warm food?

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spudnik

Its absoloutly freezing outside, my piggies free range in my shed.. and if i put any heating in there its gone within 10mins of me turning the heater off so its a waste of money..

this morning i went outside and the girls didnt feel overly warm, and their bed wasnt warm, so i heated up some critical care for them and put it in a dish so they had something warm in their tummy i also gave them a good amount of veggies too so they had that to give them extra energy to keep warm.. i obv dont want to give them critical care everyday as 1) its too expensive, and 2) they are perfectly capable of eating normal food.. but when its that cold is there anything i can give them? i thought of warm water in the water bottle instead of cold? or a bottle of each.. i also read somewhere that bran mash can be fed but I'm not sure on what to do with bran mash how to make it etc.. or whether that would be a good thing for them to be having on a daily basis

i also thought of putting a water bottle on top of their house but i dont want it to become humid/damp feeling as its a wooden house with 4 blankets on the top which all 4 sit in together with plenty of hay.. I'm just so worried with it being extremely frozen over here..

any ideas would be great.. and ive no money go buy heat pads or anything like that :(
 
could you put in extra houses and blankets? sorry i dont know of many ideas
 
Its very hard to keep an outside piggy that isnt in a heated outhouse healthy, so are you sure theres no way they could come inside?
If not, try fitting a cardboard box inside their sleeping comparment as this is an insulator.
I think bran mash is just bran mashed with water but I dont know if it can be heated.
Try a bottle jacket, I think they're quite cheap and they keep the bottle warm.
You could pin a blanket around the hutch (sleeping bags are also good for this)
Soorry I donnt have any more tips but I'm sure someone else does :)
 
they are not in a hutch though, they just run about in half of the shed, the have a wooden cabin for them to sleep in, which i fill with hay and wrap 4 blankets around which are folded up so its extremely thick.. my girls have lived outside all their lives and 2 of them are now 5 1/2 with very little health problems, and have always be fine but this seems to be the coldest winter in a few years and I'm just worried about them.

they can't come inside as my mum said I'm not allowed anymore inside ive got the boys and meeks in my room, pluis there is nowhere for them to go my house isn't big enough.

with the water i meant warm water instead of cold in their bottle, their water doesnt freeze as they are inside a stone shed..

thanks anyway..
 
Have you got electric in there? When I had mine in the shed I used infra-red lamps which I left on all night. They used to sit in a circle underneath it all night. I would stuff thick cardboard boxes full of dry hay each night for them to go in.
 
i think they will be ok, like you said they have blankets and lots of hay O0 i think i would have one water bottle of warm water and the other bottle of normal water :)
 
I cant see why warm water would harm them actually, obviuosly it wouldnt stay warm for long but it would warm them up momentarally.
I think they should be ok in the shed as they're out of the cold and damp.A draught stopper by the door would stop any draught.
Warm bran mash would certainly keep them warm. There might be a recipe on here somewhere or if not there will be one on the web.
In the mean time, I would start saving up for a heat pad as these are very useful-someone might be selling them on here which would be ideal as everything sold on here is cheaper. Also continue giving them plenty of food and hay for energy.
Its hard when they're outside (mine are in the garage) but at least yours are in a shed and not completley outside.
 
I think as long as its not draughty they should be okay.If you are really worried though is there any way you could make a little covered sleeping area for them that they can snuggle in? I worry about mine getting cold at night as well and they're indoors!
 
I've definitely heard somewhere that warm water freezes quicker than cold. I don't know why though! Or did you want them to have warm water to start with so it's warm to drink for a while.
 
yeah i meant warm water to drink for a bit..

i stuck my hand in last night and they were nice and warm i got some cheap fleece blankets and folded it into 4 and put it over their blankets that are on already and it seemed to do the trick :)
 
My guineas are all outside. Some are in a shed in hutches or a run and some are outside the shed under a plastic roof. I have found that since putting cardboard boxes in for their beds they keep much warmer. They also all have one or more other guineas to snuggle up to.
 
[colorpurpl][colorr]Goo to har thy ar nic an snug again! My Guina Pigs ar in th back room, in a hutch, thy lov it out thr... Thy got a littl bit col at on stag though, so i put thm in thir pn nxt to th wall, an put lots of blankts in for th night, an i ma your thr wr lots of aras for thm to snuggl insi! Thy wr fin by th morning an waiting for thir foo! :)
 
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