Sheds/Outhouses....

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Andrea

Hiya

I have just been to view the house I am about to buy again and was told that the brick shed/outhouse that is at the bottom of the garden will actually be included in the sale, which I was very pleased about. Because of my job, I have lots of animals but the house isn't all that big plus the other half is not keen on them, so they will be going outside. It has electricity and plug pionts already which is a bonus.

Now, I was wondering if there was anyone else on here who uses a similar thing for their piggies. I haven't been able to have a good look inside yet, but it is of a good size, maybe 6x4 feet. I was thinking of having a small hutch for Rodney (and soon to be new arrival Rupert) to sleep in at night, that is always open, so they have the whole room to roam around in. Then there will be a few shelves for the 2 ratties and a few other animals.

I was just looking for some advice really, from people who have already done this kind of thing, as to what I need to do...ie, insulating, ventilation, heating, flooring....
At the moment it is just being used for storage.

Thanks very much

Andrea
 
I'm lucky enough to have a spare bedroom,i keep all my sows in,the lads live in a brick built shed that is attached to the back of the house. 3 of the boys have the run of the shed floor all day purely because they tend to bicker if shut away in their 4ft hutch all day.
There is electricity in the shed,i tend to leave the light on until i put them to bed.Having said that ,i decided the xmas tree light i put up last xmas,look so nice ,i put these on about an hour before their bed time (when i give them their readi grass to mulch on overnight!)
In the winter,i have a thermostatic skirting heater which takes the chill off,in the summer they have a fan going.I Always put the piggies back in their hutch over night just in case there's any mice about.I didnt know till last week mice can get through a gap as small as a couple of cm ! I dont like the idea of a mouse getting in with them,you dont know what germs they carry !
Fill in any gaps that you find in the shed as piggies dont like draughts.My plug points are shoulder high so there's no way the piggies can get at the cable.I also cut the door in half and reinforced it-so its like a stable door,and i have an old net curtain hanging up at the door to stop any flies/wasps/bees flying in. Hope this helps- good luck-
Kay
 
I have a shed for mine but its tiny 6" by 4" but it does the job, there is no electricity and two battery opperated lights for when i need them the piggies love it though! and now they are out of the house my sisters eczema is better and my asthma is ok although they will come in if temperatures drop dramatically as i couldnt have them frezze x
 
I have a big shed which they run loose in. I only have 3 at the moment, but have had up to 7. It could take more. I lay it all down to newspaper & shredded paper. There is a hutch on the floor which has the door open all the time and I have a pet carrier on the floor which is open and other hidey areas. I also have an old plastic dog bed which I fill with hay, they love that. The shed has a tube in the wall which goes into a big hutch outside, which in turn can open up into a big aviary so they can go out in the summer. There's loads of potential when you have a shed. I have a light in there and also an infra-red lamp which hangs down on a chain over their hay bed. They think that's paradise! I am going to bring mine in for the winter though.

You say about keeping rats out there - is that OK? I thought they needed to be inside like hamsters or as long as you can keep it really warm in there.

Good luck - sounds great, you'll have fun working it all out. I love that part of it.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Yeah I have 2 rats too, along with a bearded dragon, a tarantula, cockroach, millipede, tree frog... I use them for animal handling workshops with children. It would be better for them to go outside as the house isn't big enough, plus my boyfriend doesn't want them in the house. It's a well built brick shed which I am planning on putting an oil radiator in there. It doesn't need to be "warm" inside as such, just heated to around normal room temperature...maybe 20 degrees, although as I haven't actually tried any of this before, I will need to make sure this is feesable before any animals go in there.

Once we have the keys I can get in there and see what the inside condition is like, get the dimensions and some photos too, and then figure out what I can do with it. I am very excited, as it will be my little room and I want it perfect, for me and my animals! I will let you all know how it goes.
 
Andrea said:
Thanks for the replies.

Yeah I have 2 rats too, along with a bearded dragon, a tarantula, cockroach, millipede, tree frog... I use them for animal handling workshops with children. It would be better for them to go outside as the house isn't big enough, plus my boyfriend doesn't want them in the house. It's a well built brick shed which I am planning on putting an oil radiator in there. It doesn't need to be "warm" inside as such, just heated to around normal room temperature...maybe 20 degrees, although as I haven't actually tried any of this before, I will need to make sure this is feesable before any animals go in there.

Once we have the keys I can get in there and see what the inside condition is like, get the dimensions and some photos too, and then figure out what I can do with it. I am very excited, as it will be my little room and I want it perfect, for me and my animals! I will let you all know how it goes.
Click to expand...

Sounds great. No disrespect but there's no way I'd go in your room however well it's set up ... something to do with you mentioning a tarantula! There was a MASSIVE spider living on the top of the light in my shed during the summer, I can't kill anything, but I used to spend all the time with one eye glued on the ceiling when I was cleaning the girls out. I am just a woose!
 
I've got 2 hugh sheds purposely built for my pigs one for boars one for sows,I have lino on the floor so that it is waterproof and under the sheds is thick polysterne blocks to aid heat retention and inside I have panel heaters i did use oil filled radiators last year but ended up with a hugh electric bill, so have invested in 2 low wattage panel heaters 400 watts each instead of 1000 and 1500, I have floureseant lighting and these help with heat in the winter but not so good in summer but I just open the 2 double doors for light hubby made them into stable type doors so the tops can be open, inside i have for the sows one hugh almost shed size run made of cc grids and corrulux, the boys are smaller cc runs also built onto a wide shelf so have runs both levels in the boys, the windows have blinds and wire netting so when open nothing can get in except fresh air, I also have fly zappers in both and chest of drawers for all the neccesities, I have a third shed for hay storage
 
I have a 6x4 shed for mine but it is more 'time share' as I have a rabbit as well who obviously can not socialise with the guniea pigs.
In the shed I have a 2 tier rabbit hutch. Tia & Tilly (the piggies) have the top and Austin (the rabbit has the bottom). As Austin has a much larger space requirement than the piggies, his hutch is never shut and he has the shed floor as well and free range in the garden in the daytime. During the day, Tia and Tilly are transferred to an outdoor 6x4 run with a 'mini' hutch in it etc which they stay in all day and then back to the hutch at night. The timeshare bit comes in when the weather is bad. Rabbits are a bit more 'hard wearing' than guineas so if it is cold but OK for Austin to go out, he goes out in the garden with access to a smaller hutch should he want shelter and the piggies take the floor of the shed for the day. If it is to bad for him to go out then he runs around in our conservatory because it is cold out there so no dramatic changes in temperature!

The shed floor has lino tiles and I then line the floor with vet bed and put out pigloos etc and they have a great time. I have a mesh panel that covers over on of the doors so they have light and ventilation but nothing can get in to them (the other door is just shut). I do steal a bit of the shed for storage of hay, food etc. The hutches have a hutch snugger/hugger over them and I use snugglesafe heat pads in the winter when the temperature goes below freezing and loads of hay. I have a light on the wall of the house opposite the shed which is enough to light the shed up when needed.

Here is a couple of pictures but they are a bit old (I don't use woodshavings anymore, now I use vet bed in the hutches where the shavings are).

shedcloseup.jpg


shedfrontview.jpg
 
yes similar sheds to mine but mine must be the next size up Mick cut the doors into stable type doors,which helps for light and air when hot
 
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