C&C Preparing to Make my C&C!

I wanted to add that maybe I can do a 2x3 cage with a 1x2 loft and a ramp? Would this be okay for two sisters?

I don't really know about the cage sizes but I read on another post that for sows the minimum cage size is a 2x3. If it was boars (which is what I have), then you would need a bigger cage size (approximately 2x4) so that they can get away from each other when they don't want to be together. And I would make sure that if you add a ramp, that you don't try to hinder or take up their running space on the main level because sometimes the ramp subtracts from the cage space. Hope that helps

As for the fleece bedding (which is more my area as I am a sewer), honestly you don't really need a sewing machine to make it. It's just because of time efficiency that most people (well, me) will get a machine. You can always learn how to hand-sew (just do a straight stitch - that generally works best) and just sew all of the layers after pinning all of them together. There is a nice website that I found before I found this website that tells you how to make a cage pad (or fleece piggy bedspread).

Cage Pad by Lis

Or you can ask a family member or friend who sews to help you out or borrow someone's sewing machine. If you pinned all the layers beforehand, the sewing process shouldn't take you more than 30 minutes MAX to make. =)

Thanks for the link! I will have to look into a straight stitch. I catch on pretty quickly. Can I use the straight stitch for making things like cozies and tunnels?

I don't see why not. I've made cozy sacks with sewing by hand before I got a sewing machine (and let me tell you, am I GLAD that I bought a machine!) and it does take longer but they do still hold if you stitch it well enough. A straight stitch will work for cozies and tunnels if once again, the stitch is well done.

The minimum for two sows is a 2x3. However, a 2x4 is recommended. Anyway you could make it a 2x4?

I can't imagine having a pair of piggies in a 2x3. My boys are in a 2x4 and there is barely enough room for 2 hideys and a litter box. When I first began the process of adopting and building a cage I was only going to make a 2x3 because compared to the aquariums I've seen pigs housed in, it seemed like a mansion! But now it seems to small so I am upgrading soon. I just can't make a decision on the design!

I would go right to the 2x4. You and they will be much happier with it. It is a well documented scientific fact that the longer you have pigs the smaller their cages appear. :crazy:

Thanks for the responses! I will have to attempt this straight stitch first before I try to do it on anything important lol

The space I was planning on having the cage in wouldn't fit a 2x4 but I will do some re-arranging to fit in, maybe I will just choose a different spot! The problem is I have no concept on exactly how big the cage will be when I am finished and I feel like my girls are def. on the bigger side, especially with Bella and her long curly locks!

hurleyslave said:

If you pinned all the layers beforehand, the sewing process shouldn't take you more than 30 minutes MAX to make. =)

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I must be very slow then. It took me half day to put that pad together for the instructions! :eye-poppi

lissie said:

I must be very slow then. It took me half day to put that pad together for the instructions! :eye-poppi

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lol

Don't worry, I probably won't be any faster and I am counting on getting my fleece covered in blood from stabbing my fingers on accident

2PreciousPigs said:

covered in blood from stabbing my fingers on accident

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Ouch! Becareful!

Oh yeah, its a blood bath when I sew! Just like anything else the more you make the faster they would go. The first time I sewed a diaper it took me, no lie, 6 straight hours. Now I could make one in an hour or so.

Oh no, guys! Silly you! I meant when you use the sewing machine for the straight stitch, not when you sew by hand! Even I'm not that good at straight stitching. I go off on random loops and then have to start over, and then there's always the case where I prick my finger on the needle like crazy, lol.

Oh no, I meant any sewing. I cut myself on my rotary cutter every time I pick it up. Seriously. I love it though! Not to mention if I actually do any pinning...which is rare!

lol Well I am glad to hear it is normal to be slower while stitching by hand AND that other people butcher themselves while doing it! lol

I just saw a video on how to straight stitch, seems easy enough so I have confidence I can do it! I am amazed that someone can charge $80 for a few pieces of fabric stitched together :crazy:

I know it seems crazy! But if people pay it, good for them. I only wish I had thought of it sooner!lol

As for the cage size, you don't have to stick 2x's. I have a 3x3 for my 2 sisters, and it seems to be just the right amount of space. My pigs love it - it's a little over 12 sq. feet, so it's even bigger than a 2x4, but smaller than a 2x5. They used to be in a 2x3, but seemed really cramped, so I upgraded. Hope this helps!

You don't even have to sew the fleece to the towels or whatever absorbent material you use under the fleece. I know a lot of people that just use towels with a single layer of fleece over it. You can even buy velcro and hand stitch it to the fleece and the towels to hold the fleece in place.

You'll be amazed at how much people are willing to spend because they don't know how to sew, lol. I thought I was going to order the piggy bedspreads but when I found out that it was just sewing simple layers together, I gave up on buying them and just bought my own fabric and started to sew. But I think the hardest part of this whole ordeal is that it's not the sewing that's hard for me, it's the MEASUREMENT and being able to sew in a straight line. My god, I just ruined the most beautiful piece of pink fleece with dark and light pink hearts with hand-stitched embroidery of green frogs. It was the most beautiful (and most expensive) piece of fleece that I have ever bought from a store ($12!) and I ruined the straight stitch in the machine when I was sewing together the last end of my new piggy bedding set. But it happens, of course.=)

Yes, the velcro idea does sound like a great idea if you don't want to sew that many layers together. But I hate the idea of putting down one layer, smooth that out, then another layer, smooth that out, and then the last layer and have to make that perfect in smoothing out. I am just that lazy, lol. But I sew the two layers together (sometimes three as in some of the bedding I put polyester filling in it) and then if I'm feeling adventurous, I sew a terry material onto the back just so I wouldn't have to put down towels underneath the piggy bedding. But of course I haven't come to the point where my cage would smell so bad that my towels would be soaking wet (although my friend has experienced it, one too many times but I'm mainly the caretaker of her piggie as well so when he sees me, he wheeks at me. When he sees other people, he runs into his pigloo. So adorable but I wish that would be the same case for my piggie. Instead, my Hurley runs into the pigloo/cozy bed when he sees me and only pops out when I'm gone).

You can add a second level loft so that the piggies' food and kitchen area/hay rack is up there. That way, they will have more free range space on the main level. That's what I plan to do with my piggies