Another eye injury!

[Ellie-May]

I really don’t know how my Erma does it. She’s only 1 and half and I’ve taken her to the vets at least nearly 10 times due to eye injuries that has been caused by hay.

I have never had any issues with any of the other pigs and it’s always here. I had to take her last night and there was a piece of hay stuck but her eye is quite damaged. Compared to last time I’m on the normal drops, but I was also given metacam for 4 days to help with pain and eye drops to help repair the eye.

I have fleece bedding and everything in the cage is pretty much soft. They do have hayracks so that could be an issue but I don’t want to create piles of hay (as much as they love it) because I’m worried problems like this happen.

Any ideas in terms of enrichment and how to prevent eye injuries?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I think it’s just bad luck. If you are only using racks and are still getting eye injuries, then as you can see, they don’t fully help. What type of hay are you using?
Mine are fully bedded on thick hay everywhere but theyve only had two haypoke incidents in three years. They are bedded on soft (Haybox) meadow hay with Haybox soft timothy (not the coarse stuff) as additional feeding hay.

 

[Swissgreys]

Some piggies are more prone to this than others and it sounds like your girl is one of them.
What I would say though is we ended up removing hay racks/bags as we felt more eye injuries happened because my enthusiastic would push their head into the hay to find the best pieces.
With large hay piles and hay trays we haven't had any eye injuries, and they aren't looking up so it seems more natural.
As you girl is so prone it might be worth removing the racks and seeing if this helps.

 

[Ellie-May]

I think it’s just bad luck. If you are only using racks and are still getting eye injuries, then as you can see, they don’t fully help. What type of hay are you using?
Mine are fully bedded on thick hay everywhere but theyve only had two haypoke incidents in three years. They are bedded on soft (Haybox) meadow hay with Haybox soft timothy (not the coarse stuff) as additional feeding hay.

We use fleece bedding and meadow hay for feeding hay and Timothy hay 1-2 times per day as a handful on the floor.

I think it is just bad luck haha

 

[Ellie-May]

Some piggies are more prone to this than others and it sounds like your girl is one of them.
What I would say though is we ended up removing hay racks/bags as we felt more eye injuries happened because my enthusiastic would push their head into the hay to find the best pieces.
With large hay piles and hay trays we haven't had any eye injuries, and they aren't looking up so it seems more natural.
As you girl is so prone it might be worth removing the racks and seeing if this helps.

She’s quite mischievous and likes to push her head right it. I’m considering hay trays..would you say they are good?

 

[Merab]

Hay diving is a favourite hobby for many piggies.
I pile the hay on the cage floor and it’s not unusual to see a heap of hay moving around because somewhere in it is a piggy.
I’ve had one or 2 haypokes but despite burrowing in the hay it’s not been a major problem.

 

[Ellie-May]

Hay diving is a favourite hobby for many piggies.
I pile the hay on the cage floor and it’s not unusual to see a heap of hay moving around because somewhere in it is a piggy.
I’ve had one or 2 haypokes but despite burrowing in the hay it’s not been a major problem.

I just want to know the best way because it’s always her haha

 

[Swissgreys]

She’s quite mischievous and likes to push her head right it. I’m considering hay trays..would you say they are good?

Hay trays and large piles of hay are really the best.
I would get rid of the hay racks, as 11 eye injuries in a year does seem a lot.

 

[Ellie-May]

Hay trays and large piles of hay are really the best.
I would get rid of the hay racks, as 11 eye injuries in a year does seem a lot.

I know it is a lot. I’ll have to look for some over the weekend I think

 

[weepweeps]

She must have very sensitive eyes.