What to line shed with?

[Shadowchaser]

What does everyone use for outdoor pigs enclosures?

I have been using wood shavings but the mess is insane, mine are currently in a 6x4 shed and loving it but it’s proving hard to clean out as the poo gets hidden. It also sticks to everything and drags through the house. We have two giant long haired dogs who are constantly covered in shavings that have fallen out of the shed

Can I use towels/bath mats etc outside or will they be damp?
Hay is another (expensive) option but will this also be damp and hard to clean.
Foam mats? I’m a bit worried about them being cold on these?

I have an oil filled radiator in there but not all the time.

Any ideas welcome!

 

[Piggies&buns]

An absorbent layer topped with hay is the only real option for outdoor piggies.
They need the absorbency of shavings (or such like) but also the hay to keep warm (and of course to eat).

Mine live in my 8x6 shed. I just sweep it all out, I don’t find any gets hidden.
The shed has an old oilcloth tablecloth on the floor to protect it, I then put down some newspaper on top. I then use snowflake softchip and hay as their bedding. I prefer the soft chip to shavings as they are heavier and don’t blow around like shavings do. I do find hay in the house where bits have stuck to my clothes but not the softchip. (Although finding bedding and poops everywhere is part of piggy keeping!)

Using fabric bedding outside particularly in winter is not recommended. It can have issues drying during a winter and then your piggies are on damp bedding.
Sometimes people can get away with it but it depends very much on your set up. With an oil filled radiator only on sometimes it is not likely to be doing much more than just taking the edge off the chill (which is absolutely fine and what you want) but to be able to use fabric bedding you’d probably be looking at keeping the shed at more like a constant indoor temperature of around 18-20 degrees to enable it to stay warm enough to keep the bedding dry.
I’d never use fabric bedding outdoors during winter, but have occasionally done so during a warm, dry summer.

You can put down foam mats but they will need an absorbent layer and hay on top of them, so you’d still be using shavings (or such like).

If you’re finding using hay as bedding expensive, perhaps you have a local farm who sell bales?
This is what I do.
My six animals (four piggies in a shed and two rabbits in another enclosure) are all bedded on bales meadow hay from a local farm (£7 for a bale which lasts around 6-8 weeks). I also buy the softchip from the farm (20kg bale for £8, again lasting around 6 weeks). I then buy more expensive orchard hay for eating (although of course both the meadow and orchard both get eaten) (£33 for a 15kg bale which lasts around 4-5 weeks)