Would this be really stupid? cold room to garage for more space?

[lisa82]

Hi

I have both buns and the pigs in our spare room at the moment, as they were all outside but we were invaded with foxes pow-pow

The pigs are in a c&c which has had to be reduced to 4x2 grids as any bigger just doesn't work with having everyone in there.

We have eventually cleared room in our garage for the pigs old thistle hall to go in and there is enough room in there for me to attach a permanent run so they would have loads of space. I have a thermal cover for the hutch and also a snugglesafe to put in with them.

We don't have any central heating at the moment just a gas heater in the hall that heats the landing and any rooms with doors open. The furries room is almost always shut as the buns are free range. Their window is open all day so their room has been really quite cold.

They would have a much better standard of living if I could put them in the garage in hutch and run combo, but what temperature do I need for it to be safe? Do you think they might be quite cosy if I give them loads of hay? They usually have fleeces and I could thow a duvet cover over the hutch/run do add even more insulation on top of the thermal cover.

Will this work do you think?

Thanks

 

[spudnik]

I used to keep my piggies outside free range in a stone outhouse which got really cold, they had newspaper/sawdust and loads of hay on the floor during winter (i also had a big thick piece of wood under all that so they were off the concrete floor anyway.

Mine had vetbed for their bed part which was big duing the winter as they like to spend most of their time in the bed keeping warm, so i got a really big cardboard box, in there i put the huge piece of vetbed with hay, then covered the box with blankets to keep the heat in, they seemed to love that when id put my hand in they were always nice and cosy, but i had 4 girls living together so they used to curl up in bed and create heat, the vetbed is great at holding the heat for them, so you could buy some of that for their hutch part and make sure you put them in that at night time when the temps usually go down, so they dont run around in the cold. and put a duvet/blankets around the hutch etc

Although i used to bring my pigs in if the temp was to go below freezing, if thats not an option then maybe you could invest in a small heater for your garage too? I have all my piggies inside now, i prefer it because they get lots more interaction with me then when they lived outside, as they see me when I'm just popping in and out etc you dont get that when they live outside the house.

just to let you know if you have a car in your garage, i would advise against having your pigs in there, as the fumes from the exhaust will harm the pigs.

hope that helps you a little bit!

 

[lisa82]

Hi
Thanks for your reply we don't put the cars in the garage so no fumes around TBH where the pigs are just shut in one of the bedrooms, I don't think I'll really see any less of them when they are in the garage, I'm likely to see them more if anything as we are often in the garden especially with the dogs. I'm happy to insulate them well, and could probably hook up some electicity to put a heater in there for a bit, as the garage is quite close to our kitchen.
My main concern would be the temp change, even though their room is really cold now anyway, when its cold outside. Would I be able to move them now if I insulate them well?

 

[spudnik]

depends on the temp drop, personally id wait until it becomes a bit warmer, whenever ive had to have a pig in during winter for various reasons ive alays waited for the summer months before putting them back out, but they were inside with the heating on etc so it would have been a big drop in temp, you may be best geting a thermometer and seeing what the difference is..