Run Flooring

[piggl]

What do you guys put under your daytime runs?

For years I have used picnic blankets but I do not really know why. They don’t wick well and because of the plastic backing the moisture just sits there.
My boys have been inside for the past 6 months, only just going back outside and it seems unneeded if not dangerous for them to be standing on a damp floor for any considerable amount of time.

I could place down fleece but there’s is quite a few layers that goes into it and ontop of my cleaning and feeding routines, alongside my personal life, it takes up a lot of time and materials.
My boys are in a garage, so there is a black dense mat between them and the concrete floor, which I wouldn’t want them standing on as it would be just like walking around in puddles.

So I am wondering, does anyone have any recommendations for a part time flooring? Or any ideas on what you do with your run.

 

[Siikibam]

When mine were inside, I used those big mats covered with a waterproof mattress protector and fleece. That’s the only thing I could think of to put down for them.

 

[AidaB]

When we have a permanent run on the floor in the summer I use the jigsaw style foam mats, and the boys fleece pads, they basically move house, to the floor when the weather gets very hot.
On the chilly days and our bare floor I have used the foam pads, a layer of newspaper, and a single fleece blanket with a pee pad under house’s, and the floor time space has been more temporary, still takes me a while to set up/take down, so ends up staying up for 3 days. (Our boys don’t live together, which complicates things).
Outside in the garden, when I don't want the boys to eat grass I use picnic rugs, with a couple of small fleece pee pads, or a fleece blanket.
Hope this gives you a few ideas.

 

[piggl]

When we have a permanent run on the floor in the summer I use the jigsaw style foam mats, and the boys fleece pads, they basically move house, to the floor when the weather gets very hot.
On the chilly days and our bare floor I have used the foam pads, a layer of newspaper, and a single fleece blanket with a pee pad under house’s, and the floor time space has been more temporary, still takes me a while to set up/take down, so ends up staying up for 3 days. (Our boys don’t live together, which complicates things).
Outside in the garden, when I don't want the boys to eat grass I use picnic rugs, with a couple of small fleece pee pads, or a fleece blanket.
Hope this gives you a few ideas.

I think i’ll have to suck it up and use fleece, or perhaps get the backing off the picnic blankets and lay a absorbent layer.

Thanks

 

[Bill & Ted]

I cheap pvc shower curtain works well under fleece as a waterproof barrier or newspaper is pretty absorbent

 

[Piggies&buns]

When mine need to come indoors due to the heat, their temporary flooring is a shower curtain, layers of newspaper or puppy pads and then a fleece blanket out on top.

 

[piggl]

When mine need to come indoors due to the heat, their temporary flooring is a shower curtain, layers of newspaper or puppy pads and then a fleece blanket out on top.

I know you have your pigs in a shed, or did at some point. When they get out in their attachment on the front of the hutch what do you put on the floor?

I may just have to set up fleece and just clean it once a week like their cage but it is right Infront of their hutch so I would have to sit/lean over it to reach the cage which would not be the nicest on the 5/6th day.
Member Gallery: Hutches - I recently posted my hutch, so you can see what I mean by having leaning over a fleece setup etc.

The issue doesn't really lie with the base layer or absorbent layer, it is more what would go on top of that which, could've been taken up and down in the morning and evening, which is why I was/am using picnic blankets as they are easy to move but they are not practical and could cause issues when my pigs walk over the damp.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I know you have your pigs in a shed, or did at some point. When they get out in their attachment on the front of the hutch what do you put on the floor?

I may just have to set up fleece and just clean it once a week like their cage but it is right Infront of their hutch so I would have to sit/lean over it to reach the cage which would not be the nicest on the 5/6th day.
Member Gallery: Hutches - I recently posted my hutch, so you can see what I mean by having leaning over a fleece setup etc.

The issue doesn't really lie with the base layer or absorbent layer, it is more what would go on top of that which, could've been taken up and down in the morning and evening, which is why I was/am using picnic blankets as they are easy to move but they are not practical and could cause issues when my pigs walk over the damp.

Yes, mine are still in the shed.
Their set up is different since Wilbur and Hugo came along and then fell out, but when it was just Dex and Popcorn their set up was as per the picture I’ve attached.
On the shed floor is an oilcloth tablecloth to protect the wood of the shed. Then newspaper, then the shavings/softchip/megazorb (whichever I fancied at the time!) (hay on top of the shavings as the week went on, started as a pile!). This was an always used as a winter set up.
In summer i would sometimes use fleece (again with the tablecloth, newspaper/puppy pads) to save on bedding costs. It wasn’t all the time though as I find fleece a bit annoying! I have to use fleece when they come into the house though because I don’t have correx so can’t use disposable bedding.

 

[piggl]

I might use wood shavings just in the run, maybe some could be kept for the next days (spot cleaning), just like in a normal cage.

I will have to think about it a bit more.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I might use wood shavings just in the run, maybe some could be kept for the next days (spot cleaning), just like in a normal cage.

I will have to think about it a bit more.

Yep absolutely they could be saved and reused.
Dex and Pops are messy and I can’t save anything from them, but I find with Wil and a Hugo that I have about half to three-quarters of a bucket that is completely unsoiled. I throw it back in at the bottom and then top up.

 

[Cheekypigs]

You could try a bit of vinyl flooring. Our boys live full time on vinyl flooring, with a couple of trays of hay and some pee pads scattered about. It works really well.

 

[piggl]

You could try a bit of vinyl flooring. Our boys live full time on vinyl flooring, with a couple of trays of hay and some pee pads scattered about. It works really well.

Wouldn't vinyl just create pee puddles? Or am I thinking of the wrong thing.

 

[Cheekypigs]

Wouldn't vinyl just create pee puddles? Or am I thinking of the wrong thing.

I wondered that myself before getting it, but funnily enough, no, it doesn't. While they happily hang out and poop on the vinyl, they only seem to pee either on the pads or in the hay. It's by far the easiest clean-up of any setup I've ever tried!

 

[piggl]

I wondered that myself before getting it, but funnily enough, no, it doesn't. While they happily hang out and poop on the vinyl, they only seem to pee either on the pads or in the hay. It's by far the easiest clean-up of any setup I've ever tried!

Ill have to check it out, we have some vinyl laying around from a bathroom reno, so maybe I will try them on it. Thanks!