Wood Pellets/Chips Using Wood Pellets Without Fleece

If I'm not using fleece, I don't shovel anything out. I just brush the poop up into a pile, then stir it well. It'll last at least six weeks, maybe longer.

Just wood pellets would not last nearly as long because all the poop would get mixed in.

I would try your best to shovel out the dust and then just mix everything up.

I just want to add my experience with this. I use fleece but I also have a kitchen where I use disposable bedding. I tried using wood pellets in the kitchens and it didn't work out well. I think the pellets hurt my older girls feet as they didn't want to go in the kitchen anymore, even though that's where their hay is. In the cage with my younger girls, they had no problems going on the pellets but when the pellets get wet they turn completely to dust. The cage was super dusty and it made my girls very sneezy. I only tried the pellets for a week and switched back to yesterdays news since they really didn't work for me.

The best thing to do is to try them. You and your pigs aren't going to know if you like them until you use them. Thankfully they are pretty cheap so I suggest grabbing a bag and seeing how they work for you.

Maybe there's a difference in the pellets I use and the ones sallyvh uses, but mine don't get dusty. They turn to sawdust, but they compact down, and the floor of the cage isn't dusty at all. It's pretty easy to sweep the poop off. It is a little dusty when I stir the pellets, but I just plop the pigs in a laundry basket until I'm done.

Our pellets are most likely different.

I don't know where you are in Canada @theresealyana but I tried Canwick hardwood pellets that I purchased at Canadian Tire. I personally wouldn't recommend them after my experience.

I'm in Ontario as well, and the pellets I've been looking at are the ones you mentioned! I'll keep that in mind and see if I can find a different brand or something to try them out, thanks!

bpatters said:

If I'm not using fleece, I don't shovel anything out. I just brush the poop up into a pile, then stir it well. It'll last at least six weeks, maybe longer.

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Could you post a photo of how the cage looks with the pellets after they've been used for a long while? I'm trying to visualize how that can work.

Though I use fleece right now I still use the pellets in the bottom of a shoebox-sized storage tub that I put their hay in. The pellets get soaked under the hay. So I'm picturing a mucky wet floor of soaked pellets for your cage. But I'm sure that isn't how it is from what you describe.

I can't do pictures at the moment. But I use about four inches of pellets all across the bottom of the cage. As the pellets get wet, they turn to sawdust and then pack down. After a week or so, the whole top is pretty well packed, but still very absorbent. But if I stir them, the pellets just underneath are just like they were when I poured them out of the bag. I'm sure it helps that I've got a huge cage -- 16+ square feet for two pigs.

Here you go.... this is where they usually pee.... I top my wood pellets with a fleece

Every week i change my fleece and reshuffle the wood pellets bringing the unuse wood pellets to the top.

Yep, that's what it looks like. I just stir all that packed stuff back into the rest of the pellets. About every eight weeks or so I completely change the cage, but I think I could easily go longer.

I used wood pellets, alone, in my 2.5x2.5 foot kitchen, and I went a month before changing them out completely. Wood pellets are an AMAZING bedding, and my girls actually preferred to lounge around in the kitchen area, than in the fleece area of the cage.

Thanks for replies!
@cavyguy, I take it all the poos are caught in the fleece. Do you still sweep poos daily or just wait the week out and shake it out then?
@bpatters, if you don't use the fleece on top, then the poos are being mixed in with the pellets. Do the poos dry out, then, so they aren't getting moldy?

I appreciate your responses. I've been using piggy bedspreads with potty pads (mine "go" everywhere) and the cleaning routine is wearing on me. The whole room smells awful within a week. So I'm happy to consider some alternatives.

Yes, the poop will dry out. But what I usually do is put a single layer of thin fleece over the pellets, at least for the first week. It makes it easy to shake out the hay and poop. After that, the surface is packed down enough that I can sweep the hay and poop into a dust pan and get rid of it that way.

I've just switched to pellets with fleece over. I think the fleece keeps it more comfy for their feet and I can still vacuum it out to keep it nice looking. My girls mainly pee and poo in the kitchen though. Im still planning on changing the kitchen every week. Within 3 days it looks yuck. They must pee and tons because corner of the kitchen gets soaked.

One of my guinea pigs spends almost all of her time in the kitchen. She parks herself in front of her feed bowl next to the hay and the food it goes in one end and comes out the other. In the kitchen I have bottom layer pellets, then middle layer shavings that I'm trying to use up, and then the fluffy bedding that I can't remember the name of. The top layer keeps the shavings from being flung out when they jump in and out.

My kitchen girl

I loved wood pellets, i really hope the doctors lift this 5lb weight limit. Nothing could be better for controlling odor.

Gandalf said:

Thanks for replies!
@cavyguy, I take it all the poos are caught in the fleece. Do you still sweep poos daily or just wait the week out and shake it out then?


I appreciate your responses. I've been using piggy bedspreads with potty pads (mine "go" everywhere) and the cleaning routine is weaning on me. The whole room smells awful within a week. So I'm happy to consider some alternatives.

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I still spot clean daily, a minimum of 3x a day which takes me 3-5 minutes.

Using wood pellets + fleece is the best decision I've ever made. I no longer smell the urine and the wood pellets last me 8 weeks. Before using fleece + uhaul pad tthe cage began to smell on day 3 with 5 piggies..now smell free. I have 6 piggies and still no urine smell..

bpatters said:

Yes, the poop will dry out. But what I usually do is put a single layer of thin fleece over the pellets, at least for the first week. It makes it easy to shake out the hay and poop. After that, the surface is packed down enough that I can sweep the hay and poop into a dust pan and get rid of it that way.

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Do you do this daily? (The poop sweep.) I am currently using fleece over pellets and it works well, but I dislike the daily chore of shaking out fleece. Also, sorry for being dense, but I don't understand how you sweep poop out of the pellets. Don't you pick up a bunch of pellets when you sweep? Or is it a negligible amount?

If you look at the picture in post (broken link removed) in this thread, you'll see that the pellets turn to sawdust when they get wet, and they sort of pack down. You can easily sweep this with a a small broom.

And yes, I shake the fleece usually daily, sometimes every other day.