Hay racks

[SweenAndWillow]

Hello, all! So I've been reading the threads on here that were about the dangers of hay racks. I had bought a cheap one, but I'm sorta scared now. Any brand reccomendations? Oh, and will i need to get two water bottles? Or wil two piggies be ok with one?

 

[Piggies&buns]

You need to find a rack which the bars are small enough that they can’t get their heads in. As you are in the US, I’ll leave it to US based members to suggest one, no point in me suggesting one which you can’t get in over there!

When it comes to food bowls, water bottles, hay racks/trays/piles - you need to have one for each piggy. They may end up wanting to share, but the last thing you want is to create arguments between piggies over items. This is particularly important for any teenage boars - the rule with boars is that you don’t ever give them a reason to bicker! You may find that your piggies when you get them, won’t like hay racks and may prefer piles which they can jump in and eat from!

When it comes to beds and hidey huts, I always go with at least one per pig. This stops any piggy being able to prevent others when having a bed. My two boys have 7 such items between them spread all around their enclosure

 

[SweenAndWillow]

You need to find a rack which the bars are small enough that they can’t get their heads in. As you are in the US, I’ll leave it to US based members to suggest one, no point in me suggesting one which you can’t get in over there!

When it comes to food bowls, water bottles, hay racks/trays/piles - you need to have one for each piggy. They may end up wanting to share, but the last thing you want is to create arguments between piggies over items. This is particularly important for any teenage boars - the rule with boars is that you don’t ever give them a reason to bicker! You may find that your piggies when you get them, won’t like hay racks and may prefer piles which they can jump in and eat from!

When it comes to beds and hidey huts, I always go with at least one per pig. This stops any piggy being able to prevent others when having a bed. My two boys have 7 such items between them spread all around their enclosure

Yeah, I have multiple hideys. Thank you! Does it matter if I'm getting Sows?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes it’ll still matter - while sows are more wired to live in large groups, they do still have their hierarchy and can also fall out over things and become more dominant when they are in season

 

[SweenAndWillow]

Ok, I thought so. Thank you so much!

 

[PigglePuggle]

Sows can be just as bossy and territorial as boars, if not more so when they are in season! We prefer hay trays they can jump into or just a separate floor area for hay, you can never have too much hay!
For a pair we have 2 water bottles, 2 food bowls and 3 hidey houses, plus a shared 1x2 ft floor area for hay that they cant hog- and for our main herd of 6, we have 3 water bottles, 6 food bowls, 7 hidey houses, a 3x2 shared hay area plus 3 small individual corner hay trays! And of course they still squabble even though they are all very good friends and extremely well bonded

 

[SweenAndWillow]

I was considering making a 1x2 loft, with a box of hay.

 

[PigglePuggle]

I was considering making a 1x2 loft, with a box of hay.

A 1x2 loft is ok if both piggies use a loft and also wont hog the entrance and stop the other accessing the hay, but a better idea can be to add a 1x2 loft at floor level as an extra "hay room"
with a wide enough entrance that both piggies can share.
Here is Tallulah skinny pig demonstrating the 1x2 hayroom (a loft extension but added at floor level with a 30cm wide doorway) she shares with her husboar Ollie! Excuse the poops, cleaning out and refilling the hayroom is next on my list of jobs lol

 

[SweenAndWillow]

A 1x2 loft is ok if both piggies use a loft and also wont hog the entrance and stop the other accessing the hay, but a better idea can be to add a 1x2 loft at floor level as an extra "hay room" View attachment 140002
with a wide enough entrance that both piggies can share.
Here is Tallulah skinny pig demonstrating the 1x2 hayroom (a loft extension but added at floor level with a 30cm wide doorway) she shares with her husboar Ollie! Excuse the poops, cleaning out and refilling the hayroom is next on my list of jobs lol

Haha, I suffer the same problem with our rabbit. I never thought about floor level...i love that!