Your Pot Belly Pig Information Center

Outdoor Housing Examples

Below are some examples of good outdoor housing for pet pigs that will protect them from the weather and make them feel comfortable. Cick on the images for a larger view.

This is Bonnie and Clyde's house. This was before a lean-to was added (see right) and a side wall. The side wall that you can see on their house is removable for easy cleaning inside.

We have also put a wireless temperature sensor within their enclosure so we can monitor how low (or high) the temperature gets in their condo.

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This is a front view of B&C's house. It is 8 x 4 x 4. In the winter, 2 bales of straw are stacked in the far end (left end in picture) to help with insulation. You can see that they also use straw to block the entrance yes, they did that! And they will block the entrance with straw once inside.

It isn't fancy, but it does keep them warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Here in the high desert we regularly get into the single digits at night during the winter months. For those of you with outbuilding or barns, this is a much easier project.

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A long view of B&C's house. It sits in front of a greenhouse which helps to block the winds we get here. There is a roof over it. The lean-to in front of the house was added this past winter. We have since added a gutter along the lean-to and drainage to their area.

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This was a day I was cleaning out the summer straw and getting ready for winter.

There was a layer of sawdust (for the summer) with some straw on top. It was about a foot thick. We do a complete cleaning of bedding materials just before winter begins, then at least once a month during winter and again in the spring. During spring and summer we change the straw depending on how much moisture our area receives.

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This is what the inside of the condo looks like after about 3 weeks of use. You can see that they have packed down the straw we give them until it is thick in the back where they sleep. They do this naturally and gives them insulation from the ground. We also put bales of straw along the back wall for insulation.

This outside wall is easily removed for access when cleaning. You can also see the thickness of the sheet insulation (white) that was used in construction in between to pieces of ply board.

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The winter of 2005, we added 2 heat mats. They are screwed on to a sheet of plyboard. That is then put on the rubber horse mat that is their floor so that they are not directly on the cold ground. We then put straw on top of the mats. The mats are plugged into a control that is needed to regulate the temperature of the mats. The highest setting we used all winter was 3. This kept their bellies warm and the chill off of their condo.

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