Outdoorsy Owners Where Art Thou?

[Todite88]

Wondering what the other piggy owners do when it comes to what you use in the Base of your hutches?

Can we use fleece outside? How often does fleece need changing?.

The thought of a 6ft hutch is great for the pigs...but all the cleaning scares me lol.. any tips to try keep it all minimal?

 

[Piggy mum]

When my pigs lived outside in the winter I just thick layers of newspaper, thick layers of megazorb and thick layers of hay on top. The wee seemed to absorb to the bottom keeping the hay from getting soaked. I find the fleece indoors easier but this was good when they were outside. I think the fleece would freeze when wet in the cold outside?

 

[CarnivalPiggy]

Fleece can be used in hutches. It needs to be spot cleaned about two or three times a day (depends on your piggies and how many you have), and needs cleaning (washing) about every 3-4 days. I'll find an old thread on it in a minute, it has lots of detail.

When I had a hutch, I used wood shavings which needs cleaning out fully at least once a week and have soiled woodshavings etc removed daily. I know @BossHogg uses them ?

Edit; Fleece The Fleece Project: The Study here. What bedding you use might depend on your weather. In any case, hay, snugglesafes/heat, extra blankets and so on can help to warm them up.

 

[GPTV]

My girls are in a shed outside in a hutch. I use a thick layer of newspaper (if u overlap the bottom layer of paper all in the same direction- when u clean out start from the same side &roll the dirty layers up like a big sausage&it saves all the hay, bedding n poop going everywhere-much quicker)

On top of the newspaper layers, I use shredded paper in a thick layer then handfuls of hay on top- I also use a hay rack.

I spot clean once or twice a day &give it a thorough clean about once a week.
The bags of shredded paper are free from work &they use recycled paper to print on. (it looks naff -but its more absorbent than the bright white paper).

They snuggle in the paper (3inches thick approx) &have a heater underneath their hutch for very cold times.

I personally dont like the smell of wood shavings &wee mix,
So the paper suits us better, with less respiratory issues likely as a bonus too
Xx

 

[BossHogg]

When I had a hutch, I used wood shavings which needs cleaning out fully at least once a week and have soiled woodshavings etc removed daily. I know @BossHogg uses them ?

Wood shavings! Wash your mouth out! My beasties have snowflake soft wood chippings, a lot more absorbent than shavings, they don't blow everywhere and they help reduce the smell. Under the snowflake, I have heavy duty cushion flooring to protect the wooden floor of the hutch.

 

[Lady Kelly]

I have used fleece liners in my 6ft hutch before but that stopped when the inbuilt ancient washer that came with the house gave up (even with horse bags I find bits of hay and hair still manage to escape in the washer and get on clothes. I now use aubiose which is a wood chippings horse bedding. It's really quite cheap and I remove the soiled areas, sweep the clean parts to one side, clean that side of the hutch and put it back down then top up with more aubiose to replace what I've thrown away. That's once a week but I will get rid of the more heavily soiled corners and top up without scrubbing the hutch a few times in the week.

 

[squigglies]

My pair have a 6ft 2 tier hutch. It's in a shed. I've lined it with a PVC tablecloth, then I put newspaper down and use fleece on top. I spot clean twice a day and completely clean and disinfect the whole cage once a week. Changing the more soiled areas every few days.

 

[eileen]

i use vet bed in the bedroom area,use puppypads with a layer of Aubiose,or layer of megasorb with finacard on top.i found using fleece in the winter and autumn,got too cold and damp,but is a good alternative in spring and summer.