Probs with bedding. No spot cleaning please.

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obsessedwithanimals

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i've been a pig owner for about 2-3 weeks now. i have two girls called Pepsi and Peachy. they were on fleece but are now on finacard, papelit pellets and fleece. anyway i was wondering if there's any bedding i could use which would only need to be cleaned once a week with no spot cleaning involved? you see i'm very busy with school and instead of being able to cuddle with the pigs in the evening i have too spend ages spot cleaning (that means removing and picking out soggy papelit pellets and finacard bedding containing poo and pee with bare hands!) and by the time i've done that swept up floor around hutch, cleaned litter tray, refilled food dish, taken their water bottle inside the house to top it up, prepared and fed their veggies, and sweep up their sleeping area it take about an hour and by that time i have to go in and do my homework. any ideas for doing bedding so all i have to do during the week is change their litter tray everynow an again, top up on hay, water, food and veg and only do a full clean out at the end of the week? it'd be much appreciated if anybody has any idea it'd really help me save time and enjoy the piggys more. btw they have a 4x2 hutch. thanks xx

ps. i really don't mind spot cleaning it's just it takes up loads of my time for some particular reason as i have to figure out where they peed etc... and i simply would rather not if i'm feeling ill ( have a bad cold atm) been to school the whole day, and have tons of homework to do. if anything i'd rather spend more time being with Pepsi and Peachy (playing, taming, cuddling etc) in the weekend however i don't mind and will happily spend hours cleaning them out it's just during the week i don't really have the time to spend ages spot cleaning.

pss. sorry for my spelling i'm in a hurry
 
Not really... I use fitted fleece liners though. I put litter trays in the corners where they like to wee, and I just vac up stray poos every couple of days. Much faster method of spot cleaning, at least.
 
SpinningNickel said:
Not really... I use fitted fleece liners though. I put litter trays in the corners where they like to wee, and I just vac up stray poos every couple of days. Much faster method of spot cleaning, at least.
Click to expand...

See, I put a litter tray in the corner that got soaked but they just went and peeed somewhere else. rolleyes
 
Fleeces great but for me personally it has it's draw backs, this is one of them.

In a hutch, I think you said, why not put Lino down first then use hemp, horse bedding, I like this stuff. It means I only have to do a total clean once a week but I can have a fleece flooring on the upper level of their cage for cosy areas. I appreciate you can't do that in a hutch...but perhaps use some cosy cups instead.

I'd probably still use the boxes in the corner say with hay?

It's an alternative that soaks up their toilet mess easily.
 
lil said:
Fleeces great but for me personally it has it's draw backs, this is one of them.

In a hutch, I think you said, why not put Lino down first then use hemp, horse bedding, I like this stuff. It means I only have to do a total clean once a week but I can have a fleece flooring on the upper level of their cage for cosy areas. I appreciate you can't do that in a hutch...but perhaps use some cosy cups instead.

I'd probably still use the boxes in the corner say with hay?

It's an alternative that soaks up their toilet mess easily.
Click to expand...

I've got lino down but the man we bought this hutch from on gumtree had made the hutch in such a way it has these stupid corners and ledges that can't be covered by lino. I'll check out the hemp. What kind of boxes do you mean? :)
 
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measue for their litter tray which takes a while. MInd you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in their and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week woul be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measue for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in their and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week woul be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measue for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in their and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week woul be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measue for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in their and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week woul be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measue for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in their and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week woul be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measue for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in there and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week woul be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measue for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in there and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week woul be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measure for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in there and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week woul be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measure for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in there and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week woul be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measure for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in there and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week would be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
primrose said:
No...you could potentially do away with spot cleaning, but you would then need to clean them out 2-3 times a week, especially now that the colder weather is well and truly on the way. Maybe you could try newspaper, wood shavings and hay? If you line the base well with newspaper, it is really easy to just whip out and replace - it all comes out pretty much in one piece, so is quick. I must say that an hour seems like an awfully long time for spot cleaning to take - I use a mixture of fleece, newspaper and hay and my spot cleaning takes 10 minutes tops (and that includes sweeping the fleece and replacing the hay and newspaper in my 8 litter trays). If I was really pushed, I reckon I could do it in less than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could readjust your routine, so that it doesn't seem so onerous? You could feed them their veggies and top up their water in the morning, then all you've got to do in the evening is a quick spot clean, top up hay and food dishes and cuddle. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'm taking abit long. The thing is if I use fleece in living area they pee through the fleece and I have to replace newspaper etc. And I also cut the newspaper to measure for their litter tray which takes a while. Mind you it just dawned on me. If you have a cage liner does that mean the pee gets absorbed in there and a quick wash in the washing machine or change over once or twice a week would be enough? Oh yeah and a quick poo sweep up every day?
 
I stream line cleaning, so I just roll up the fleece and shake over the bin, roll back down. Takes two mins max? Is this an option?
 
Yes, exactly that - I use a matress topper, cut to size, under the fleece. If you've only been using newspaper under the fleece, no wonder it's getting in an awful mess and taking you ages! ;) Read through some of the past threads on fleece - you'll pick up loads of tips, but you need some sort of absorbant layer (towels, puppy pads or mattress topper) under the fleece, then you only need to give it a quick brush between washes. :)
 
primrose said:
Yes, exactly that - I use a matress topper, cut to size, under the fleece. If you've only been using newspaper under the fleece, no wonder it's getting in an awful mess and taking you ages! ;) Read through some of the past threads on fleece - you'll pick up loads of tips, but you need some sort of absorbant layer (towels, puppy pads or mattress topper) under the fleece, then you only need to give it a quick brush between washes. :)
Click to expand...

Ahhh... :))

Okay, so if the cage liners absorb pee completely I could have atleast two and pop in one at a time. Twice a week put in a fresh one and keep dirty one till weekend for washing oh and spot clean poops daily ofcourse!
Mind you wouldn't they pee against the corners/wall and make a mess or would they pee on the fleece?


Oh, do you think I could use correx in hutch? That way wiping down would be much easier as their would be no corners or ledges in the way.

Sorry for all the questions. So keen to find the right bedding :) xx
 
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I dont think that any bedding allow you cleaning cage once a week....(unless you got more than 2m length of hutch for every pig)

I got total around 10m2 structure with several layers of vet bed in some areas.Maximum gap is 3 days (every 4th day full hoovering)with collecting droppings in HOT areas twice a day.
Also from my observation mold appear over 7 days on dropping so it is source of diseases.
 
Yes, to clarify: my liners are fleece with a cotton mattress protector sewn in underneath. I have two and rotate them weekly for cleaning. I line with newspaper underneath but that rarely gets wet through the liner. Mind you, as mentioned my boys wee MOSTLY in the litter tray, which helps. If yours don't you might want cotton towels underneath, or a thicker absorbent layer like terrycloth or zorb (which are sold online for making cloth nappies!) instead of a thin mattress protector.
 
You almost have to spot clean everyday they make so much poo. Maybe get a small vacuum and use fleece. This way you can vacuum the poo and it won't be time consuming.
 
This is a general comment and not aimed at you specifically - I wonder if thise who find they are cleaning out the pens more often either have very wet pigs or are slightly cramped in their pens. It is noticable how quickly in my experience when the pigs are in the hutch outside, if they spend a lot of time downstairs which is paper and shredded tea bags, they need to be cleaned out sooner than upstairs which is fleece, towels and newspaper. While their hutch is big enough for the 4 of them, I am aware the size on each level is not big enough for all 4, the over all space of both levels however is. When they come inside they have a c&c cage which is slightly larger in whole area than the hutch and I spot clean each day, clean out once a week. The boys however are in a pen designed for 3 pigs, but they are a pair, yet they produce a lot of poo and can make it wet in 4 days, I routinely clean them out every 4 days therefore as they seem a bit wetter than the herd.

Just a pondering thought.

Onto the answer to your query, did you put towels under the fleece? The towels are what draws the wet away from the fleece, the newspapers really for me are back up to the towels as they dont really soak up the wet, if the newspapers are wet then its time to clean them out fully for my routine.

I also found putting litter trays under hay racks and places they frequent most often saved the over all wetness, the herds indoor pen has litter trays under the second level as they will sleep there, litter tray under the bottom of their ramp as it gets a lot of traffic, litter trays under the hay rack and water bottles and I do have to change them every 2/3 days plus top the bedding up each day inbetween.

I can understand how spot cleaning can take up time, I work long days and having two set of pig pens could be time consuming but to spot clean, top up hay, water and dry food plus give their veg, takes me all of 30 mins to do both. I even have time before work to clean out fully one pen - so I dont do both sets on the same day, and spot clean the other, this takes me up to an hour.

Perhaps its the years of experience in finding a way to best clean out animals efficiently with as little fuss that has taught me to find a way to best clean or spruce up their homes, much as I and others could say what works for us, it might not work for you so I think its about finding a routine and bedding that works for you. If you dont want to spot clean, then a bedding that is completely throw away would be our bet, but be prepared to fully clean out several times a week, if you want to poo pick and change twice a week the absorbancy choice then perhaps a liner or similar where you rotate a few sets of what you have would be the ideal.
 
obsessedwithanimals said:
Ahhh... :))

Okay, so if the cage liners absorb pee completely I could have atleast two and pop in one at a time. Twice a week put in a fresh one and keep dirty one till weekend for washing oh and spot clean poops daily ofcourse!
Mind you wouldn't they pee against the corners/wall and make a mess or would they pee on the fleece?


Oh, do you think I could use correx in hutch? That way wiping down would be much easier as their would be no corners or ledges in the way.

Sorry for all the questions. So keen to find the right bedding :) xx
Click to expand...

Yes, they wee on the fleece, but it wicks straight through, so the fleece still feels dry. I use cotton matress topper, with extra squares of old towel where I know they wee the most (so you could put extra padding in the corners). I wouldn't bother with the correx - you'll find that, with an absorbant layer under the fleece, the hutch floor should stay dry, so you'll only need to give it a very quick brush. Hope that helps. :)
 
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