2 x 5 for four sows -- how to expand

[Suisan]

I think I already know the answer to this question, but I'm interested in getting some feedback.

I currently have two sows in a 2 x 5. At one end there's an L - shaped hay loft. 1 grid space for "landing" off the ramp, and then 2 grids along the back wall for a hay rack and litter box area. The pellets are up here, but the girls get most of their veggies downstairs.

I'm going to be adopting a possibly pregnant female from the humane society. Due to quarantine she'll be in the Dining Room for a while. But after she recovers from URI and pregnancy, the babies will go back to the Humane Society (or foster here at my home separate from the big girls), and she'll go in with my girls.

All that's OK. Problem is, there's another female guinea pig at the Humane Society I'd like to adopt outright. (She'll be quarantined too, obviously.)

If I add 2 more adults, then my cage is too small. A few questions:

1) if I expand the hayloft/kitchen to go across the back of the cage to connect to another loft at the other end, does this help increase cage size?

2) if I go to 2 x 6, then the cage bottom won't fit on the folding table I have set up for it. What works as a platform for the longer cage? Plywood? Does it tip? I guess it's only 7 inches off of both sides of the table, but it *feels* unstable to me somehow.

Thanks,
Suisan

[wickedrodent]

I had the same problem with a table being too small. What I did, is made the coroplast on the outside of the cage, so that the grids wouldn't fall down. It works really well with the fleece, as it also helps keep it from bubbling up. Plywood is also a good option.

[Ly&Pigs]

If you get a good 1/4"-1/2" plywood, it won't tip or dip in the middle. 7" off each end won't be a problem at all. I had a 2x6 L shaped cage that sat on plywood before. Now I am going to have a 2 level 2x4 sitting on plywood held up by a grid stand.

Lofts don't count towards overall square footage. I'd go with an expansion of another 1x2 grids on the main level.

[Suisan]

Thanks for all the feedback. I sorta knew that I was going to have to extend the base, but wanted to ask anyway.

But I am quietly working out all sorts of loft ideas in my head. Tinkertoys -- an addiction.

[Daphne]

Tinkertoys?

[QuackXP]

If your worried about stability and overhang you could ditch the table and create a grid support bottom. Properly secured with cable ties it is very sturdy.

I oroginally created my 2x4 with a 2 girid high base for storage. When it was all cable tied together I could move the whole unit around as one piece easily. I went with a 1 grid high base because it looked to overbearig in our small apartment living room at that hieght.