What bedding do you use?

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Little Piggles

Little Piggles

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I'm sure this has been asked a million times before but...Argh! I'm so confused! I am really considering changing the bedding used for my pigs and I just don't know which way to go :{

My lot live in a double hutch and are currently bedded on newspaper with lots of meadow hay. Whilst this is a great set up for the first day, it quickly gets flattened and seems to get damp pretty quickly too especially in the corners. I clean out twice a week but am still seeing a few small black flies knocking about which I am deperate to get rid of.

Anyway, I've been reading about Auboise, Equisorb, Megazorb etc.. and just don't even know which to try to be honest

As well as being absorbant, it MUST be warm too as my pigs live outdoors, I'm quite tight on storage space too, to anything larger than a small bale can't be stored.

I just wondered what you bedded your pigs on and what you think of your choice, especially if it's a Megazorb type product and is being used outdoors

Thanks guys x>>
 
I use Newspaper and meadow hay, same as you.
It does go flat after a day or two, I usually take the soiled hay out from where I know they usually go to the toilet the most and put new in, then cover all the levels with a new layer of hay to make it fresh again.

Mine get a huge clean out once a week with disinfectant and all.

If you know exactly where they usually pick to go to the toilet (usually in a corner or near their food), it makes it easier.
 
when mine were outside in a hutch, i used newspaper woodshavings and then a good layer of hay. i didnt like woodshaving so i tried megazorb and found it better for me, smelt funny but still.
 
Thanks for your replies guys.

They lived on both vetbed and fleece when they were indoors, but I just don't think it'll be warm enough for outdoors, especially fleece, unless they had a loose piece they could dig underneath. That's one thing I do like about their hay that they can dig around in it.

I think I may try the Bed O Linum stuff first as I believe it's very similar to Equisorb, but comes in smaller bags so if I (or they!) don't like it, there's nothing really lost.

Will keep pondering for now :)
 
I use shavings and hay for my boys, always used it with all of ours, mainly stayed with it, due to having the horses so bought it in bulk, and just stayed with it since,.

they are happy and love the hay plus the shavings soak up urine really well, they get cleaned out once a week.
 
I use flax, which is a bit like aubiose but cheaper. Its super asorbant and easy to clean out. I have used in the past, shavings, megazorb, and fleece, and flax is my favorite so far, and the piggies seem to like it too.
 
I haven't got any yet. But in my new hutch the bedding is set up like this - Shower curtain, 4 layers of newspaper, Towel and fleece.
 
I live in the USA so I'm not sure if you could fing it in the UK but I use Eco Bedding. Small animal or bird cuz both the same. It is little strips of paper folded in a zigzag. It keeps the pee on the bottom so your pigs are not sitting in pee.

IHorseCarzzy5
 
IHorseCarzzy5 said:
I live in the USA so I'm not sure if you could fing it in the UK but I use Eco Bedding. Small animal or bird cuz both the same. It is little strips of paper folded in a zigzag. It keeps the pee on the bottom so your pigs are not sitting in pee.

IHorseCarzzy5
Click to expand...

Yes, as far as I know you can still get eco bedding in the UK. I used to use it for my COPD gelding.
 
I've tried:

CareFresh (all round awful stuff for guinea-pigs)
Megazorb (used to be terrible for dust, grit and the smell was horrid, though my girlfriend's just bought a bag recently, after having problems with ordering the stuff she usually gets, and it's actually a lot better she says!)
Aubiose (it didn't soak up very well, not enough for pigs)
Hemcore(smelt really weird and was causing me to cough really bad around it, it had too much dust for my liking and also wasn't very absorbent)

And now I'm back to wood-shavings, which is what I used for my first pigs. I buy it in bulk and transfer it into a smaller bag to do cages with, and also it gets aired well so less of a smell and less of a potential threat to their health. Plus it's absolutely fantastic at absorbing their pee, when their bottles leak as they drink etc, it soaks to the bottom leaving the top nice and dry.

I then put in locally grown meadow hay, mostly in the bedroom area but it's a pain because Todd and Oliver rarely eat a lot of hay so it does get sodden with pee quite quickly if I'm not careful. Hay isn't absorbent at all and shouldn't be used as the only bedding for them.

I think your best bet is just try and see what's ideal for you financially, where your pigs are housed and also how often you need to clean them out. If you can't afford to change bedding too often then something absorbent like wood-shavings would be great, but then if you don't have them either living outside or in a well-aired cage and room in the home, then you shouldn't get that because it won't be good for their health. It's all things like that you have to think about but I'm sure you'll figure something out :)
 
In the hutch for my piggies I use newspaper, Megazorb and the lots of hay on top of Megazorb/newspaper for the bedroom and that seems to work well. The megazorb does come in a big ish bag but lasts quite a while and soaks up wee well:)
The Megazorb I have had is pretty good - there is some dust but I find it better for my asthma than shavings.
As lilmisspiggy says, you have to try a couple of combinations to see what works for you - goodluck.
 
I wouldn't use fleece outside, it gets damp and would be bad in winter.

I use woodshavings, with some hay on top, which I change if it gets damp. You could use any of the absorbent beddings if you don't like shavings, and put hay on top in the sleeping area only for them to snuggle into :) The hay seems to stay slightly dryer I think, cos the shavings or whatever are very absorbent. And just change the hay when it gets damp, or top it up if it gets eaten :)) And do a full clean out once a week of the shavings. :)
 
My personal opinion is that you cant beat hay and newspaper as a bedding for outdoor pigs. It keeps them warm in the winter and also fulfills the need for them to constantly graze. I use fresh farm hay brought in the balefull for about £5 and you cant beat it. The pigs love this kind of bedding.
I would definately not use fleece outdoors.
 
I use Newspaper, Megazorb, Straw and hay. (in summer)

And in winter,(when my piggies move into their C&C cage) Newspaper, Blankets I'm thinking of going to fleece.. (unsure yet)
 
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