Hay racks

pigsforlife said:

I am trying to make a hay rack which will attach to a piece of wire (similar to the grids you use to make a C&C cage), this "wire" is 1cm cube squared sheet of this flexible material (not sure what to call it thus why I called it wire), which is attach to the door of my home-made cage.

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Do you have a picture of this? I don't really understand what you mean. I use wire fruit baskets for holding hay. Have you had a look at the hay rack section in the photo gallery? https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/520
Loads of great ideas there.

The "wire" attachs to the door. Really it is irrelevant to the whole topic. Basically I want to make a hay rack, but need ideas on what materials to use to make it. I am hoping that I can attach the hay rack to the "wire" (think the clip on food containers, like that but with a hay rack).

I will try and get pictures. Yes I did look at some of the photos but I am unsure of what people used and where they got them from.

I just bent a cage grid in half and then cable tied it to the side when I tried a hayrack, but I ended up changing it because the piggies seemed depressed when they couldn't roll around in their hay.

Can't use grids unforunatley. I was thinking maybe like a toast holder, then wiring the ends in and using hooks to attach it to the door. I am going to Big W and maybe Bunnings tomorrow, so I will see what they have.

**edited to add: Sorry I didn't see that you were in Australia at first so the specific store names probably won't do you any good. But it still should give you some idea of what to look for. -end edit**

This is what I use. I really need to get a good picture of it without the hay. It is a round plant holder with hooks to go over a railing. I got it at dollar General for $1.


Generally though, just go to your local dollar store and browse around. You should be able to find tons of stuff for $1 that can be used as a hay rack. Anything with holes in it or made of wire.

Here are some samples of great ideas in the hay rack gallery:
https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6968/cat/520/perpage/24
You can get this at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes and I think Dollar General sometimes has these as well as stores like DollarTree and other "everything is a dollar" type store.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/1530/cat/520/perpage/24
This is a metal X-style dish rack. I have seen these in lots of places although they will probably run $5-$10. You can also get this in wood, although I would worry about it absorbing urine since they will most likely climb into it and pee.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/8054/cat/520/perpage/24
You can find this one in the same place as the first one. I used this when the boys were little, but now I don't think it holds enough hay. It is a utensil bin.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/8161/cat/520/perpage/24
This is a really good idea too. Look at Wal-Mart or an office supply store.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/8362/cat/520/perpage/24

Hope this helps and be sure to post a pic when you finally get one. Especially if it turns out to be some ingenious thing no one has thought of before.

Malhablada said:

I just bent a cage grid in half and then cable tied it to the side when I tried a hayrack, but I ended up changing it because the piggies seemed depressed when they couldn't roll around in their hay.

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Yes they do appreciate having hay to roll round in. I'm planning to make a hay zone in my new cage. I'll have a hayrack but also some hay on the floor which can be changed daily.

Thanks TX_2_Pigs, that was an extremely helpful post. Some of the ideas you included were very helpful and defiantley something I will think about. It is a pity that half the shops you listed we dont have here, although I think we have the same sort of shops just with different names etc.

I will definatley post pictures when I am done.

I just found a picture of what I use. Mine is just a little different, it isn't as heavy (thick) gaged wire as this one and the hooks on mine are a little shorter and are rounded not squared. And most importantly, I only paid $1!


(broken link removed)

I bet I could find that at either Walmarts or Bunnings. I will have a look as soon as possible, that is if I don't find anything sooner lol. Once again, thanks for your help.

Does anyone know what chicken wire is? If so could I use that to make a hay rack? What complications may arise from using this?

pigsforlife said:

I bet I could find that at either Walmarts or Bunnings.

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Oops, I meant either Big W or Bunnings. I actually found a little rectangular wire basket thingy which is normally used to hold tooth brushes and tooth paste, it has two little clip things which attach to the side of the cage. I also give them a handful to play in. It works really well, but I am yet to get a photo of it.

Does anyone know what chicken wire is? If so could I use that to make a hay rack? What complications may arise from using this?

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I would not use chicken wire. In my experience chicken wire is quite flimsy and quite sharp around the edges. If you have grids that you could use you can bend and fashion them into hay racks. Or you can do what I did. I went to a shop and looked around, particularly in the kitchen, bathroom and hardware section.