Guineas living in hedgehog house - can they stay out all winter

[Merle]

We have 2 GPs, who have been free-range most of the summer. I had been putting them back in their cage at night, but as time has gone on this has got more difficult and I have got tired of chasing them round the garden. They just don't seem to want to go in.

I have now bought a hedgehog house for them. It looks a bit like an Anderson shelter, but made of wood. They seem to like it and can get in and shelter, whenever they want.

How long can I leave them outside it it? I intend to insulate it with bubble-wrap or fleece in the same way that people wrap cages. Does it matter that it is on the ground? I would insulate it underneath as well.

GPs don't cope well with the wet and the damp.
Or ground frost. Have you got anywhere they could go undercover? Ours live in the garage in the winter.

Is the garden well proofed against predators? We think that owls got our free-range GPigs!! But it could have been wild rats, too :(.

GPs need a dry draft free place off the ground to spend the nights and rough weather in. They can handle below freezing temps if it's dry and draft-free. If the Hedgehog house is like that, should be fine.. if they like to go in at all? We used to lure our GPs in with tomatos and other favourite foods then shut up for the night (except the nights we didn't get them in and they were killed, sadly).

The hh house is dry and snug and they go in it out of choice. Once they are in it they are safe from predators. There is no door, though, so not completely draught-free.

Their cage is off the ground and in the garage. In the winter I wrap it with blankets and give them a hot water bottle on really cold nights. I'm happy to keep on with this when the weather gets worse, I am just fed up with chasing them around to get them in.

I think that they can stay out until the weather gets worse, then I'll have to round them up and they'll have to stay in, or in the run, until spring.

No, the garden is not predator-proof. It is well fenced, but that's it. So far only a big cat comes in and the pigs seem good at hiding from it, until we chase it out. Since they have been free-range they have seemed so happy and I've prefered it much more than having them cooped up. So all in all,I've decided that it is a risk worth taking. Even if the worst happens, they've had a happy life.

Oh, I agree with you about the quality of life being terrific when they are free-range, I have no regrets on that. But it was sad that something killed ours :(. I couldn't risk free-range again. My friend had all of her free range GPs disappear one night (about 6 adults).

Being rodents is a hot water bottle okay thing to have? Are they likely to chew some bit of it they shouldn't ingest?

They seem to be fine. I wrap it in a towel and they sit on it. They'd have to be very stupid - oh, gps ARE very stupid, to knaw through it. Anyway, they don't, so far...