Keeping hay (roughly) in one place - ideas please

[BlueBird]

I've currently got the traditional c&c set up with a hay loft upstairs.

2 of my pigs are pretty athletic and like to sit ontop houses etc so go up and down the ramp to the hay loft no problem but recently one of our pigs Bonnie has had a back problem which seems to have fixed itself now but since the injury she's now very reluctant to go upstairs for hay. We are topping her up with handfuls while the other 2 are munching away upstairs but I think the full length ramp is just too intimidating for her now.

In winter we use the bottom half of one of those horrible hamster sized starter cages pet shops sell which we got when we adopted Guinea pig number 1, in the bottom part of the cage. We fill it to the brim with hay and give them some bendy logs to help them in and out which they all love and Bonnie seemed happy using before her injury. It works pretty well too as the hay doesn't seem to get dragged out of the hay tray very much and get stuck to the fleece. We take measures to keep all the hay in one place but our cage isn't really big enough for that to be a permanent solution. A shame really because the hay loft works well as the "messy" area and when hay is down stairs the pigs don't really go upstairs.

So does anyone have any ideas to give Bonnie some hay downstairs without causing a hay-splosion? Litter trays perhaps?

Ultimately I think I'm going to have to expand their cage and potentially go full custom with some MDF and Perspex and add a series of landings and reduce the angle of the ramp but considering I don't have tools or a good place to build I'm not wanting to tackle that right now.

 

[Tiamolly123]

Hay bags easily made, put 2 holes in it. It's ok if they get on top of the bag or can partly get they heads through, but they can't get the body through they might suffocate

 

[PigglePuggle]

We have 2 rosewood rabbit corner litter trays for extra hay, being in the corner the hay mostly stays put and they are big enough for a piggy to sit in or 2 to sit outside to eat the hay.
But if you have a C&C cage loft you can cut a little doorway in the correx base and add it to the side of the main cage as a downstairs hay room if you have the floor space

 

[Piggy Slave]

I'm watching this thread with interest as Tom and Mini have got quite wasteful with hay, I'm debating options to keep it something like clean - I'm not keen on hay racks as I find they make a mess so I'm looking into other options

 

[Piggies&buns]

I have a bowl of hay in the middle for my two (they will use a bowl, but won’t use a hay rack!). Some of the hay does come out of the bowl but it’s only a small amount which I can pick up or shake off.

 

[Piggy Slave]

Today when we were in Asda, I had a look on the homewares section and found a wire basket. At only £2 I figured it was worth a go, we bought it, filled it with hay and put it in the cage, so far so good, I'll report back in due course

 

[Claire W]

I use corner litter trays to put hay in. It stays relatively in the same place

 

[LucyPosyPigs]

Hi,
I use this litter tray & it works well. Hay does still escape, but my 2 piggies love jumping into it
It was not cheap, as is an American brand & very few places over here in the UK sold it. Finally bought from a seller on ebay - cost around £18 - £19... It has an attachment on the back that you can put through cage bars, & screw on tight (so the tray can't be moved about & is secure.
I do feel it was expensive, but was exactly what I wanted x

 

[YvonneBlue]

We use a seed tray lined with newspaper and then filled with hay. It is low enough for them to access easily but retains most of the hay.

 

[Guineautopia]

I use cheap litters trays that cost £3 from Tesco, I also line with newspaper and fill with hay.
With extra special hay, I put that into tissue boxes. My girls are happy to demonstrate

 

[G&C]

Tissue box is a great idea, you could also use the cardboard tube of toilet roll, just cut it down one side so piggy doesn’t get their head stuck in it.