Winter worries already!

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sarah e

sarah e

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Hi just wondered how many of you have permanent outside hutches, seems like lots of you have indoor piggies, which I would love. I am worrying myself sick as this will be my first winter with them n I don't have a shed or garage to house them in. My two adopted boars have been outside for two previous winters, including the snow so guess with extra care they should be ok. My two girls 8 months old) seem so much smaller n softer furred that I am really worrying. Couldn't find any links. As much advice as possible would be really appreciated. Thanks so much.
 
hi, i think it will be alright if you give them lots of things to keep warm in, but i am not an expert:)
 
This will be my third winter of housing my pigs outdoors although I now have 2 new additions so it will be their first year.

Pigs can live outdoors perfectly fine IF you take proper precautions. My hutch is up against a wall in a very sheltered area. If you can, use a wind and rain covers either brought or home made. The hutch should also be insulated by using plenty of warm blankets. Some members use an old duvet cover.

My girlies have nice fleecy beds and cosies and I also use snugglesafe heat pads.

Over night, I used a thick fleece blanket and used it to cover the front of the hutch (underneath the rain cover) to keep away the chill.

Provide lots of hay so piggy can snuggle down in to the hay and provide cardboard boxes stuffed with hay and / or domes and huts.

My hubby's friend made us a wooden shelter last winter that the hutch went under.

Of course, if the weather got to cold for my girls, I would bring them indoors in a custom cage but they have always been fine.

This is what I mean by the fleece blanket over night :)

DSCF1265.jpg


and this was my old hutch last winter when I only had 2 piggies
DSCF1069.jpg
 
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You know i was going to write a long poste, but Claire W has just taken the words right out my mouth! We do everything she does. I can say hand on heart, in the 14 years we've had guineapigs we've had more trouble with them being housed outside in the heat of summer than winter.
 
Thanks Claire, I have rain covers for both n will definitely get some blankets to go over the fronts. I am so glad that yours are out side as well as I felt that most people had them indoors. Thanks for easing my mind.
 
I only home to families that will house them inside throughout the entire winter. So many people approach me for piggies as companions after one of their own pigs has died from the cold, after a quick chat most realise that it's the best option. I have even had a group of 11 that slept in a heap to keep warm - most of them had frost bite damage to their ears, some even lost the whole of their ear flaps!

I manage to house up to 60 piggies here and I don't live in a large house so keeping just 2 or 3 cages indoors isn't too much to ask!

You will get plenty of replies saying it's fine to house them outside if you use plenty of protection. I can only give you my opinion based on my own experiences.

Suzy x
 
I've always had my piggies outdoors. I live in Ireland so it might be slightly milder here but much the same.

Last winter I only had one 7 year old pig, and she lived outdoors all on her own all through the snow. I was so worried, but she was fine. I live with my parents so wasn't allowed bring her inside. I just gave her a huge amount of hay. It didn't get anywhere near as cold here though, as it did in parts of England, if it got to a certain temperature then I was going to bring her in and keep her in a dog carrier, cos I don't have a cage.

This year I have young pigs so they'll be in the shed and I'm going to buy some snuggle safe heat pads (from zooplus.co.uk) for them and give them loads of hay again.

Think about the heatpads, you just microwave them and they stay warm all night. They're about £16 or something.

Or maybe if you had cages inside just in case it goes below freezing? You can get 4'X2' cages for £40 on zooplus. :)
 
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I just give them lots of hay, make them some little cozy beds, put boxes and igloos in and either put covers on the hutches or cover them with tarpaulin. I am hoping to buy a snugglesafe this year too. I agree with zombieprincess I worry about them more in the Summer.
 
I wouldn't like to know my pigs were outside, our cage takes up as much space in the living room as the sofa but I wouldn't have it any other way! I worry about them being cold inside :(
 
Unfortunately my OH is allergic to the pigs :( plus we really do not have the room for them to live indoors. However, if my pigs health was at risk, I would bring them in somehow but as I said, they have been fine.

I used to have the hutch in our out building but unfortunately, the out building started to leak and is now full of damp. I would therefore rather them be out in the fresh air rather than a damp, mouldy out building.

If I could house my girls indoors, I would jump at the chance but it just isn't possible on a permanent basis at the minute :(
 
I've no experience about keepig pigs outside, mine are permanent indoor pigs but to let you know I was at pets at home today and they have cage covers reduced- (the silver ones) unfortunatly I don't know if it is a national promotion or just local to Plymouth
 
Claire W said:
Unfortunately my OH is allergic to the pigs :( plus we really do not have the room for them to live indoors. However, if my pigs health was at risk, I would bring them in somehow but as I said, they have been fine.

I used to have the hutch in our out building but unfortunately, the out building started to leak and is now full of damp. I would therefore rather them be out in the fresh air rather than a damp, mouldy out building.

If I could house my girls indoors, I would jump at the chance but it just isn't possible on a permanent basis at the minute :(
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I think if everyone was as diligent and caring as you are Claire, with the exception of the most extreme weather, outdoors would be ok, I sometimes worry how your pigs even breathe you keep them so warm. :)):))
However, what bothers me is the people that get guinea pigs with all good intentions, then the weather turns, and it is all just a bit too much effort to go out to the pigs first thing in the morning in the wind, rain and frost, and again throughout the day to check them, then at night to tuck them up again with snugglesafes, thick hutch covers and tarpaulins. These are the ones that I have had come into me who have lost a partner due to cold, and who live a thoroughly miserable life. Sometimes the weather can be so bad, it is not really feasible to move the covers off. Poor guinea pigs. In the main, where possible, I would prefer a smaller cage indoors with well looked after pigs rather than outdoors. I think the people who post on here who keep their pigs outdoors are very cold weather savvy, it's Joe public who know no better that I worry about, letting their pigs die of cold. x
 
Ok if you can't bring them in I would suggest that you house the piggies up against one of the house walls as it will be warmer than the bottom of the garden! You can buy bubble wrap that you can put on the outside of the hutch to insulate it (or just save all the bits you get through the year from packaging) using the rain covers on top - if you can't afford the silver stuff! You can also put a duvet on the top covered in tarpaulin so it does not get wet - remembering heat rises! Snuggle safes and lots of hay are great too!
 
Claire W said:
If I could house my girls indoors, I would jump at the chance but it just isn't possible on a permanent basis at the minute :(
Click to expand...

We're in a similar situation, especially as we now have four pigs, we just don't physically have the space. Last winter we just about managed it with two and a half, and as Pixel was a tiny baby. Plus I don't think she would have survived the snow being so very young.

My four (once Boris is introduced to the girls) live in an outdoor hutch which will be moved into the shed once the weather turns. Like Claire, we have a rain cover and fleece cover and will be adding one of the silver insulated covers too.

You could make your own insulated cover if you like, I made one for our old hutch with somethign very similar to this http://www.birchfieldinsulation.co.uk/thermawrap.htm Worked out alot cheaper than the ready made one
 
my rabbits live outside and at night i put blankets over and hot snuggle safes inside their beds with lots of hay
i have seen people use silver bubble wrap sort of stuff which looks really good and cosy-it will have a proper name but i cant think of it
 
my rabbits live outside and at night i put blankets over and hot snuggle safes inside their beds with lots of hay
i have seen people use silver bubble wrap sort of stuff which looks really good and cosy-it will have a proper name but i cant think of it
 
I was thinking Claire would reply to this question :) I remember all your threads about how you kept your piggies nice and snuggly warm all through last winter :)

I understand rescues not wanting to rehome piggies to year round outside living though. In winters like the last one keeping piggies safe outside takes more than just getting a hutch cover.

Vetbed is outstanding for keeping heat so I'm thinking it might be smart to make sharable cozies from it? Even if they don't normally share I'm thinking they would if they needed to?
 
Just a wee note on the snugglesafe, we were advised by our vets not to use them as they raise the temperature and then when they cool down it causes the guinea pigs to become very cold and the constant change of temperature is more likely to make them ill.

Better to ensure lots of hay, snuggle bags, fleecy covers and insulated waterproof covers in a well sheltered area.
 
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