Bedding and poke

[Ridingscarlet]

Hello fellow piggy parents.
Was looking for recommendations for bedding. My pigs are on a soft hay but the boy keeps getting poke and he has an eye ulcer that the vet says he’s stuck with for life. The lady who I bought them off recommended hay to keep them warm as they live outside in a shed. Not sure what to do now, any help much appreciated. They eat dried grass but that’s too expensive to use as bedding, it’s around £50 a box

 

[Piggies&buns]

As outdoor piggies I’m afraid there are not many options. Hay (with an absorbent substrate underneath) is the best thing for outdoor piggies. They need it to be able to snuggle into hay for warmth and insulation within hides.

It’s risky to use fleece outside due to the damp conditions in winter meaning fleece will remain wet (that is unless your shed is fully heated in winter in which case you might get away with fleece; or that you can replace all fleece twice everyday in winter to ensure they are never exposed to damp bedding).
(Of course that doesn’t entirely eliminate the hay poke risk in any event given they need large amounts of hay to eat!)