How to find material in the forest and make a house for guinea pigs
Lovers of small domestic animals, such as hamsters, guinea pigs, rats, and similar rodents, probably love their pets and, as far as possible, try to provide them with everything they need. This is what insolent sellers of the relevant goods take advantage of! The prices are so outrageous that it’s as if it’s not a plywood box with two holes, but a comfortable apartment with all the amenities! So it is with me; my daughter got a couple of guinea pigs. The cage, house, water bowl and everything else have been collecting dust in our barn for a long time since better times - there were no problems with this.
The problem arose when the pig family began to grow and multiply exponentially! And naturally, the old plywood house, designed for two individuals, no longer accommodated everyone inside! The pigs left without a roof over their heads, who did not have time to take a place inside, begin to worry, whistle and squeal loudly and indignantly, causing some discomfort, especially in the early morning. After visiting several pet stores, where the prices for large houses made my eyes pop out of my head, I decided to build a house myself.And absolutely free.
The first step, of course, is to get the basic material. Willow branches, in this case, are the ideal material. Willow is a flexible and soft wood. You can cut such branches, about the thickness of a finger, near power lines.
This will not cause any harm to nature, since all the vegetation under such lines will be cut off early in the spring. If willow does not grow in your area, then any other shrub of similar quality will do. So, using pruning shears, cut pieces of the above-mentioned size.
This is not as easy to do as in summer (the wood froze and became harder), but it is still possible. Next, you need to cut the skin from the branches with a knife.
This way they will dry faster and will not move when drying. By the way, after finishing work, you can gradually feed the cut bark and small pieces of branches to your rodents - the bark contains a lot of vitamins, and they sharpen their incisors on the wood. After the bark has been removed, you need to let the material dry - lay it out in front of the radiator on some fabric.
This is not a quick process, so be patient. Minimum for 3 days. And under no circumstances try to dry the material in the oven in order to speed up the process - the branches will immediately lead, they will become crooked and oblique, and completely unsuitable for work.Also, if you completely neglect drying and make a house from raw material, then it will simply disintegrate into logs when it dries. After drying, we prepare the above tools and begin work. I must warn you right away; This work is very tedious, although not difficult. I think in these times of quarantine and sick leave, it will be very useful to have something to do with yourself! News construction We will build a pig house according to the principle of a village log house. We step back a couple of centimeters from the end of the log, and use pruning shears to make cuts to the middle of the thickness of the log. It is not necessary to measure these conditional pairs of cm with a ruler. Plus or minus a couple of millimeters of protruding logs will give the construction a certain aesthetic negligence of a rustic log house. Using a knife, remove the incised area. It turns out to be a cut.
We repeat the procedure from the other end. We make sure that the cuts are strictly parallel to each other. We process the second log in the same way. We place the logs on the table, parallel, with the cuts facing up, and place the whole log in the cuts on both sides. It turned out to be the beginning of a log house.
In the area of the cutting, we make a through hole with a drill, insert matches into it and break off the sharpening tips. This will be the bond.
The same procedure with matches must be done in those areas where the proposed entrance opening and window will be.
And thus we continue to lay out the log house. This is a slow process, so there will be plenty of time to avoid mistakes. Each wall of the log house will consist of nine logs. After laying the sixth row of logs, it is necessary to cut out the entrance openings and windows with a hacksaw, in those places that we previously strengthened with matches.
After this procedure, we report a couple more rows. At this point the body of the house is ready.
Now the roof. The roof will be gable, like a real village house.We will make its frame in the same way as on a real log house - two vertical supports of the length we need, and a crossbar on them.
The sharpness of the roof angle will depend on the height of the vertical supports. We also fasten all this with matches. Also, along the edges of the log house, where the roof slopes will end, you need to attach an additional log - the lower part of the slopes will lie on them.
All that remains is to cover the roof, make the gables and the ridge. Well, and the lining of the openings. We will cover the roof with logs, split along the entire length.
At first I wanted to fasten these chips to the beam with matches, but then I decided that hot glue would be enough, because there would be no load on the roof. In addition, this glue is absolutely non-toxic and will not harm the pigs.
The gables turned out to be even easier to make; Here, cuttings of logs came in very handy after the main construction. All that remains is to use pruning shears to adjust them to the desired length and place them on hot glue.
And one more useful tip; After applying the glue to the surface, I recommend warming it up with a lighter. This way it will become more liquid and penetrate into all the irregularities, cracks and pores, as a result of which the adhesion will improve. We will make the ridge from strips of birch bark, simply gluing them to the joint at the top of the roof.
Well, and finally; We make cladding for the window and entrance from any glazing beads you like.
Well, the pig's housing is ready!
Now it will definitely accommodate the entire large pig family. From the remains of more or less long logs (so as not to throw them away in vain), you can make a small and simple bird feeder. I assembled it in 15 minutes. It’s not difficult for you, but it’s a big benefit for the birds that don’t have a good time in winter.
The problem arose when the pig family began to grow and multiply exponentially! And naturally, the old plywood house, designed for two individuals, no longer accommodated everyone inside! The pigs left without a roof over their heads, who did not have time to take a place inside, begin to worry, whistle and squeal loudly and indignantly, causing some discomfort, especially in the early morning. After visiting several pet stores, where the prices for large houses made my eyes pop out of my head, I decided to build a house myself.And absolutely free.
Will need
- Willow branches 20×200 mm. (at least 60 pieces).
- A small piece of birch bark.
- Garden scissors (secateurs).
- Knife.
- Matches (4 boxes).
- Drill and 2mm drill bit.
- Glazing beads (any kind, for lining entrances and windows).
- Glue gun and a couple of glue sticks.
- Ruler.
- Marker.
- A small hacksaw (can be used for metal).
Making a house with your own hands
The first step, of course, is to get the basic material. Willow branches, in this case, are the ideal material. Willow is a flexible and soft wood. You can cut such branches, about the thickness of a finger, near power lines.
This will not cause any harm to nature, since all the vegetation under such lines will be cut off early in the spring. If willow does not grow in your area, then any other shrub of similar quality will do. So, using pruning shears, cut pieces of the above-mentioned size.
This is not as easy to do as in summer (the wood froze and became harder), but it is still possible. Next, you need to cut the skin from the branches with a knife.
This way they will dry faster and will not move when drying. By the way, after finishing work, you can gradually feed the cut bark and small pieces of branches to your rodents - the bark contains a lot of vitamins, and they sharpen their incisors on the wood. After the bark has been removed, you need to let the material dry - lay it out in front of the radiator on some fabric.
This is not a quick process, so be patient. Minimum for 3 days. And under no circumstances try to dry the material in the oven in order to speed up the process - the branches will immediately lead, they will become crooked and oblique, and completely unsuitable for work.Also, if you completely neglect drying and make a house from raw material, then it will simply disintegrate into logs when it dries. After drying, we prepare the above tools and begin work. I must warn you right away; This work is very tedious, although not difficult. I think in these times of quarantine and sick leave, it will be very useful to have something to do with yourself! News construction We will build a pig house according to the principle of a village log house. We step back a couple of centimeters from the end of the log, and use pruning shears to make cuts to the middle of the thickness of the log. It is not necessary to measure these conditional pairs of cm with a ruler. Plus or minus a couple of millimeters of protruding logs will give the construction a certain aesthetic negligence of a rustic log house. Using a knife, remove the incised area. It turns out to be a cut.
We repeat the procedure from the other end. We make sure that the cuts are strictly parallel to each other. We process the second log in the same way. We place the logs on the table, parallel, with the cuts facing up, and place the whole log in the cuts on both sides. It turned out to be the beginning of a log house.
In the area of the cutting, we make a through hole with a drill, insert matches into it and break off the sharpening tips. This will be the bond.
The same procedure with matches must be done in those areas where the proposed entrance opening and window will be.
And thus we continue to lay out the log house. This is a slow process, so there will be plenty of time to avoid mistakes. Each wall of the log house will consist of nine logs. After laying the sixth row of logs, it is necessary to cut out the entrance openings and windows with a hacksaw, in those places that we previously strengthened with matches.
After this procedure, we report a couple more rows. At this point the body of the house is ready.
Now the roof. The roof will be gable, like a real village house.We will make its frame in the same way as on a real log house - two vertical supports of the length we need, and a crossbar on them.
The sharpness of the roof angle will depend on the height of the vertical supports. We also fasten all this with matches. Also, along the edges of the log house, where the roof slopes will end, you need to attach an additional log - the lower part of the slopes will lie on them.
All that remains is to cover the roof, make the gables and the ridge. Well, and the lining of the openings. We will cover the roof with logs, split along the entire length.
At first I wanted to fasten these chips to the beam with matches, but then I decided that hot glue would be enough, because there would be no load on the roof. In addition, this glue is absolutely non-toxic and will not harm the pigs.
The gables turned out to be even easier to make; Here, cuttings of logs came in very handy after the main construction. All that remains is to use pruning shears to adjust them to the desired length and place them on hot glue.
And one more useful tip; After applying the glue to the surface, I recommend warming it up with a lighter. This way it will become more liquid and penetrate into all the irregularities, cracks and pores, as a result of which the adhesion will improve. We will make the ridge from strips of birch bark, simply gluing them to the joint at the top of the roof.
Well, and finally; We make cladding for the window and entrance from any glazing beads you like.
Well, the pig's housing is ready!
Now it will definitely accommodate the entire large pig family. From the remains of more or less long logs (so as not to throw them away in vain), you can make a small and simple bird feeder. I assembled it in 15 minutes. It’s not difficult for you, but it’s a big benefit for the birds that don’t have a good time in winter.
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