Making a Hay rack - things to know?

Be careful not to make spacing too wide that they can get their heads trapped.

Or get their feet trapped. If you use a bent grid rack, be sure to close up the ends with coroplast, cardboard, or something similar so they can't get in it and break a leg.

Lots of people swear by those fleece hayracks that have lots of holes in them. See the picture gallery for some examples.

Ok, I think I'm just going to keep adding questions about the hay area here whenever I think of them.

So the one on my mind now is: If I make a little area to put hay (roughly the size of the pig to be in) on a sheet of coroplast, how high can one of the walls be to contain the hay but still allow the pigs easy access to step into, and also to feel welcome (rather than them considering it might be blocked off and making them feel unwelcomed, if that's anything they might even feel in the first place).

My last pigs learned to climb stairs (is that even safe for them with their backs? I knew not to get them the spheres/wheels/leashes/etc because of their backs, but I didn't think about it when I taught them to climb stairs. They seemed at ease when doing it though), so I know they can reach a pretty good height.


Also, is the rougher/more jagged edge of coroplast going to be a problem for them?

I think the walls to my homemade litterboxes were about 1.5 to 2 inches high. They hopped over with no problems at all.

Alright, good to know.

I have some shoe boxes lying around, could I possibly cut into those and just put hay in there instead of making a hay rack? Just an open box with a hay floor, basically? My main concern is leaving as little of a hay mess on the fleece as possible.

look at my new hay rack! I use to have a bent cube and after (broken link removed) suggested thedanger of it I switched to the utensil holder. I love it I don't waste hay. All piggies are safe!!

Looks good

Is there a certain utensil holder I should beware of or is any one pretty much good?

And I could just put this in a shoe box cut out or maybe some sort of plastic bin and be all set?

We just made one of these today...with a grid. Never thought about the leg issue. Will seal off our ends asap! Thank you for the info

bpatters said:

Or get their feet trapped. If you use a bent grid rack, be sure to close up the ends with coroplast, cardboard, or something similar so they can't get in it and break a leg.

Lots of people swear by those fleece hayracks that have lots of holes in them. See the picture gallery for some examples.

Click to expand...

I currently made a box out of Chloroplast and it looks nice, but they are always peeing and pooing on the hay, and right after I clean it and put fresh hay, I feel like its wasteful. I might try the Utensil idea. what is that round thing until the utensil holder? it looks nice

The purple box in the bottom left corner is the one I made but the piggy in my picture is always peeing in it the minute I clean it and put fresh hay in it.

If you have tissue boxes, you can stuff hay in them after removing the plastic from the opening.

Kelly91513 said:

I currently made a box out of Chloroplast and it looks nice, but they are always peeing and pooing on the hay, and right after I clean it and put fresh hay, I feel like its wasteful. I might try the Utensil idea. what is that round thing until the utensil holder? it looks nice

Click to expand...

It's a dog bowl from Walmart and it costs $2

Didn't feel the need to make a brand new thread for this, but...

Alright, I've checked for utensil holders a couple times, and I feel like the openings on the side are either too small or too large. One I saw had openings smaller than my pinky. The others I saw had openings wider than my ring and middle finger combined.

What I also saw was bread baskets and napkin baskets. The bread baskets were pretty big (looked like small hay troughs, though), but the napkin baskets were obviously smaller. I just saw them today and thought they might work fine too. This is the one I saw: (broken link removed) , measurements are 7"x7"x3". Would that be a good idea to just put hay in? Seemed large enough to always have enough in the cage.

I made a little place to put the hay so it doesn't get on the fleece (hopefully); I just cut off the end of a shoebox, then cut off some of the edges of the top and taped it to the back of the shoebox (to make a back wall, with the original mindset of having a taller utensil-holder hay rack, to prevent hay from spilling for the edge of the shoebox).

Any other ideas that make it easy for pigs to get the hay, safe for them, and does a good job from keeping the hay from going all over?

@SkinnyGuineas , the utensil holder in your picture looks like it has the wider openings I'm talking about. How well does it hold the hay in, and do you have to pack the hay in tightly to keep it in?

Hi! Sorry for the delay on answers.... Was out of the country.
Mine works perfect! The opening is about 1 1/2" and I do not pack it tightly. I refill every night. It stays in... I use Orchard Grass as I found they like best and it is SO much easier to clean from the fleece than timothy hay.

This is the one I use. Works perfectly -- holes are large enough for the pigs to poke just the front of their noses through, but small enough that their heads can't get hung. They've never turned them over. $10 from Bed Bath & Beyond: (broken link removed)

Alright, thanks both of you.

The one from Bed Bath is the one I looked at yesterday, so I think I'll probably go with that one.

I use a plastic corner litter box as a hay bin. I attached velcro to the sides and the coroplast to hold it securely in place. I fold a sheet of newpaper to line the bottom in case they pee in there. It works really well for me and I can tell the pigs love it.

C1407 said:

Ok, I think I'm just going to keep adding questions about the hay area here whenever I think of them.

So the one on my mind now is: If I make a little area to put hay (roughly the size of the pig to be in) on a sheet of coroplast, how high can one of the walls be to contain the hay but still allow the pigs easy access to step into, and also to feel welcome (rather than them considering it might be blocked off and making them feel unwelcomed, if that's anything they might even feel in the first place).

My last pigs learned to climb stairs (is that even safe for them with their backs? I knew not to get them the spheres/wheels/leashes/etc because of their backs, but I didn't think about it when I taught them to climb stairs. They seemed at ease when doing it though), so I know they can reach a pretty good height.


Also, is the rougher/more jagged edge of coroplast going to be a problem for them?

Click to expand...

Have you considered making a hay rack out of a grid and having it verticle? This is what I do, and it works great. No risk or fear of injury.

trexgorawrrrrr said:

Have you considered making a hay rack out of a grid and having it verticle? This is what I do, and it works great. No risk or fear of injury.

View attachment 16216

Click to expand...

All you did was bend it? Looks like I have the same grids as you, too, judging by that small piece on the edge of the grid