Indoor piggies going o/s for fresh air and grass...

[ishchel]

How cool is too cold for our piggies to go outside as autumn arrives? In the summer I have let them out in a large run in the summer but now that it is feeling distinctly autumnal I am wondering what is reasonable for them. Minimum temp and what length of time assuming it is dry, bright and not too blowy.

they are 2yo females we rehomed.

Hi - there is another thread on this at the mo - it is really getting quite autumnal and cold at the mo - what a rubbish summer! For guineas who dont like cold or damp or both, it s a tricky time really, as you know they dont function well in extremes, and their bodies cannot handle any kind of extreme so they need to be kept reasonably constant, obviously they do acclimatise a bit with a drop in temperature - are yours indoors overnight? If they are, I found it was best for them on a warm autumnal day to go out mid to late morning and used to put them away before picking the kdis up at 3ish so the temp didnt drop too much, it really does depend on the day, mine slept in a hutch in a shed, but they had lots of hay and insulation so there wasnt too much differential between day and night temps.,
Plus tney all snuggled in and I put igloos in for them when it got cooler. I definitely used to bring them in permanently over winter from about Oct half term, when the clocks went back, but didnt have them too near radiators, as again the extremes of temp would be too much for them. When they couldnt go out I used to pick grass and dandelions by the sack full so they could rummage around and 'pretend' to be outside!

yes I would only put them out in the warmest part of the garden (which happily is the driest). They are indoor pigs and my two daughters take them out of their cage everyday for cuddles and company. I turned the radiator off near them so they are at a pretty constant temp indoors.

I got my adult boars last year (end October) and they managed a few hours in the outside cage (I used the top of their indoor cage- I got their proper run in spring this year)

I gave them a cardboard box and an old bathmat inside. Once they got a bit meh and huddled in the box we knew they wanted back in. (Probably an hour or so on dry grass was enough).

DD always tells them that boars who don't excercise become fat and lazy, and their 'nads will scrape the floor, and they'll get impaction.

They don't listen . They nod sagely and take on board her wisdom as they shove leaves into their gullets.

70, that sounds just like my two boars! They live in a hutch in a small shed during the summer and in the conservatory during the winter. They get let out for play and exercise in the winter. Mainly they interpret that as, 'Find a corner and piddle in it,' although H will venture out to explore and V will venture out to lean on my foot. Funny things!