Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Small pets

Mumsnet does not check the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you're worried about the health of your pet, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Sorting out an outdoors run for GPs - advice welcomed

2 replies

Takver · 09/05/2015 09:35

We're planning on GPs - have a big fox-proof outdoor space where they can hang out (it's about 5m x 3m). DD's doing lots of research, but she can't figure out whether there needs to be netting across the floor of the run - ie will the gps dig? Any other advice welcome for making a nice GP home :)

OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 09/05/2015 10:01

Hi, ooohh new guinea-pigs Grin

The run needs to be very secure- make sure it cannot be lifted (we have a large Bunny Business run. Metal, folds up for storage, we peg it down with tent pegs)
Make sure the ground is level where the sides are, no spaces they can squeeze out (or something can squeeze in)

Go as big as you can , and move the run round to get fresh grass (GP droppings make good fertilisers)

Check the lawn for weeds that are toxic - mainly buttercups and daisies, bulb plants.

Depending on what size of pigs you get, check the bar spaces (Lardy adults won't fit through but tiny piggies might)

They don't dig so they don't need a mesh on the base (and shouldn't have anything mesh/grid to walk on anyway, their paws are delicate)

They will "Popcorn" Grin so they need a bit of height but not as much as rabbits . You'll need to give them a safe housie in the run.

Foxes,cats,hovering birds of prey are all potential foe (and things like escaped ferrets)

The run needs a roof unless you plan to sit right next to them (there are lots of 'soft top' runs with netting roofs but theyy wouldn't protect them)

And you need a gymnast (luckily for me , my DD is one Smile ) to get into the run to catch the little blighters.

Pictures of the piggies are compulsary Grin

Takver · 09/05/2015 11:03

That's really helpful :) It's more a fenced off part of garden than 'run', so not mobile (it's considerably bigger than our sitting room!) - we used to have 3 chickens living in there, and they didn't trash the grass, so I'm hoping 2 or 3 x GPs will be okay . . .?

Definitely needs a roof as we have lots of birds of prey around, but fencing is 2m high, so jumping out shouldn't be an issue Grin, it's also dug 50cm into the ground.

Mesh is 1" square, I hadn't thought of them squeezing through - but I think as it's plastic we might need to run metal rabbit mesh round the bottom anyway? Rabbits can definitely chew through it, at least wild ones can if you have cabbages inside and them outside Grin

We have a very sturdy recycled silage plastic chicken house, which looking at RSPCA info etc. looks like it should convert into a good dry space for them, also a covered area which I'm imagining will be good for them so that they can be 'outdoors' or at least in fresh air even if it's rainy.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page