Fleece, Litter Training & some questions

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PiggyPotter

Hi Guys!

My 3 sows and 2 boars are currently bedded on shavings with a thick layer of hay on top (which they love to hide in) and they seem pretty happy with that but I'm wondering after reading the review stickies and other posts whether they might be better on fleece. I did try this a couple of years ago and it really didn't work so I've got a few questions I hope you guys can help me with...

1. What do you generally put between the fleece and the floor of the hutch? I previously just had newsaper and a folded towel and it didn't really work, mainly because the little beasties kept digging the towel up and trying to eat it! I'm wondering if maybe sewing a sort of "piggy pad" out of fleece and filling it with something like shredded paper might be better?

2. How do you go about litter training a piggy? I've never tried this but I think it would go a long way towards solving the problems I had before! Mine are mostly older (sows are 4, 3 and 7mths, boars are 5 and 4) so it's not like I can "start them young".

3. One of the main problems I has was the fleece getting covered in hay but all your pics show lovely hay-free fleeces. How do you stop the piggies dragging it everywhere?! As I said above, mine love hiding in piles of hay and stuff.

Ok, sorry for the long post! Hope someone can give me some pointers :)
Thanks in advance!
 
PiggyPotter said:
Hi Guys!

My 3 sows and 2 boars are currently bedded on shavings with a thick layer of hay on top (which they love to hide in) and they seem pretty happy with that but I'm wondering after reading the review stickies and other posts whether they might be better on fleece. I did try this a couple of years ago and it really didn't work so I've got a few questions I hope you guys can help me with...

1. What do you generally put between the fleece and the floor of the hutch? I previously just had newsaper and a folded towel and it didn't really work, mainly because the little beasties kept digging the towel up and trying to eat it! I'm wondering if maybe sewing a sort of "piggy pad" out of fleece and filling it with something like shredded paper might be better?

2. How do you go about litter training a piggy? I've never tried this but I think it would go a long way towards solving the problems I had before! Mine are mostly older (sows are 4, 3 and 7mths, boars are 5 and 4) so it's not like I can "start them young".

3. One of the main problems I has was the fleece getting covered in hay but all your pics show lovely hay-free fleeces. How do you stop the piggies dragging it everywhere?! As I said above, mine love hiding in piles of hay and stuff.

Ok, sorry for the long post! Hope someone can give me some pointers :)
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I've not used fleece in a hutch but indoors i use towel underneath & some people do sew the towel to the fleece.

I've never litter-trained a piggy but my boys do seem to have areas they favour whilst the girls go wherever they wish.

Hay has a mind of it's own :)) Again my boys keep their hay in their racks whilst the girls yank every strand out. You could use a litter tray filled with hay above their hay rack which would help to keep it in one place.

I know Laura-CCC4 does this & am sure she & others who regularly use fleece will give you their advice :)
 
I use four layers of cotton towel under my single layer fleece. Nice and soft for them to walk on. I change fleece twice a week and have yet to smell anything. The blanket is bigger than the cage so I fold it around the towels so that they don't get to them, then I put some extra pieces of fleece on top for them to do what they plese with.

I have thought about sewing the towel to the fleece somehow but is still thinking about how.

My pigs are not litter trained. I have two girls and a neutered boy and they seem to wee and poo all over the place.

Mine have a separate hay yard made from a big IKEA plastic crate. I have a recycled paper cat litter under the hay. This means that they can still burrow in hay but I can give them a big cage for running too, without having to clean out sacks of shavings every week.
 
Hmmm, I have a couple of ideas now which I shall try out on my sewing machine and submit for piggy approval by my girls (they are by far an away the pickiest piggies ever). I'll let you know how it goes :)
 
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