I use shavings and hay so aside from picking up old hay and spot cleaning the usual toilet areas I clean out once or twice a week - takes about 15 minutes if I'm not procrastinating by watching cute piggies following each other and watching me!

My pigs get fed once a day in the evenings. Veggies takes about 15-20mins on the days they get them but I don't feed veggies as often as some people do so it's not all that time consuming for me. Filling bowls and bottles and giving them fresh hay takes me 10 minutes or so. Sunday is my cleaning day for bowls, bottles and huts etc.

Most of my health checks are visual - every night I will watch them when they're all getting their food to check they all look fine - no limping, wheezing, sneezing, scratching, sore looking eyes etc. Nails as and when needed. My two long haired boys need a quick brush daily and my long haired girls only need a brush once a week to stay tangle free.

I'd say all in all it's about 20 mins on a normal night, 90 minutes at the weekend when I clean them all out and clean all the other bits, check them all more thoroughly etc.

Up until about 18 months ago I'd had a larger number of piggies than most people but they were all in pairs or trios in their own hutches which for me was far more time consuming... With 16 all in one group and the other four in their hutches I find that really it doesn't take a great deal more time than smaller numbers of piggies! You just get into a routine that works! :)
 
We are really enjoying this thread, this is a wonderful insight to large family groups. x)
"Ghostbusterbunny" 16 piggies now that's impressive, :(|) what kind of mix do you have, are all 16 together or separated into sub-groups within your shed.?/

Lisa & Ali... x
 
I am working from home, so it is easier for me to do chores like poo patrol or cage cleaning during quiet spells in the day. I have three groups/pens and try to clean them on different days if possible; that way it is not so much all at once!

I find a bigger group easier to care for than the same number of piggies in couples.
 
I think you're all super efficient! If I had 16 or 18 piggies I think I'd just spend all day watching them and wouldn't actually get anything else done! :))
 
lisaali said:
We are really enjoying this thread, this is a wonderful insight to large family groups. x)
"Ghostbusterbunny" 16 piggies now that's impressive, :(|) what kind of mix do you have, are all 16 together or separated into sub-groups within your shed.?/

Lisa & Ali... x
Click to expand...

My herd are all 16 together. Einstein and his lovely ladies get free range of the majority of the shed. I'm hoping to build some pens on legs down the side of it so that my two pairs can move into the shed with them too so all 20 can enjoy it. :)
 
I did my pets this morning..doing it well takes me 30 minutes..removed dirty paper in Berties cage..him doing his impression of an elephant sitting on the one remaining dirty bit...brush cage out reline and renew..fill food dish...same with girls upstairs even though they stole their little brush...sat in the dustpan and refused to get out..:)) reline and renew...Jeni popcorning with excitement and spreading hay all over the nice clean cage(also managed to popcorn and land in her food dish which didnt impress Fiz as she was eating from it.) I then grab the seed bowls from the birds cages and water bottles from piggies and do them all together. Back in kitchen to chop veggies, give some to Bertie, race upstairs to the girls before they wake the whole street up!
Saying this I feed all my fish tanks and the gerbils, and the african land snails before bedtime. Do you know if I had to choose between housework and looking after my pets there would be no competition. x)x)
 
Jerrybelly said:
I think you're all super efficient! If I had 16 or 18 piggies I think I'd just spend all day watching them and wouldn't actually get anything else done! :))
Click to expand...

We would be the same... wouldn't even go to work... ;)
 
34 living as a herd. Routine
Every day
remove hay and newspaper from sleeping boxes and replace with fresh.
Give spring cabbage for breakfast
Wash and refill water bottles.
Refill dry food hoppers.
Check piggies for any damage
Comb and trim long haired ones.
Every 3rd day clean out and replace duobed in communal area
Teatime give veggies(various)
Refill water bottles again.
Bed time ,cover sleeping boxes.
Monthly ,dose with ivermectin spray 1 squirt behind ears,bathe and trim nails if needed
Afternoon,spend special time watching piggies interact with each other cuddles and playtime.
Make a cup of tea and sit watching them as long as I have time.
 
suem said:
I did my pets this morning..doing it well takes me 30 minutes..removed dirty paper in Berties cage..him doing his impression of an elephant sitting on the one remaining dirty bit...brush cage out reline and renew..fill food dish...same with girls upstairs even though they stole their little brush...sat in the dustpan and refused to get out..:)) reline and renew...Jeni popcorning with excitement and spreading hay all over the nice clean cage(also managed to popcorn and land in her food dish which didnt impress Fiz as she was eating from it.) I then grab the seed bowls from the birds cages and water bottles from piggies and do them all together. Back in kitchen to chop veggies, give some to Bertie, race upstairs to the girls before they wake the whole street up!
Saying this I feed all my fish tanks and the gerbils, and the african land snails before bedtime. Do you know if I had to choose between housework and looking after my pets there would be no competition. x)x)
Click to expand...


Haha! This really made me chuckle! I now have this lovely image of Jeni popcorning and landing in the foodbowl :))
 
christine said:
34 living as a herd. Routine
Every day
remove hay and newspaper from sleeping boxes and replace with fresh.
Give spring cabbage for breakfast
Wash and refill water bottles.
Refill dry food hoppers.
Check piggies for any damage
Comb and trim long haired ones.
Every 3rd day clean out and replace duobed in communal area
Teatime give veggies(various)
Refill water bottles again.
Bed time ,cover sleeping boxes.
Monthly ,dose with ivermectin spray 1 squirt behind ears,bathe and trim nails if needed
Afternoon,spend special time watching piggies interact with each other cuddles and playtime.
Make a cup of tea and sit watching them as long as I have time.
Click to expand...

34 piggies, gosh! Teatime must be incredibly noisy :))
 
I'm the same, I only have 3 but seem to spend ages fussing over them every day ;) I normally have 5 minutes left before I need to leave for my train in the mornings and I always sit on the floor next to the piggies cage for a quick stroke and chin rub here and there :))
 
Guinea pigs <3 said:
I'm the same, I only have 3 but seem to spend ages fussing over them every day ;) I normally have 5 minutes left before I need to leave for my train in the mornings and I always sit on the floor next to the piggies cage for a quick stroke and chin rub here and there :))
Click to expand...

Me too! I dread the day that I have to explain to my supervisor that I was late for an important meeting because I was chatting to my guinea pigs! :))
 
I am a full time student studying psychology and I am doing my dissertation at the moment. I have 15 piggies of my own and then foster piggies that come in from the potteries guinea pig rescue. I look after them until they have got over there truma enough to go to a lovely forever home! :) I must admitt it is really busy but I just love them so much and I know that I wouldnt be where I am without there relaxing and funny influence! I was wondering though, those of you that have to go to work (I assume that is alot harder nd busier than uni!) what time do you have to get up in the morning to get it all done? :)
 
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