Using Towels To Help Keep Drafts Out Of Hutch, When To Remove During The Day?

[Ruby Inferno]

Overnight I have been putting one end of the piggies' cuddle towels over the top of my double hutch's wire mesh doors then closing them, they end up covering the whole doors but there is still ventilation at the sides, it helps keep them warm. They do have a bedroom area that doesn't have a mesh door, but I thought it would be better to use the towels to cover the mesh bit because that's the colder side of the hutch.

My question is, when do I remove the towels? It is currently quite windy so I'm worried if I remove them now they will get cold. However on the other hand I don't want their hutch to stay dark all day from the towels blocking out the light from outside.

 

[PiggySmitten]

Hi our hutch has wooden covers but in the daytime I take these off the main area and I've been covering the outside with a clear plastic run cover that came with our run for lawn time from rabbit-hutches online. It's a decent heavy duty plastic and has worked really well. The ventilation is there but the draughts are kept out.

 

[Ruby Inferno]

My hutch does also have a waterproof cover, I just put the towels underneath the cover for additional insulation if it's particularly cold.

I also use string to tie the bottom so the cover doesn't flap as much (there are holes for that, I don't do it too tightly though otherwise there would be no circulation).

I was just asking because it was so cold, even in the day. Thanks for replying.

 

[Claire W]

When I had outdoor piggies, I would do the same thing but by using fleece blankets.

I didn't leave the fleece over during the daytime as I didn't want them living in darkness but as I had a hutch cover, I just used to leave the plastic see through wind and rain protector pulled down which stopped the wind and rain from blowing straight in to the hutch. The piggies were often seen sat looking out at the rain

I am sure that if your piggies feel the chill, they will make their way in to the warmer part of the hutch.

 

[Ruby Inferno]

Thanks! At the moment it's extremely windy, but it's very warm in my piggies' hutch (the temperature outside is surprisingly high, considering how windy it is) so I have the mesh door's waterproof flap open so they don't get too hot. The bedroom door's cover is down but not zipped up. I think it helps that I have a bench in front of the hutch at all times so that keeps the worst of the wind out of the hutch, plus the fact their hutch is in a very sheltered area right against the house. When it's day time I pull one side of the bench away from the hutch, the side that's closest to the house, if it's cold and/or windy so the hutch is mostly protected from the wind but I can still open the doors for cleaning, feeding, cuddling, etc., and also the bench doesn't get in the way of me being able to sit on a chair and watch my piggies doing their piggy things.

Maybe if it's cold during the day I could put the towels over the doors for their bedroom area, so it's extra insulation if they're cold with the added bonus of not blocking out any light, because of course the bedroom doors don't have any mesh, they are just wood.

 

[Ruby Inferno]

It will stay windy tonight apparently. Debating whether to put towels over the mesh bit (and take them off when it's day time), or if I should just put towels on the bedroom doors. Hmm...