Crippie is taking a break from posting about how much my hip hurts to focus on PIGGIES!!! The weather was in my favor this afternoon so I figured it would be a good day to give Aggie a little sunlight. Since the weather was sooooooooo awesome Crippie and her sister opted to bring Maggie, Aggie, and a playpen outside so they could be "free range piggies".
First and foremost... PICTURES!
 |
| Munch munch munch munch munch |
 |
| Helen being a "guard dog", and Maggie and Aggie are still eating grass |
 |
| Maggie doesn't know what to make of this "outside" business |
 |
| Maggie saying "What the hell is this?" and Aggie still nomming on grass |
 |
| Maggie wondering where she is, and Aggie still eating grass |
They spent about 20 minutes outside and I swear to God Aggie spent 19 minutes and 30 seconds eating grass. SHE LOVED IT. Maggie on the other hand was like "where the hell am I?"
If any of you were wondering why Aggie looks s'darn white it's because she is a satin pig. She was probably bred to have a more lustrous coat. Cute, right? Nope... satins have greater chance to develop osteoporosis. As Crippie has mentioned before, I'm giving her some natural vitamin D in hopes to prevent it. Also, the shiny coat made it damn near impossible for Crippie to photograph her.
As awesome as outside time is, it's not something to be taken lightly... here are some tippies for successful outside time.
1- Know your grass - We took the pigs out on our lawn. Do NOT put pigs on grass treated with pesticides. The main concern Crippie had about her lawn was that deer are frequent visitors, and deer leave "presents" and ticks. Crippie picked a spot for the pigs where other animals don't like to hang out. It happened to be right by her driveway.
2- Watch them like a hawk - NEVER take your eyes off your pigs. There are a lot of hawks and other birds of prey by Crippie who could easily snatch them up. You need to stand guard and make sure nothing hurts them.
3- Make sure the weather is good - Piggies are very demanding when it comes to temperature... if its too hot your pig will have a heat stroke and die, if its too cold your pig will get sick and die. The 65-80 degree range (give or take) generally makes for a happy piggie. Also, if your pig is a skinny I would probably keep the pig in the shade.
4- Clean Up - When you're finished don't forget to check for any bugs or anything that might be stuck to them. Since we have deer Crippie checked each pig for tics before putting them back into their cage.
So there ya have it folks, hope your piggies enjoy the warm weather while it lasts!
Crippie's Tippie - Playpens for small dogs work wonders for piggies
P.S. We had some severe thunderstorms tonight, hopefully that explains some of my pain
Yikes - i'd hate the thought of a hawk getting them. We have plenty of them hanging around here too cuz M has to watch me like a "hawk" when I'm outside. It was nice you gave the piggies a chance to be outside. They are so cute.
ReplyDeleteThese pics remind me of when I took my 3 piggie boys (Winken, Blinken and Nod) out side for fresh grass nibbles and scape for playing. Since I lived in southern Florida I could tear off a banana tree leaf for my guys to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteNot just hawks but neighborhood cats''' Cats will come from nowhere and grab a poor little piggies when outside and unprotected. I built a heavy duty wire top for my outside cage and still had to be careful watching them the whole time.