Fleece 100% Fleece (no litter box)

I do usually have a litter box, but I don't keep all the hay in it. I put the litterbox under the hay rack, but I also like to have hay in other places. It does make a mess, but it really isn't that bad. What I usually do is have the hayrack/litterbox on the loft, and then on the main level with the pigloos, and everything else, I'll put a few large handfuls of hay from them to play in, they really seem to like it. Although, I have to clean it up everyday or so because it gets peed on really quickly when loose like that. What I also do sometimes in take a large tuppleware container thing, or a large bowl, and put a huge heap of hay over flowing out of it, they seem to like it just as much, but it stays cleaner a bit longer.

I have four 2x6 cages, five 2x5 cages, and two 2x3 cages and I don't use a litter box/kitchen area in any of them. For me, the big problem was hay getting all over the fleece, but as it turns out, they get hay all over the fleece whether or not I put a "litter box" in or not.

The biggest thing is that you have to be kind of religious about picking up the hay every single day without fail or it will get gross in a hurry.

So I have one of those rubber hair brushes that I go over the fleece with, pick up as much hay and poo as I can with my hands, then go over the fleece with a vacuum.

It's a little extra time, but totally worth the money it saves by not buying disposable bedding.

I thought about not having a litter box, but they hay thing is in there and Jake (my youngest girl) likes to crawl in and eat her way out. *L*

Thanks... I do have a litter box area right now but they track hay all over the fleece and they didn't seem to care about the litter box. They just pee and poo everywhere. Right now I pick up poo with a soup ladle, it has worked fine for me, but I still have problem with hay sticking to the fleece. I've tried using a hand vac and the pigs are scared. I can't use the hand vac everyday because I clean the cage after my kids are asleep and the hand vac is kinda loud. I live in an apartment so I have to be careful about the noise.

I too live in an apartment. I use 100% fleece. I eliminated the kitchen area some time last year and my piggies (4) and I are perfectly content.

I use to use a hand vac but I stopped because it scares the mess out of all of them and then I feel bad about using it in the first place. When I clean the cages I wear a pair of vinyl/rubber gloves and scoop all the poo and hay out. I do this at least twice a day and it works out fine for all of us. Before I put the fleece in any washing machine I always take it outside and shake it out really well.

The bottom line is, you and your piggies will be fine in the event that you decide to remove the litter box. Litter box or no litter box they'll find a way to track hay all over the fleece. Continue to clean the cage daily and all will be well.

Good Luck to all of you!

I do use a litter box with fleece, but have also been considering taking out the litter box. However, when i'm out of bedding before I can run to the store to get some more, I just put newspaper down in the litter boxes and cover it in hay. It does smell quicker though! But once I change the boxes out, I can compost the hay and newspaper.

I've never had a litter box, but their "kitchen" area is separated from the rest of the cage by a small lip they must step over. I have a separate piece of fleece in the kitchen area that I change out about twice per week and a smaller pad under the hayrack that I change about every other day. That pad is especially helpful because the majority of the hay and poos are there. You can see a picture of the cage in my gallery.

I find that the smaller the piece of fleece, the easier it is to shake off the hay, hair, etc. I don't worry about getting every speck of hay off--by the time I get the fleece out of the dryer the hay is gone (it's mostly in the dryer lint trap). I never completely get all the hair off the fleece, but I thought what does it matter when it will have hair on it again 2 minutes after I put it in their cage?

As far as poos in the rest of the cage (which are abundant!), I use a hand vac. I wanted to add for Nelli, that my girls were afraid of the hand vac at first, too, but now Furry loves it. It's actually getting harder to use because she wants to smell it or popcorn in the spot I'm trying to clean. My other girl Porky still acts a little scared, but sometimes comes out to sniff the vac and check out what I'm doing. So, for those who want to use a vac around scared pigs, give your piggies a little time and see if they get used to it. Furry comes out and starts popcorning as soon as she sees me walk up and plug in the vac.