Winter Preparation

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Gemlou81

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Hi everyone! I'd love to be able to make contact with GP owners who have a similar set up to ours, to see how you prepare for the colder months. We have our herd of 6 free range in a 6x4 ft shed. There is a small hutch (3x2ft ish) in there that is always kept open, plus numerous other hidey houses. They also have access to a 3x6ft outdoor aviary.
I'm not adverse to buying or building a different hutch, as I appreciate that the one we have is not very big, but I also don't really want to be shutting them into the actual hutch at night, as I'd like them to make their own choices and avoid fighting due to space issues. By experience, do you find GPs are good at choosing to find the warmest places to sleep at night? At the moment ours prefer to sleep in a cardboard tube and a round hay house thing, but it's pretty warm, so I'm hoping they will choose the insulated and bedding filled hutch in the winter! Also, do people who have sheds like mine use heaters at night? I'd prefer not to as I dont want to risk getting the temperature wrong, plus I think I'd worry about fire risk etc, (though we do have a high, sturdy shelf that a heater can go on). At the same time, I obviously don't want the piggies to be cold. I'll be buying a thermometer to keep check of the warmth, and I'm thinking of using our old baby monitor at night to keep an eye on them, and this also has a thermometer on it. I love to know what other people do/think. Thanks!
 
When I had my piggies living free range in a shed, I had two hutches stuffed with hay at either end and found that they mostly slept in them during the colder months. I didn’t have a heater as my shed didn’t have electrics.

My piggies also had microwaveable snuggle safe heat pads and fleecy beds etc
 
My hutch has insulation between the shed wall and hutch wall. I also put plenty of hay in. I also have a 1kw oil filled radiator set on thermostat so it switches on when the temperature drops below a certain level. Its raised off the ground to prevent cable nibbles. ;)
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If you decide that heating isn't an option I would strongly suggest getting another hutch, and then working on giving them additional insulation.
This could be something as simple as covering them in old blankets/duvets to keep out the cold and drafts.
I suggest another hutch becasue the one you have won't really work for all 6 piggies, and with at least 2 spaces to choose form it is more likely that every pig will be able to find somewhere cosy to sleep.
Stand alone houses are great when it isn't really cold, but on their own will offer very little protection from the cold, and in an unheated shed will quickly become freezing.
Insulated hutches stuffed with dry hay and snuggle safe heat pads will work well as long as there is enough space for all the pigs to have a spot.
 
Hey catching up today.

I'm with @BossHogg on this one, I also have the same heater as Boss. Have a thermometer inside the hutches because sometimes you don't know your own body temperature (older women know my pain). Don't forget that heat rises, so by providing them a larger couple of hutches that they can move between with snuggle safes and boxes stuffed with hay and covered with fleeces have served me well.

Before I had a shed my lot managed outdoors but believe me when I say they had a heated dog bed and electric blanket over the top too and then additional cover over that, only a couple of times when the temperature was just way too low and wind chill that i had an emergency area indoors for them.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Solution for me, extra shed insulation, cozy hutches with boxes and hay and fleece covered beds - even fleeces of their wooden bridges when going from one location over the bridge to another together with snuggle safes. The coldest part is usually the night so I'd be inclined to close them away and keep the heat in the hutches which you could put together and make one great big long one and two tunnels going between the two.
 
Gemlou81 said:
Hi everyone! I'd love to be able to make contact with GP owners who have a similar set up to ours, to see how you prepare for the colder months. We have our herd of 6 free range in a 6x4 ft shed. There is a small hutch (3x2ft ish) in there that is always kept open, plus numerous other hidey houses. They also have access to a 3x6ft outdoor aviary.
I'm not adverse to buying or building a different hutch, as I appreciate that the one we have is not very big, but I also don't really want to be shutting them into the actual hutch at night, as I'd like them to make their own choices and avoid fighting due to space issues. By experience, do you find GPs are good at choosing to find the warmest places to sleep at night? At the moment ours prefer to sleep in a cardboard tube and a round hay house thing, but it's pretty warm, so I'm hoping they will choose the insulated and bedding filled hutch in the winter! Also, do people who have sheds like mine use heaters at night? I'd prefer not to as I dont want to risk getting the temperature wrong, plus I think I'd worry about fire risk etc, (though we do have a high, sturdy shelf that a heater can go on). At the same time, I obviously don't want the piggies to be cold. I'll be buying a thermometer to keep check of the warmth, and I'm thinking of using our old baby monitor at night to keep an eye on them, and this also has a thermometer on it. I love to know what other people do/think. Thanks!
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I know people who keep their piggies in the hutch at night with lots of hay. My shed is unheated and has no electricity. With 6 piggies they will also get warmth from each other. I have had only had the shed for 1 winter so not that experienced on how to keep the piggies warm. I let them roam around leaving the hutch open during the night as well. Does anyone find that in the morning the straw/hay is all ruined as they have pooed/peed on it? As i am very reluctant to put it in for them for that reason.But hope to get a snuggle safe heat pad! But i did put a whole fleece around one of their hideys which they absolutely loved and kept them snuggly!
 
PiggyPara234 said:
I know people who keep their piggies in the hutch at night with lots of hay. My shed is unheated and has no electricity. With 6 piggies they will also get warmth from each other. I have had only had the shed for 1 winter so not that experienced on how to keep the piggies warm. I let them roam around leaving the hutch open during the night as well. Does anyone find that in the morning the straw/hay is all ruined as they have pooed/peed on it? As i am very reluctant to put it in for them for that reason.But hope to get a snuggle safe heat pad! But i did put a whole fleece around one of their hideys which they absolutely loved and kept them snuggly!
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It is important to remember that many piggies do not actually like to snuggle together, although I am assuming they might if they were really cold.
But it is really important that each pig has a decent warm bed/heat pad of their own, so if they don't want to snuggle (or aren't allowed to snuggle as part of a group) then they can still stay warm.

And yes - it is totally normal for all of the hay to be wet and filled with poops by the morning. Bulk buying hay is a good idea if you have somewhere to store it, as they still need loads, even if it looks like a lot is going to waste.
 
Yeah, I buy from a local farm ; bales of barley straw for the winter and hay.
 
Thanks all! I probably should have gone into a bit more detail of my proposed plan, but at the time of posting was sitting in the shed with the GPs and Bobble was climbing all over my hands and arms and trying to chew my phone case, so was a bit distracted! I'm actually thinking of getting rid of the current hutch and getting three smaller ones that I'll join together somehow, or join 2 together and one separate. Annoyingly, the shed, at 4ft, is a smidge too small for the next width up in most hutches, and I can't have the hutch on the longer walls as the inner mesh door opens inwards, (the biggest bugbear of my set up!). If I have 3 smaller ones, I can have two at the back and one to the side. I'm reluctant to shut them in as I've noticed one of them is less social than the others and often prefers her own company, so I'd hate for her to feel hemmed in, but also would hate for her to be shut off on her own. The hutch I have now has a waterproof cover, and I plan to buy foil backed insulation to stick around the whichever hutch/hutches I end up with, as well as blankets, but making sure I leave a little gap open at the top to prevent condensation. I'm also going to be buying snuggle safe pads and cat igloo type beds. I have also got some foil foam insulation sheets left over from our summer house, so the plan is to insulate the shed walls too. I'm currently looking into bedding alternatives to stuff into the hutches, as I'm finding already that using hay is just turning the hutch into a big toilet. At the moment I have newspaper sheets with a layer of Megazorb on top, then lots hay on top of that. They do have other hay racks/stations, but still like to soil a lot in the hutch. I think shredded paper or tea bags might be the solution. I like the idea of covering tubes in fleece so that they can get to other hay stations and stay warm, thanks Mother Hubbard!
The jury is still out in terms of a heater. We do own an electric oil filled one with thermostat that I could use, but it still makes me nervous! Out of interest, what temperature should it be set to click on at? Is there a guideline for what sort of cold temp is a safe one for the guinea pigs at night? Obviously it will be hard to guage unless the thermometer is in their sleeping area.
Thanks again everyone, lots for me to think about, but i do think there's something quite exciting about preparing for winter and getting cosy, just want to make sure I'm getting in right.
 
Shooter-scooter at the back, she's the one who likes her own space. (I can relate 😆).
 
During the winter when it's sub zero temperatures, I have my radiator on full, as my power cable to the shed is double fused, if anything was to go wrong, the power would cut and wouldn't overheat to the point of being a fire risk. ;)
 
BossHogg said:
During the winter when it's sub zero temperatures, I have my radiator on full, as my power cable to the shed is double fused, if anything was to go wrong, the power would cut and wouldn't overheat to the point of being a fire risk. ;)
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Thanks BossHogg! Might have to get my husband involved on this one!
 
Gemlou81 said:
Hi everyone! I'd love to be able to make contact with GP owners who have a similar set up to ours, to see how you prepare for the colder months. We have our herd of 6 free range in a 6x4 ft shed. There is a small hutch (3x2ft ish) in there that is always kept open, plus numerous other hidey houses. They also have access to a 3x6ft outdoor aviary.
I'm not adverse to buying or building a different hutch, as I appreciate that the one we have is not very big, but I also don't really want to be shutting them into the actual hutch at night, as I'd like them to make their own choices and avoid fighting due to space issues. By experience, do you find GPs are good at choosing to find the warmest places to sleep at night? At the moment ours prefer to sleep in a cardboard tube and a round hay house thing, but it's pretty warm, so I'm hoping they will choose the insulated and bedding filled hutch in the winter! Also, do people who have sheds like mine use heaters at night? I'd prefer not to as I dont want to risk getting the temperature wrong, plus I think I'd worry about fire risk etc, (though we do have a high, sturdy shelf that a heater can go on). At the same time, I obviously don't want the piggies to be cold. I'll be buying a thermometer to keep check of the warmth, and I'm thinking of using our old baby monitor at night to keep an eye on them, and this also has a thermometer on it. I love to know what other people do/think. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hi! Here is our collection of tips; a new updated guide is currently in preparation: Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs
 
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