Artificial grass for bedding

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Guinea giggles

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I'm struggling to keep up with all the laundry from using fleece bedding for our 3 male pigs. They toilet everywhere not just where their hay is, they also spray and the fleeces become very smelly within a day and damp too. Their hay also sticks to the fleece and makes a mess everywhere.
I've seen that some people use artificial grass for outdoor enclosures and I was wondering whether anybody had used it to line indoor cages? The grass is punched so the idea is that the wee drains through onto a substrate such as newspaper below and then the grass is nice and dry for the pigs feet. To clean it you would then hoover up the poops every day and then change the newspapers and hose down the grass weekly. I'm hoping this would cut down the amount of cleaning time and mess. Obviously they'd still have snuggly areas and boxes where they have their hay. Has anyone tried this or have any experience of it? Thanks
 
I've never come across artificial grass being used for piggies. My main concern would be it's composition and whether it is safe for piggies to nibble on. In my own experience piggies will taste test everything especially if they know they aren't supposed to eat it (I lost half a rubber strip from a dustpan when I left it next to their cage once). I personally didn't get on with fleece myself either and now use aubiose instead. It really suits me and my piggies so I've stuck with it
 
I would've thought you'd end up with a soggy mess of poops.
 
I would be very careful about giving them anything that looks like grass, polypropylene fibres have the potential to block the gut and cause major problems. I use hay as a their bedding, I buy it by the bale £4 from local farm, and store it in a large garden bin in the summerhouse. I only use fleece in their playpen, it’s ok but difficult to clean and remove the hay from and does smell more than deep hay with a layer of newspaper underneath x
 
Thanks I am a bit worried about whether they'd eat it but I know of others who use it without any problems but they use it outside. I'd like to know whether it could work inside. I've been trialling some samples in their cage on top of the fleece and they haven't been at all interested in eating it. The longer types have been good as they have remained mostly dry and the wee has drained through onto the fleece. Either way I think I'll have to change the fleece bedding for something because it's wet within the day in the cage that the 2 piggies share and I can't change it every day and I don't want them lying around on a wet surface.
 
I use shredded paper with newspaper beneath for my piggies and find it a lot easier than fleece. Could that be an option?
 
Kaytee paper bedding is very good, we've tried hemp bedding too which is cheaper but also good, with newspaper underneath.... never heard of artificial grass for pigs, wouldnt it need a lot of washing also as it would get covered in pee splashes but no way to dry between the fronds properly?
 
Thanks. The shredded paper may be a good idea. Where do you get the shredded paper bedding? Is it expensive? I'd probably rather try that than go back to wood shavings due to 3 asthma sufferers in my house. Tried washing the grass tonight and really not that sure about it. Dont want to risk them eating it either. Thank you.
 
I have just put new fleece liners in today, instead of just fleece blankets cut up to fit. Its has a water proof bottom. An absorbent material inside and fleece top layer. Ive just checked to see if its damp from pee and its stayed bone dry. The hay isnt sticking to it either
 
where have your liners come from ! mine all attract hay ! i would try a different bedding,as if its that damp it is unhealthy for your piggies,and alot of work for you.@Guinea giggles ! i use hemp bedding and find it is very absorbent,less work for me,and no smell that is after a week with two boars in the cage.i hope you find a solution.
 
eileen said:
where have your liners come from ! mine all attract hay ! i would try a different bedding,as if its that damp it is unhealthy for your piggies,and alot of work for you.@Guinea giggles ! i use hemp bedding and find it is very absorbent,less work for me,and no smell that is after a week with two boars in the cage.i hope you find a solution.
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On amazon . It is early days though. The hay doesnt seem to stick, even if it does after time it doesnt matter, i just will wash it in horse bags everytime i wash it.

I have just checked on amazon and they are currently unavailable
 
Pets at home do their own version of carefresh which is much cheaper.

I tend to just use puppy pads, I have about eight layers in the cage, each day I remove a layer to reveal a clean one underneath.

I can’t get on with fleece either, I have two boys, even with a few hours of floor time the fleece would stink within a day and be very very wet.
 
Vanessa131 said:
Pets at home do their own version of carefresh which is much cheaper.

I tend to just use puppy pads, I have about eight layers in the cage, each day I remove a layer to reveal a clean one underneath.

I can’t get on with fleece either, I have two boys, even with a few hours of floor time the fleece would stink within a day and be very very wet.
Click to expand...

Yes that's what I find with my two boars too. The single boar's cage is ok it's just the two together that's a problem.
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
On amazon . It is early days though. The hay doesnt seem to stick, even if it does after time it doesnt matter, i just will wash it in horse bags everytime i wash it.

I have just checked on amazon and they are currently unavailable
Click to expand...
Could you post the link anyway to see what they are? I wash in a bag too.
 
Ok. Thanks. I have extended my pigs cages and added a new correx tray that is their kitchen area at one end where I put all their hay and food in. Just increasing the size has actually helped with the dampness of the fleece as they now just have more space. Hopefully they'll use the kitchen area as a toilet too and that will help even more. If not then I've bought some megazorb to give that a go. Thanks for all your replies.
 
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