Fleece bedding

I use reusable bed pads with fleece over it. I also have made liners with a layer if uhaul fabric between. Both work great! I like having it all sewn together because it's less to brush before washing.
 
Livia Rabideau said:
I use reusable bed pads with fleece over it. I also have made liners with a layer if uhaul fabric between. Both work great! I like having it all sewn together because it's less to brush before washing.
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Okay 😄 I must admit, when you see the liners all sewn together they look great to use! The fleece fabric I just bought recommends washing at 30degrees.. I guess so it doesn't shrink. If I made sewn liners and followed those washing instructions do you think they'd be ok? I'd have to add Dettol or something to the wash as an antibacterial I suppose...
 
You want to wash and dry on high. You want to do this 3 times to make sure it will wick the pee away and don't use fabric softener. I would see after you wash. Also add a bit more around the edges in case it shrinks later on. I didn't for my first couple of liners and they are short now. 😂.
 
You don't have to see them. I just have little boars who love to burrow under everything. Takes me a long time to brush the fabric. I give them the sewn liners now. Lol. The girls don't do that.
 
Thanks, Livia. We re getting 3 boars from a shelter very soon so just want to be prepared. Hmm, so they like to bury..will take that on board too!
 
Eek, I've been reading all about grease glands and other very detailed stuff about a boars backend......😳
Plus all the other potential problems that can go wrong with them.
I sure am glad for all the information and support that seems to be available here on the Forum!
 
Are you planning for the boars to live together? I'm afraid boar trios seldom work out - you are much better with a bonded pair of boars.

Sorry off topic, but I thought you'd want to know.
 
I'm getting the boars from a Shelter who took them in temporarily from a family who were moving house and couldn't look after them any more. As far as I know two are brothers and are one and half year old, and the other, age two and half I'm assuming was from somewhere else but I believe they've been together for some time. Ill check on that but the shelter said they'll take the third back if there's a problem. Thanks for taking the time to post! I'm v open to advice.
 
It’s good that the shelter have said they will help if there is a problem. As has been mentioned, it is rare for more than two boars to be able to live together long term. Make sure you do your research on boar behaviour so you can spot the warning signs. Although they are over the age for teenage hormones, a change in environment can make them re-establish the hierarchy which can result in fights if one doesn’t back down into a submissive positio, so even though they have been together up until now, there is absolutely no guarantee it’ll continue. To stand any chance, you will need to make sure you have a very large cage (the recommended for two male pigs is a 180cm x 60cm cage but given you’ve got an extra boar, it may be wise to add on at least an extra 30cm (so 210cm x 60cm)), have multiple food bowls and plenty of open ended hideys (no one entrance houses or boxes because one piggy can end up being cornered).
 
Our C& C cage is 185 X 77..........
Ok, no houses up against the side of the cage.. Thanks for that. I'll get three bowls and I've got bury places as well as double ended tunnels etc. Not sure what we can do about the cage at the mo....
 
I use washable pads like those sewn into fleece ie as a middle layer between two fleece layers. I found it a bit heavy compared to zorb but do like it for absorbancy.
 
I know this sounds so negative but it is very rare for three boars to work that having a plan b for separation is always a good idea ie having a spare cage. Even with a a pair of boars it’s still a good idea to plan. I have a pair of teenage boars and they get on really well now but I still have back up plan for separation always ready. A couple of months ago they were bickering so I upgraded their cage and the extra space sorted things out, unfortunately with a trio it won’t necessarily be that simple.

In terms of the fleece, I personally wouldn’t add dettol to the wash. I just wouldn’t risk the chemicals in dettol with the piggies - I know it’s probably all washed out but I know if I’ve washed things with dettol in the wash (ie when my children have been sick) then the smell of dettol lingers. I use white vinegar when I wash my piggy fleeces and I wash at 60 degrees even though the material says to wash at 30 and so far they haven’t shrunk by enough to cause any problems.
 
Thanks! No, It doesn't feel negative... I'm beginning to realise we may inadvertently have bitten off more than we can chew but we ll do our very best for the three of them. I'll avoid the Dettol! And will wash the fleeces as everyone is advising.
Re the cage - I'll see if we can maybe increase the cage size with a loft from C&C cages to take some pressure off as soon as they arrive...
 
Good idea with the loft. Bear in mind though that upstairs space doesn’t actually count towards the total space due to piggies being ground roaming creatures ie a 2x5 c&c equates to 12 square feet but adding a two square foot loft doesnt make the cage 14 square feet, it is still a 12 square ft cage but with a bonus space of loft, but in this situation hopefully it’ll provide the ability for them to get away from each other and hopefully, as you say, take the immediate pressure off.
 
Okay 😄 Thinking about how to extend the cage and will make sure they each have one of everythings! Bless them...
 
annar96 said:
Okay 😄 Thinking about how to extend the cage and will make sure they each have one of everythings! Bless them...
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Can you make your cage L-shaped? We had planned a 5x2 grid C&C for a pair of girls and a husboar, then I accidentally adopted 2 extra piggies so we added a 3x2 cage to the side and have a 5x5x2 L-shape. With a loft. Also 2 grids high except the sides up against the wall, so our bouncier piggies can't catapult themselves out off the house rooves :)
 
Back to fleece...
Do I have to wash each piece separately in case they run in the initial hot washes?
 
annar96 said:
Back to fleece...
Do I have to wash each piece separately in case they run in the initial hot washes?
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Fleece shouldnt run as its synthetic fibres so they are made that colour not dyed... but you might want to avoid overloading your washing machine, wet fleece is very heavy and too much of it won't spin properly!
 
PigglePuggle said:
Fleece shouldnt run as its synthetic fibres so they are made that colour not dyed... but you might want to avoid overloading your washing machine, wet fleece is very heavy and too much of it won't spin properly!
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Thankyou for that!
 
Have started washing them on 60 degrees and they seem to be holding up fine 😁
 
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