Hay or fleece ?

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Salt n Peppers mum

Salt n Peppers mum

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For years I've used fleece for bedding in the C&C cages

I've changed the C&Cs round often to accomadate the pigs that come and go through fostering.
I have made hay areas or hay boxes, but now I'm gonna experiment with just hay.

These are some of my cages as made up with Fleece, with hayboxes.
I washed the fleece and bed pads every other day

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Recently I have been looking round at other types of bedding, Megazorb, Medibed and Equisorb
Why the change?

*Time
*Smell
*Cost

Time - I foster piggies for BARC, but space and time limits me to how many piggies I can foster.
At the moment I have 4 pigs of my own, 1 long term boarding, and 4 fosters.

As well as family and 2 young children and other animals I keep up with the washing, cleaning etc, but it is a constant job of juggling family washing, piggy washing and drying.

Smell - I have all boars here. And its been a long time since I last used Megazorb and I can't remember if the fleece smelt more than Megazorb or not!
I wash everyother day to keep the smell down, and I enjoy the care giving, but then I feel guilty if I have had a day out and havnt had time to do all my tasks with the piggies.
Cost - I have loads of fleece and bedpads. The cost in the electric use of the washer. I also buy disposable bed pads in bulk which work out at 30p for 90cm x 60cm, I would use 2 per cage under the fleece.

So, I was looking with experimenting.
Firstly to see if I can extend the cage clean out time to more like every 3 to 4 days, but without the guilt that they are living in a toilet.
This might enable me to foster a few more piggies, given the time of cleaning out. I wanted to monitor the boar smell, and if the piggies liked the change too.

I need to price up other bedding types, such as Megazorb and find a local supplier.
I already buy good quality hay from a local farm at £4 per bale.

In the meantime I have started this experiment by using the disposable bed pads at the bottom of the cage and then hay on top.
Then I had a thought! Why am I trying to source out Megazorb? Its a extra expense, no dought quite messy, do I really need Megazorb between the pads and the hay?

Hay cages -

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Experience and thoughts please folks
:)
 
Personally i hate the thought of hay bedding, i get nervous just putting hay in my cage after a bad experience with a piece going in my foster piggies eye and nearly blinding him :( his eye clouded over and it was quite scary to see luckily eye drops sorted him out but i don't want to put the chance there again what with him already having scaring on his eye from it.

I've been looking at changing from sawdust as obviously it's not the best bedding, i have two on fleece due to a bad allergy to dust and pollen in one of my pigs, but i don't think i could keep up the work of fleece on all my piggies ! I found this website while looking through and personally i thought it was great.

http://www.fitchrecycling.co.uk/

I asked for a sample but got this email in reply.

"Hi Beth
For various reasons we can't offer samples but we do recommend this bedding
for the reasons you have given regarding your guinea pigs.
Fitch Pet Bedding is made from a high grade paper and can be used for all
animals, we have various customers who use this bedding for their animals
because they have allergies to sawdust or shavings. Some of the current uses
are for puppies used by a kennel owner, rabbits used by various
customers,hamsters,cats as cat litter and horses,some of which have
allergies to wood shavings, as the bedding is so absorbent it soaks up
odours so there is no additional smell, you will probably notice less smell
with this bedding. Once you have tried this product you may find it is more
suitable than sawdust for all your guinea pigs.
I hope this answers your queries, please don't hesitate to contact us again
if you need any more information.

Kind Regards
Sales
Fitch Recycling Solutions
05603433012 / 07816964364"

I think it's good that it's all recycled, good for the planet and your piggies ! Also i think megazorb looks good but i've never used it (: If you do try either bedding i'd love to know how you get on!
 
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Interesting - thanks for the info.

I have had 3 piggies have eye pokes in the last 3 years, prompt treatment sorted it out in no time, and they were housed on fleece with hay boxes.

I like the idea of the foraging area for the piggies with the hay, its a natural behaviour and I am all for enriching their evironment.


This is another cage of mine. The vet bed at the top can be left 3 or 4 days no problem as the piggies spend so much time in the ground floor hay box which they love, and I change the hay every day

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I do put hay in with my sawdust bedding, but just on top, as something extra, my piggies always eat it anyways even if they have pee'd on it ! silly things.
Personally i would have thought just hay would have been a bit smelly ? as it's not absorbent. When i used to put hay in there carry case i used to just end up with piggies with soggy bellies ! but i guess your pads underneath help with that !

Maybe you could write a little daily blog, or maybe even a video (if you have the time that is) of the different beddings you try ? i think alot of people would be interested, maybe do like a week trial of each and point out the good and bad ? Just an idea.
 
I alternate between fleece and megazorb. Megazorb is brilliant, even after a week there are hardly any wet bits. But I love the look of fleece. But I hate how hay sticks to fleece.
There are pros and cons to both. I think I'd go with megazorb if I HAD to choose.
Do they chew the puppy pads when just covered in hay?
 
In my experience, my piggie much prefer hay. If i used newspaper and a very light sprinkling of megazorb and hay. I can get away with not changing for four days. If you switch to megazorb alone then you cna get away wit a full week. But as my piggies love the hay so much I go for the first option. I lvoe seeing them digging, making wee tunnels and burrowing in it. I hide there pellets in it and herbs- they are evry happy piggies and I too experimented with fleece.
 
Dh1971 said:
I alternate between fleece and megazorb. Megazorb is brilliant, even after a week there are hardly any wet bits. But I love the look of fleece. But I hate how hay sticks to fleece.
There are pros and cons to both. I think I'd go with megazorb if I HAD to choose.
Do they chew the puppy pads when just covered in hay?
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No the pads arnt chewed, they are the nautral pulp filling too, not the gel.

What about expense of filling six 5ft x 21/2ft cages twice a week with Megazorb?
 
I put newspaper down first then I have a layer of vet bed or fleece. In one end I've got a large cat litter tray under the cage shelf filled with hay. The other end is cuddle cups, hides, fleece to hide in etc.
One of my girls likes to snuggle in the fleece/cuddle cups etc and the other one goes and makes herself comfy in the hay tray. So I have to make the cage up using a mixture of both to keep both my piggies happy.
Works for us....:(|)
 
That's why you can just use a sprinkle on newspaper- or just gut out the megazorb altother but you'd need to clean out more. My 9x2 c and c took 3 weeks until megazorb was finished x
 
i use newspapers only, then have a hay section (although hay ends up all round the cage anyways)

cheap and easy to clean and it only smell on clean out day or the night before. i clean out on tuesdays and saturdays :)

i have 6 piggies in a 4x4 with a 3x3 attached and a pair in a 3x3 they like it and love eating/shredding the paper up to.
 
After Pickles (who thinks she's a mole :)) ) had two hay pokes within a month or so of eachother whilst being bedded on newspaper/hay, I decided NEVER again! I know use cage liners, which have all the benefits of fleece/towels, but last about a week or so.

I made mine myself, and to have 2 sets of 2x4ft it cost about £13. I understand that with the amount of cages you have, it would be a fairly large set-up cost, but once you're up and running, it works out so much cheaper than other beddings. Especially considering it only needs washing once a week, and take about 15-20 mins to dry.

I would highly recommend!
 
Phoebe-PP said:
After Pickles (who thinks she's a mole :)) ) had two hay pokes within a month or so of eachother whilst being bedded on newspaper/hay, I decided NEVER again! I know use cage liners, which have all the benefits of fleece/towels, but last about a week or so.

I made mine myself, and to have 2 sets of 2x4ft it cost about £13. I understand that with the amount of cages you have, it would be a fairly large set-up cost, but once you're up and running, it works out so much cheaper than other beddings. Especially considering it only needs washing once a week, and take about 15-20 mins to dry.

I would highly recommend!
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It's the hay that sticks to it that sends me back towards megazorb
 
My 4 have been known to eat the puppy pads, so i make sure they are well hidden under newspaper, then put the hay on top of that.
I don't need to change the pads every time i clean them out..just roll up the newspaper and soiled hay and replace....i find it much easier than fleece, although i love the look of fleece in the cages.
 
I have tried all sorts over the years and always seem to come back to newspaper megazorb or aubiose and hay! I do like fleece/vetbed but with 6 piggies of our own and currently 13 fosters, a cat, dog and 2 teenagers I just can't keep on top of the washing!

At the moment I am using newspaper and aubiose topped with hay for the foster boys and megazorb indoors although when this sack is finished I am going to try my own gang on aubiose because it is far less dusty than the megazorb. I find both to offer good absorbancy and the piggies love rushing around through the hay:)).

I have to say I found myself getting somewhat stressed with the constant sweeping when the pigs were on fleece/vetbed at least with hay the poo is slightly camouflaged! I find the bedding lasts longer than fleece and the smell is less obvious, I take out soiled hay daily and so my piggy room tends to just smell of fresh hay.

Will be interesting to see how you get on.
 
Caviesgalore said:
I have tried all sorts over the years and always seem to come back to newspaper megazorb or aubiose and hay! I do like fleece/vetbed but with 6 piggies of our own and currently 13 fosters, a cat, dog and 2 teenagers I just can't keep on top of the washing!

At the moment I am using newspaper and aubiose topped with hay for the foster boys and megazorb indoors although when this sack is finished I am going to try my own gang on aubiose because it is far less dusty than the megazorb. I find both to offer good absorbancy and the piggies love rushing around through the hay:)).

I have to say I found myself getting somewhat stressed with the constant sweeping when the pigs were on fleece/vetbed at least with hay the poo is slightly camouflaged! I find the bedding lasts longer than fleece and the smell is less obvious, I take out soiled hay daily and so my piggy room tends to just smell of fresh hay.

Will be interesting to see how you get on.
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I havnt look at aubiose......*toddles off site to google :)
 
It's a hemp bedding, looks a bit "sharp" but actually makes a nice bed and once it's laid on top of the newspaper I haven't had any problems with poke type injuries, but I do pop lots of hay on top. It's super absorbent and keeps niffs to a minimum, always good with boys! I pay about £9.25 from my local equine supplier for a large bale. Just started keeping a record of who many hutch/cage changes I can get from a bale.
 
I really liked megazorb but the only problem with that was that it didn't come compressed, so although the bag was nearly as big as my normal bag of bedding, there wasn't actually as much because my normal stuff is compressed. The other thing I noticed, which isn't at all a problem was that the pigs made a real racket!
I prefer the bales of woodshavings, I get a 120ltr bag for around £8 and it is all compressed so it lasts quite a while. I checked online that it was okay for the pigs (checked with the vet also) and I've never had any problems, as yet.
It's mixed with hay, but the pigs don't eat it - so that's good. I would love to have them on fleece, but it just isn't practical and I can imagine that it would smell quite a lot as Bingo my peruvian always drags wee round on her bottom and the cage ends up stinking! Nothing works, even if you give her a trim round the bum, it still ends up in her hair! :))

The bedding I get is actually designed for horses, but it's dust extracted so it's okay for the pigs. I use a thick layer of newspaper down first and then put the bedding on top of that. Another problem I would have with fleece, is that they try and eat it... mallethead

Just seen that the megazorb is 75ltr! mallethead
 
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This is a really interesting thread, that will hopefully help me too!

I started off using newspaper, wood shavings and hay with my boys but Otis doesn't seem to get on with woodshavings (it affects his boar bits :S) so I'm having to rethink things.

At the moment they've got a large piece of vetbed covering 3/4 of the cage with just newspaper underneath and then a big pile of hay at the other end. They LOVE the vetbed but it's difficult for me as - don't currently have a washing machine and have to borrow my mums (she wasn't impressed when I turned up this weekend with the hay covered vetbed) Plus a piece this size is a pain to transport and only just fits in the machine. It will be similarly difficult with fleece although I love the look of it. Both my piggies love burrowing in a pile of hay so I'm keen to still have a large 'foraging' area in the cage.

Ideally I'd like to only have to clean them twice a week and use disposable bedding (Or disposable topped with fleece) and avoid wood shavings.

I LOVE your cage with the ramp down to a hay room by the way Salt&Peppers mum! Fab! X
 
I'd be interested to find out how it goes too, I use vet bed with mattress protectors underneath in my 6x2 and I must admit I have recently been thinking about trying other options. I have to do two loads of washing and at 90degrees it takes a few hours - god knows how much it's costing!

Thing is I do worry with Fins long hair as when i've used newspaper and hay in their run he gets a soggy, dirty belly which he doesn't on the vet bed!
 
Another particulate bedding is Finacard (http://www.finacard-uk.com/) I use this for my 2 boys and spot clean every day and do a full clean out once a week. It is £13.99 and free delivery, out of a bale I get 5 cleanouts of my 5x2 c&c, works out at about £2.80 per cleanout. Could be another option to look into.
 
I dont think i would ever use hay as a bedding. My boys are thoathed to stand on the hay theyve pulled out of the hay rack. Also, It really smells in my opinion. Much more than the fleece set up I have. They also hated hay filled litter trays. For me as a student the only thing that was both cost effective and safe, was fleece. :) While on sawdust my boys had two URI's in 3 months. Since being on fleece they have had none. That might be coincidence.. who knows.

My set up is dry nights bed pads. These are 7 for £3ish, for a 2 by 4 cage you need one bed pad. Simply cut it in half and turn it so the middle bit is then on each end (youll see what i mean if you got one. lol) On top of that is a 100% cotton topped matress protector. Then one layer of fleece above that. This lasts me 5 days with no smell (my dad is very fussy about the smell.. it really doesnt) and I have two boars. However my cage is about half the size again of a 2x4 so it may not last as long in a slightly smaller cage. :)

I see no reason not to use megazorb, however do consider that it will be fiddlier to clean out as youll be picking up all the stray bits and trying to negotiate it into the bin. Just playing devils advocate :)
 
I have a 4 x 3 fleece area plus a 2 x 3 hay pit and 1 x 3 hay loft. I use newspaper, aubiose and hay. I put a nice thick layer of hay over the aubiose (otherwise it tends to get stuck in boy's bits) and then top it up each day. I do a full change every 3 days. The pigs are in my living room and I only notice a slight smell on day 3 when they're due a change but I actually think this is from the fleece rather than the hay.

In my ferplast 100 (temporary foster pig cage) I use newspaper, aubiose and hay. But because it's a much smaller area I make the aubiose much deeper. This means that I can change the hay on day 3 but leave the aubiose and only do a full change on day 6.

A bag of aubiose lasts about a month (although I don't always have a foster pig).

I used to use megazorb and did like it but you get a lot less for your money than the aubiose. I have tried just newspaper and hay but found it smelled really quickly which wasn't nice in my living room.

Will be interested to see how you get on.

:)
 
i found this intresting as i was trting to think wether to use sawdust or not i used to use sawdust then put some hay on top but wondered if there was another way,so thankyou for sharing all of this.
 
I did love my fleece, very much, and if I had a couple of cages to clean out all would definatley be left as it is.
But its not just the fleece that gets washed its the cosies, tunnels and washable pads. I wash at least 2 loads on average of piggy bedding a day.

But having 6 x 5 foot C&C cages (at the moment), and a young family, washing all the bedding, making up, sweeping out, every other day can be very time consuming. As well as 6 big hay boxes to totally clean and change.

6 cages every 3 days would be great, but obviously refeshing soiled hay everyday within the cage and keeping their hay balls full with 'posh hay' all having cuddle time, floor time exercise or grass time (weather permitting), and medicine for the poorly pigs and one that has to be relieved with impactation twice a day.

I am still using the disposable inco pads with lots of fresh hay, I think the smell has reduced. Even with the sun glaring through the patio window in to the piggy room this afternoon.

Four cages cleaned today, two cages were on day 3, I did the other two because I was changing pigs around, they were on day 2. I couldnt wait to get it all clean I felt a little redundant yesterday as I would have normally done it then, although how I'd have fitted another full day of washing fleeces with my girls being off school is a juggling act.
I found it a bit fiddly rolling the hay into a bin bag, I have a incinerator bin that I light once my green bin is full, goodness knows how much waste there would be if I had Megazorb to dispose of too!
I have changed one cage to 3/4 fleece and a big hay box because I have a piggy with UTI and I need to monitor if his pee is looking bloody by checking the light colour fleece.
All the piggies are laying on fleece beds at the moment asleep, even though they like to forage lots in the hay, it seems the preferred bed of comfort to doze on.

At the moment I cant see the point of buying in something thing like Megazorb as it will just add bulk to the waste and it is very messy and another expense. I supose if I wasnt using so much hay then it would be a soft bedding for them. However, I will source this or another of the horse type bedding just to weigh up the advantages.
 
xkatymayx said:
Another particulate bedding is Finacard (http://www.finacard-uk.com/) I use this for my 2 boys and spot clean every day and do a full clean out once a week. It is £13.99 and free delivery, out of a bale I get 5 cleanouts of my 5x2 c&c, works out at about £2.80 per cleanout. Could be another option to look into.
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Errmmm, so with 6 cages it would £16.80... And I dont really think I could leave a cage a week...nothing to do with anyone else, that's just ME! I am a piggy poop cleaning machine and I just carnt help my self...so if we say twice a week, which I would be happy with ... = too much :)
 
I've used various types of bedding........ wood shavings made one of my piggies and me sneeze all the time so I switched to fleece with newspaper & mattress protectors underneath which the boys loved but my husband didn't!
I had to change them everyday as they were so smelly and although I washed them separately and in their own cotton bag the guinea hairs would escape and then end up on our clothes when I washed them. Plus one load of washing costs about 50p making it £3.50 a week if washed every day.

I have now discovered Premierbed http://www.walmsleypremierbed.co.uk/ which is great..... it's little pieces of card which absorbs wee and smell really well, you can just spot clean wee areas and fleece cosies etc can just be put on top of it as it doesn't stick like shavings do. I put quite a thick layer of newspaper down 1st then a thickish layer of the premierbed and it lasts a week with spot cleans.

The bales are 21kg, compressed and cost £5.99. I have a large C&C cage with a mezanine and a bale does about 3 full cleans plus spot cleans. You can buy direct from Walmsley but I got mine from Hillam Feeds.
The piggies have the best of both worlds ..... bedding to rummage in, fleece cushions and cosies to lay on and piles of hay too. I put the waste on the compost heap and have put it in other areas of the garden as mulch or just bag it up & put it in the bin. :)
 
My Pigs LOVE Hay! They Love Eating It, Sleeping On It & Chasing Each Other Through It lol. I Tried My Piggies On Fleece, But With 3 Cages, 3 Kids & Working I Just Dont Have Time To Change Them Every Second Day. My Girls Cages Never Smell With Hay & They Have Never Had Any Problems With Hay Poking Them. My Boys Cages Still Stink Cause They Are Stinky Lil Boys:))
 
Cheeky Chubbies said:
I've used various types of bedding........ wood shavings made one of my piggies and me sneeze all the time so I switched to fleece with newspaper & mattress protectors underneath which the boys loved but my husband didn't!
I had to change them everyday as they were so smelly and although I washed them separately and in their own cotton bag the guinea hairs would escape and then end up on our clothes when I washed them. Plus one load of washing costs about 50p making it £3.50 a week if washed every day.

I have now discovered Premierbed http://www.walmsleypremierbed.co.uk/ which is great..... it's little pieces of card which absorbs wee and smell really well, you can just spot clean wee areas and fleece cosies etc can just be put on top of it as it doesn't stick like shavings do. I put quite a thick layer of newspaper down 1st then a thickish layer of the premierbed and it lasts a week with spot cleans.

The bales are 21kg, compressed and cost £5.99. I have a large C&C cage with a mezanine and a bale does about 3 full cleans plus spot cleans. You can buy direct from Walmsley but I got mine from Hillam Feeds.
The piggies have the best of both worlds ..... bedding to rummage in, fleece cushions and cosies to lay on and piles of hay too. I put the waste on the compost heap and have put it in other areas of the garden as mulch or just bag it up & put it in the bin. :)
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Thank you for the link, there is a stockist for this in Doncaster which would cut down on P&P cost.

I'm still worried about the amount of waste. You said you dump yours in a compost heap. I have a plastic compost bin which has been in my garden for years, but it never seems to degrade, even after buying stuff to sprinkle on top! :{
 
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