Are there any good hay racks out there?

I put litter boxes with Yesterday's News under my hay racks. I use bent grids for hay racks with the coroplast covering the back. There will still be waste, after all they are spoiled.

I tried many kind of racks, never been happy with any as my pigs didnt like them either. I gave up and put hay in pile in the litter box. They eat 5 times the hay as before, they are happier as they can play in it. I dont have that much waste. I fill in the morning and when I'm back from work almost all the hay is gone. So I refill for the night.

I did the same as Shurrim. I built a coroplast litter box (easy to replace) that I fill with a small amount (1/2 in) of bedding, and then I pile hay in the box.

I also tried everything and have settled with the litter box with bedding in the bottom. I have two cages with two males in one and two females in the other and all the pigs love the litter box. I do have a lot of waste. They pick and choose the pieces they like then they won't eat any more...that's why the rack and ball did not work for us, because I've let them be too picky with the pieces they eat!

Many commercially-made hay racks have proven unsafe for guinea pigs. The best hayrack I've come across is simply a bent grid. It is the safest I've seen and works pretty well.

I, too, encounter a lot of waste in the hay department. I've given up after a couple different methods and just agreed that there will always be some waste from soiled hay. They have a habit of peeing and pooing while in the hay pile so I just let them do it. Hey, if it makes them happy, then who am I to refute it?

I also agree that there will be mess with guinea pigs. They just aren't the most neat-and-tidy animals around. They eat gobs and gobs of hay, which leaves pieces all around the house. They poop, sometimes accidentally kicking it out of the cage. Among others. I've learned it the hard way: Don't sweat the small stuff!


With the hay issues, I have one pig pile in one corner of the cage. Yes, it gets all over the fleece but I just deal with it. I suppose I could have a litter box with some bedding in the bottom and a big pile of hay (which has worked well with other pig owners I know), but my current setup works fine for me. You could try this and have it in the middle of the cage instead of by an edge where hay can fall out. In the center of the cage, there's no place for it to spill out the sides.

Good luck!

With my pigs' cage being in my bedroom, and it being such a tiny space, any mess or smells from the cage are like amplified. I was doing the hay pile thing with carefresh down in the kitchen area but I go through so much hay... and bedding is very expensive as well... I have a 1x2 kitchen area with a ramp into it.

I may just make that 1x2 area part of teh regular cage space and buy a litter pan since it would be much easier to just lift and dump it

Thanks everyone! I will try a few more things and hopefully find something that works for me and my piggers

Here is what I just switched to. I bought a shower caddy that was made by zenith. (broken link removed) I then took bolt cutters to it and cut into 2 pieces. One deep rack for hay and one shallow rack for vegetables. The shallow rack I lined with vinyl on the bottom but Coroplast would work also. I took pliers and bent hooks on them so they could hang safely from the C&C side wall. Hope this helps you.

Sigh, yea I just finished this 30 minutes ago and read that kitty litter was bad so I just scooped it all out and switched to fleece. It sure would of paid to read before buying but I figured I would inform you guys I switched before you informed me it was not good for them .

I saw someone here with a hay box that they built out of coroplast. Here is my version....


I use it in a upstairs kitchen area and I LOVE it. Very little mess!

I use plastic storage bins with an opening cut out of one side.

I put newspaper on the bottom, pine bedding on top that, and the hay on top of that.

The piggies love them, most of the hay stays in the bin, and they can play, lay, and sleep in the hay if they want to. That's the most important to me. Hay is not only for them to eat, but to enjoy playing and hiding in.

What they drag out and get on the fleece is very easily cleaned up. I would rather the piggies be happy and playful with their hay, than worry about them having an immaculate cage that they don't understand like humans do, and would be bored with.

Ditto, jenga122. I used a drawer organizer, 6x6 IN. so it is preety good. If you want you may also put it in the litter box, or where you want the pigs to do their business in. the vet told me that today. HOPE I HELPED!

I found some utensil holders in the kitchen accessories section of walmart. They are made of thick gauge wire and actuallly resemble the big hay feeders used for cattle.
Stuff with hay and hang on the side of the cage.
Although recently I switched from fleece back to pine shavings and it works nicely to just spread the hay overtop the shavings. I find, too, that they eat more hay.