New owner!

[RachaelG]

Hello everyone,

A few questions from a soon to be first time owner of 2 boars.....

Straw for bedding is a no go. Is newspaper, then shavings, then hay okay? Even in cold weather?

Burgess pellets purchased. Cup of veg each a day and then a bit of fruit as a treat.
Apparently they like their own bowls so got 1 each.

Aside from hay, do they need anything to help keep their teeth at bay?
Aside from their main diet, do they need any vitamin supplements?

Thank you,
Rachael

 

[DMS260820]

Hay will do the work on keeping teeth trim. Timothy hay is the best for fibre to keep their digestive system working nice. I use meadow hay over fleece for the cage floor. But i guess newspaper and woodshavings is not bad. But shavings can cause respiratory issues or so i have been told.

Just make sure your cage is big enough, boars like alot more room, else you will end up with one constantly chasing the other and having to split them into a cage each. Or even a fight breaking out

 

[Piggies&buns]

A base bedding with hay on top is fine even in winter. Some cardboard boxes or any hidey houses you’ve bought stuffed with hay is also stuffed with hay so they can really burrow into it also helps with keeping warm in winter. I personally use finacard (rather than shavings) and hay. My two boys have recently had a fleece area added which they both really enjoy resting on (turns out even big tough boys like a bit of softness!).
Given you mention winter, I assume yours as outside piggies. Do you have hutch covers for winter?
My boys also have bendy wood huts which they love chewing so that also helps their teeth.
Ive always been told that if they have a good diet with a wide variety of vegetables then they don’t need vitamin supplements routinely.
As skypipdot has said a pair of boars need more room then the average pair of sows would need.

 

[sport_billy]

Hello Rachael welcome to the forum

I am on mobile device at moment so can't type much decently p, we have lots of info on the forum in the way of guides written on various subjects. I think you'll find lots on this link really helpful Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

Are your piggies going to be indoor or outdoor boys?

 

[Pigwhisperer]

I've got just newspaper & hay in most of my hutch, then in the bedroom bit (where they wee most) a layer of back2nature recycled paper bedding - my piggies have always had this as bedding and are happy with it. I used to use it throughout the hutch but it's too expensive, and using hay in the main areas seems fine. Other people use Aubiose which is meant for horses originally, but I haven't worked out where I could get this from without huge transport costs.

In the winter I'll have a thermal cover and last winter I brought them indoors (a smaller hutch in the garage) when it went below 5C, which it did for about 3 months!