Waste Bedding Disposal

digitalbricklayer

digitalbricklayer

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Nov 9, 2012
Messages
45
Reaction score
5
Points
145
Location
Leeds, UK
We've recently gotten a couple of extra guineas (Bodie and Doyle) and the amount of sawdust and waste hay has gone up a lot. To the point that the waste bin is getting rather full when the fortnightly bin collection happens.

What are the best ways of disposing of the waste bedding material? I don't feel comfortable using the waste bin for the waste bedding, what are my options?
 
I would contact your local council for their options for disposal. In my area we have a green bag garden waste collection which will accept small animal waste. Also you can buy as a local resident large compost bins at a reduced rate from the local city farms.
 
I have to take mine to the local tip. I have a *full* 80 ltr bin bag every week of bedding and hay from my three girls. Plus another bag every two weeks from their down-stairs weekend accommodation.
My council do not accept pet waste in the garden waste bin :-(
The guys at our local tip no longer check the contents of our black bags as they know us so well!
 
I take mine down the tip too, I'm also going to get a compost bin this year to help reduce some waste, a lot of councils offer compost equipment at a discount. I'm thinking of trying tropibed too, saw it in the last Guinea pig magazine and it means I can just throw it down the bottom of the garden when used.
 
It is difficult as I dont drive and our local council wont have it in the garden waste bins.

I end up with a lot of pet waste in the rubbish ... The neigh ours let me put some in their (almost empty) bins which is very good of them.
 
I’m in a simalar situation, I went from one hutch to two when I got two more piggies. The waste sundenly became unmanageable in the twice weekly collection from council.
So we did a few trips to the tip but it’s 40 min round trip, so after reading lots of advice here, I’ve switch to fleece in some areas.
It really has made a BIG difference.
I’m still playing around with different sets up, but I would say fleece in main areas is worth a try.
 
We have 3. they are hay but also sleep and poop/wee in it. So when we Do a complete clean i can fill a massive bin bag. I'm also at war with the bin men cos they take it out my bin. Empty me bin then put bag back in empty bin.
Why cos they job worth guys. Does my head in honest. :mal:
 
eileen said:
i have 27 piggies at present ! i have 3 hutches,and 4 cages.ive started using fleece liners in the indoor cages,now weather is better for drying.i use mainly megazorb and aubichick/aubiose bedding.both compost quickly.:)
Click to expand...

27 WOW, that explains how many bin bag you fill.
I use Aubiose also, how quick would you say it composts, if that’s not a silly question. My partner seems to think it would take too long.
 
We bring ours to the tip. Our council doesn't allow animal waste to compost. They said because of poo and pee. So off it goes to the tip. It won't fit in our wheelie bin because our rubbish collection is every 3 weeks (next year it'll be every 4 weeks). We also resulted to buying clear bags for the animal wastes because every time we go to the tip, they ask us what's in the black bags. We usually have around 6 to 8 bags whenever we go to the tip. That is usually every 2 weeks. So if we go to the tip after 3 weeks, there will be more!
 
I have two large garden wheelie bins, they get emptied once a fortnight. My local council lets me put my waste in the garden bin. At first they weren't going to, until I explained the bedding contained hay and wood chippings. I also explained that the animals weren't meat eaters only herbivores, they changed their minds and let me put it in the garden bin.
 
I used to put all of it in the green bin until the council told me they can't accept any pet bedding or waste. (We use Megazorb, newspaper and hay). I sent them links to reputable sources saying they are herbivores and that all the bedding and waste composts down - still no.
So I bought a compost bin and compost it myself, interspersed with lawn clippings and kitchen compost. I now have a ready supply of beautiful garden compost and my veg patch has never looked better!
 
RescuedGuineas said:
I used to put all of it in the green bin until the council told me they can't accept any pet bedding or waste. (We use Megazorb, newspaper and hay). I sent them links to reputable sources saying they are herbivores and that all the bedding and waste composts down - still no.
So I bought a compost bin and compost it myself, interspersed with lawn clippings and kitchen compost. I now have a ready supply of beautiful garden compost and my veg patch has never looked better!
Click to expand...
What do you put in the compost bin? How long does it take to break down and how many guinea pigs do you have?!

I have 6 rabbits and 6 guinea pigs and they get through about five bags of waste a week, mainly hay and hemp bedding with some newspaper.
 
Hi flowerfairy, I have 2 guinea pigs - but looking at the amount of poop, you'd think there were at least a dozen!

In their cage I use a single layer of newspaper (just to make it easier to remove the Megazorb in the weekly deep clean), then a layer of Megazorb, then another layer of newspaper (to make it easier to refresh the hay daily) with hay on top. Every day I remove the top layer of newspaper/hay/poop and replace, putting the used stuff in the compost bin. Once a week I empty the lot - and it all goes in the compost bin as it's all plant-based (Megazorb and newspaper are wood pulp). I add lawn clippings, other garden waste and plant-based kitchen waste.

I'm not actually sure how long it takes to compost down... I have two bins, so I fill one, and then start filling the other. By the time I'm nearly ready to start a new bin again, the first bin has composted down so I riddle it with a garden sieve, adding any larger / non-composted bits to the current compost bin, and then start again. I'd guess at about 6-9 months, but I know you can encourage it to break down more quickly if you're prepared to turn the compost to aerate it. (You can get "compost tumblers" which claim to make compost in 6 weeks, but I've not tried them).

I would imagine with your 6 rabbits and 6 guineas, you'd soon have a fantastic supply of compost! If your bedding is all plant-based (hay, hemp, newspaper) you'd be fine to compost the lot.

I will try to take some photos... bear with me - it might not be until the weekend!

I hope this helps... if anyone has any other ideas, please let me know!
 
My local tip won't take used hay, they say to put it in the black wheelie bin. Absolutely stupid. You can't even put it in black bin bags and take it as general waste to the tip, they won't take it.
 
Our used bedding (Fitch, hay and poops) goes in the garden waste bin which is emptied weekly and the soiled newspaper goes in the normal bin which is only emptied every three weeks.. Still not sure why our Council will take the Fitch paper bedding in the garden waste bin but not the soiled newspaper.
 
We were using the garden waste collection except for the soiled newspapers but after some missed collections Camden have said:

"Thank you for your email. I have been advised the crew will not collect garden waste contaminated with animal products.

Please place the animal products in refuse bins."

Seems crazy. Looks like we'll be filling up the general waste bin every fortnight, or take it to the tip and chuck it in the garden waste there. 😀
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top