Hopper Haven's Guinea Pig Village

After spending the last few years building all the rabbit enclosures, we decided that this year we would like to improve our Guinea Pig's lives too. They all have large hutches etc, but we wanted to give them more space to roam, so decided on a guinea pig village.

We have a huge garage (used to house a coal truck!) that is used as indoor accommodation for the pigs in winter, and for any buns not strong enough to live outside. We decided to use a couple of the stables to create GP villages....here is the first one....


This shows the school, the church, the greengrocers and the new house added this week....




The Post Office and the beauty parlour...(bit blurry - sorry!)


The village trough being used by some of the 12 residents....


I've finished painting the walls and hutches today, and am now working on the second stable for a smaller group...

Just to add this hasn't cost hardly anything to make - I've made all the houses from pieces of wood that have been recycled from other things at the rescue, and I've raided my hubbies paint store for all the paint!

The piggies absolutely love going in and out of all the houses (they have 2 or 3 openings in each house) and spend far more time in the open than they previously did

I hope you like!!

Caroline

That is brilliant, lucky piggies! I love the village trough especially.

Absolutely fabulous!!!!

I love the piggy trough......:lol::lol::lol:

Is there going to be a pet shop??? No livestock to be sold there though!!!

What about the pub!!!!!!!!!!! I could meet them there and have a chatter over a pint or two....:lol::lol::lol:

Wow, that looks great!!

Oh that is fantastic!!

Look at the little piggie in the church!! :lol:

I love the village sign and name too! :lol::lol::lol:

That is brilliant!

Looks good. Do you have a mix in there or is it just females, just wondering because we have 2 pairs with a neutered male and a female and wondered if they would all go together?

halfpenny said:

Looks good. Do you have a mix in there or is it just females, just wondering because we have 2 pairs with a neutered male and a female and wondered if they would all go together?

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At the moment there are 10 sows and 2 boars, but the boars take it in turns to come out in the main area with the ladies and they are rotated throughout the day i.e. one boar has the school and the area fenced off behind it (so he still has contact with the other pigs) whilst the other is in the main village.

Brilliant, thank you for showing us

BB Mommy said:

At the moment there are 10 sows and 2 boars, but the boars take it in turns to come out in the main area with the ladies and they are rotated throughout the day i.e. one boar has the school and the area fenced off behind it (so he still has contact with the other pigs) whilst the other is in the main village.

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Ok, so even with so many girls around they need to be separated. thanks, it's what I thought but hoped there was an alternative!

that is fab! I bet they love it, and so good that it didn't cost you much to make! I bet it took a fair while to do though!

halfpenny said:

Ok, so even with so many girls around they need to be separated. thanks, it's what I thought but hoped there was an alternative!

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No, the boys will tolerate each other for short periods, but they get very possesive about their ladies!! Life would be so much easier if we could out lots of boys together:roll:

Looks amazing !!

Does the Rescue have lots of hands on helpers ? It must be such hard work.
Did I read that you have over 100 Rabbits :shock:

looks brilliant. well done you must be really pleased.

love the first pic with a piggie looking out of the window of one of the houses! :lol:

Jack's-Jane said:

Looks amazing !!

Does the Rescue have lots of hands on helpers ? It must be such hard work.
Did I read that you have over 100 Rabbits :shock:

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No we have about 4 regular helpers including me.
Louise does the bulk of the day to day stuff like meds, grooming, feeding and cleaning, the 3 other volunteers help with cleaning, and I do all the building, maintenance etc and help out cleaning etc when necessary.

We currently have 109 rabbits and 70 piggies. I'm amazed at how much gets done!

BB Mommy said:

No we have about 4 regular helpers including me.
Louise does the bulk of the day to day stuff like meds, grooming, feeding and cleaning, the 3 other volunteers help with cleaning, and I do all the building, maintenance etc and help out cleaning etc when necessary.

We currently have 109 rabbits and 70 piggies. I'm amazed at how much gets done!

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Cripes :shock:

That is so cool! I want one! What lucky pigs

I am now not only desperate for guinea pigs, I am desperate for a pig village. :lol:

Amy. said:

That is so cool! I want one! What lucky pigs

I am now not only desperate for guinea pigs, I am desperate for a pig village. :lol:

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:lol::lol::lol:

I haven't personally kept piggies for years, but seeing them in a nice large space playing in and out of the houses has made me want some of my own too!!

Awwww they look very happy!

That is just fantastic, well done, it looks really lovely:wave:

lucky piggies