[Gpdd] CARE Housing

[Penny Charlesworth]

Hi Debbie,

I have been thinking about your housing question whilst I have been at work ( need something more interesting to think about! ).

A 2x4 cage might seem a bit small for 5 piggies but it really depends on how well the piggies get on. It would be a shame to split up an established group and thereby deprive a piggy of her best friend.  I am assuming that you have girl piggies.

Some of my pens are 3x3, in which I would normally house a pair or a trio but one Christmas an unwanted litter of  5 arrived on my doorstep. I put the two boys in a pen together and, not having enough panels to make up a new pen for the 3 girls, I put them in with an existing pair in a 3x3, intending to move them later on. They all became such great friends that I never did move them and the 5 remained together, all squeezing into the smallest sleeping box in the pen and ignoring the other boxes. A 3x3 is only 1 square foot bigger than your cage so maybe there is enough room for your 5.

If they have floor time, or like my piggies, get to run in an outdoor enclosure during the summer I think that I would leave them together and see how they get on. My outdoor run is 144 square feet so they get to do a lot of running out on the lawn.

I have a 3x4 pen in which I have a pair of boars. They do not bother with the back of the pen, merely using the front half so that they can see when the next meal arrives. They also share one small sleeping box and ignore the larger one that is available.

Books and websites always say that they should have a lot of room but I believe that some piggies like to be part of a crowd. The other possibility is for you to add another panel or three to your cage and give them a bit more room or maybe create a second floor with a small ramp to give them extra space.

It will be interesting to see what other slaves have to say.

Penny and the Piggyfriends.