My bedding story, finally found the perfect solution!

[pigger123]

I was originally using fleece flippers with a 2x1.5 paper bedding kitchen, which was okay. I didn't like how much laundry it was, the 4 layers of Uhaul in each flipper seemed a bit much, and I always dreaded cage cleaning because I had to sweep off the flippers, take them apart, wash them all, and then put them back together (ugh). I'm sure flippers work great for some people, but they're just not for me. The paper bedding I was using in the kitchen was annoying because it got soaked and didn't dry so I had to replace tons of bedding at least twice a day, and it tracked all over the fleece. Spot cleaning took awhile, since I had to scoop out and replace so much paper bedding, as well as scooping all the poops, and sweeping paper off of the fleece.

Then I tried fleece in the whole cage. That was the worst thing ever, for me. With 4 piggies in a 2x6, there were sooo many poops. It was insane how many poops there were after just one night. And of course I still had the same problems with the fleece flippers.

Then I got some wood pellets, and filled the whole cage with them. With nothing on top of them, the pigs hated it. It made a loud crashing noise every time they moved, and they were afraid to leave their fleece beds.

So I put towels on top of the wood pellets. This was a problem because the towels would stay damp, and didn't wick urine through to the pellets.

My final solution was a piece of fleece over the wood pellets, and this is what is basically the perfect bedding! I have to credit the idea to @bpatters, she's the one who suggested this. The fleece serves to muffle the noise and create a softer surface, while wicking urine through the very absorbent pellets. Twice a day, I simply roll up the fleece, take it outside, shake off the poops and hay, and lay it back down all nice and clean. Once a week, I only have to wash a single piece of fleece and some beds. No more poop/wet bedding scooping, no more washing Uhaul pads, no more assembling fleece flippers, not even any sweeping! Shaking it out gets all the poop and even hay and hair off, I was pleasantly surprised that nothing really stuck to the fleece. The wood pellets are great because they're super absorbent, the pee spots dry right away and there's no dampness. The cage is completely odor-free, even though I haven't changed the wood pellets for a full 3 weeks, and I intend to go longer!

The wood pellets under the fleece:


I also wanted to share my new 2x1.5 patio, which my piggies and I are loving!:


The full cage:

 

[MLT2007]

I have seen her mention the wood pellets under the fleece a few times but was curious what the wood pellets looked like, and how well the fleece stayed in place on top of them. Thanks for showing a picture with the fleece peeled back! I thought they were much bigger and would mess up the fleece.

 

[6GPS7]

Wow, very interesting... I too have been searching still for the perfect bedding solution... I've gone through fleece/towels, fleece/uhaul, fleece in some/bedding in kitchen combo, and now trying fleece flippers in one cage. I haven't loved any of them. I have several questions, I hope you don't mind!!

1. So you can go up to a month without changing the pellets? They really don't smell? I found my paper pellets to be very smelly after a few days. One of the reason I hated that particular solution...
2. How long does it take to change them out?
3. I also have a 2x6 cage... How many pellets do you use in one change?
4. Do you have burrowers?

And, unrelated to the bedding...
- Do you like your hay bag? Do you find that they waste less hay with it? I'm using a grid, bent in half, placed vertically in the cage and they waste sooooo much hay. I've been wanting to try a bag.
- I LOVE your piggy patio! Do you use the same bedding in there?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[pigger123]

1. I have gone 3 full weeks so far without changing out any pellets, and I can see myself going a lot longer. There's no poop mixed in the bedding because it all stays on the fleece and gets shaken off outside, and the pee spots dry quickly so there aren't any wet spots. So far, there is seriously zero odor!

2. I don't know, since I haven't even changed them out yet! It took a very short time to put them in, I simply opened the bag and poured it in. I would imagine it might take awhile to scoop it all out though, since it weighs a total of 80 pounds. I plan on scooping most of them out with a dust pan, and then sweeping up the remaining pellets and sawdust. It only takes a couple minutes to take out the fleece and shake it out, so cleaning is way faster now.

3. I used 2 full 40-pound bags, which each cost $5. That only $10 for a full cage of bedding that I only plan on changing every 6 weeks or so!

4. My pigs don't burrow under the fleece (they love to burrow into their tunnels and snuggle sacks though), but sometimes if they take off running it will mess up the fleece and pull it away from the side of the cage, exposing the wood pellets. This isn't too big of a problem though, and it stays in place pretty well for the most part. If your pigs do burrow under it, you could get a bigger piece of fleece and clip it to the sides of the cage.


I do like the hay bag, but I actually preferred my grid hay rack. The bag just makes the hay a little bit less accessible to them, but it still works pretty well. It is great for containing the mess and keeping the hay off the ground.

In the piggy patio, I'm actually using 2 layers of uhaul wrapped in a layer of fleece. It's a much smaller piece of uhaul so I don't mind washing it, and I don't want to have loose bedding on the loft, especially since the wood pellets are so heavy.

 

[6GPS7]

1. What do the pellets look like/do when they get wet? Paper pellets turn into a big mushy pile...

3. Where did you get them? I am having a heck of a time finding them in my region (AZ) - maybe because it is so hot here. We can only use a wood stove like 6 days out of the year here. LOL Shipping makes them cost prohibitive.

4. I do have burrowers, but I think I could manage that the same way I manage it now, by binder clipping it to the sides.

Thanks for the idea, and the information! I think I'm going to try it! (If I can find the pellets.)

 

[pigger123]

When they get a little bit wet, they puff up and get all loose. Then if they get wet again, they turn into a pile of sawdust. They're always dry to the touch though, even when they've gotten wet only a few seconds ago. The sawdust isn't a problem since they're covered with a layer of fleece, and it doesn't stick to the fleece. I mix the pellets around every once in a while, and that makes the dust fall to the bottom.
Here you can see what happened in a spot that gets peed on very frequently:


I got mine at a local feed/farm supply store. They sell them year round here, even though it gets pretty hot in the summer. You should be able to find them at a feed store, they also sell them as horse stall bedding which might be more readily available. Make sure the pellets don't have a strong pine scent, they should be relatively scent-free. Hardwood pellets are ideal, but softwood is fine as long as it doesn't have a strong smell.

 

[6GPS7]

Thank you so much @pigger123!

 

[pigger123]

I just realized I made this thread in the wrong section... Oops. Would it be possible to move it to the proper section?

 

[lissie]

Moved!
Glad you found something that works for you.

Let us know how you think of it once you have changed out the whole cage.

I used to use wood pellets, but stopped using them because they're so heavy.

 

[Whirlwind]

I am very interested in this idea, thanks for sharing! Right now I have a single layer of fleece in the bottom of my C&C cage. The areas underneath their pigloos have towels. When cleaning, I take the towels outside and shake them off. The towels also have to be changed every other day to avoid odor.

The main area of the cage only gets the occasional poop, most of it is inside their pigloos and in one corner (where they peel the fleece away and do their business directly on the coroplast).

Again, thanks for sharing!

 

[Christin Barnes]

This is such a good idea! I too am having a problem finding wood pellets but I would love to switch because the paper pellets from the pet store are expensive and for such a small bag. I have been wanting to use fleece because I've noticed my pig likes the feel of the soft blanket below him but I don't really want to use fleece flippers or uhaul pad and all that. I think this would work best for me I just need to find the pellets. I may have to call feed stores because I've tried major retailers and they are always out of stock.

 

[bpatters]

If you have the pigs directly on the towels, that's not a good idea. They will nibble the towels, which will ravel, and they can get intestinal obstructions from swallowing the threads. Fleece doesn't ravel, which is one of the things that makes it such a good bedding. So you'd be much safer to sew a layer of fleece over the towels, and wrap it around the edges so they can't get to the terrycloth.

 

[daisy1cow]

Moved!
Glad you found something that works for you.

Let us know how you think of it once you have changed out the whole cage.

I used to use wood pellets, but stopped using them because they're so heavy.

Me too, she hasnt changed them yet and I found that was kind of a pain when I just wanted to get out the wet part but I had to dump it all to scrub the coroplast and they are HEAVY HEAVY. I went back to fleece and uhaul pads.

If you live in Iowa, swing on by, I have a bag and a half left. Menards has them if you have one close. I tired it and didn't care for the pellets, but was only out 10$ for two bags of them.
Good luck though

 

[pigger123]

Me too, she hasnt changed them yet and I found that was kind of a pain when I just wanted to get out the wet part but I had to dump it all to scrub the coroplast and they are HEAVY HEAVY.

I haven't noticed any wet parts, and I think that, even though it will probably be a pain to do a full change, it will be worth it because I'm not having to do all the daily scooping and so much laundry. Since it doesn't need to be changed very often, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages for me. I will make sure to share when I have done a full change and let you all know if I still think this is a good solution, but I don't see myself ever wanting to go back to fleece flippers.

 

[6GPS7]

Moved!
Glad you found something that works for you.

Let us know how you think of it once you have changed out the whole cage.

I used to use wood pellets, but stopped using them because they're so heavy.

I'm wondering about the weight too, just because my cage is on a grid stand, and its 2 grids high. I wonder if the cage can support that much weight. Hmmm... I do think I am going to try the fleece over bedding at least in my kitchen area, if I don't end up doing the whole cage. I hated just plain bedding in there, because it made the loud sound when they were in there, it wasn't soft on their feet, it was too much scooping and maintenance, and I could never figure out how to get the poop out adequately. But I think this idea might eliminate all those issues. But I am having a major problem with urine control where their hay is, they pee so much there, but I don't want to change the entire cage every 2 days, when only a small section needs it.
@pigger123, will you update the thread when you change the cage? I'm curious to know how it goes for you, and if it's still your favorite!
@MrCavyMadness thanks for the hay bag tip!

 

[pigger123]

My cage is on a 1 grid high stand and it's really sturdy, but I don't know how good a 2 grid stand would be. I'll definitely update the thread once I've done a full change.

 

[lissie]

I'm not sure how well the 2 grid high stand would support the weight. I never tried the wood pellets in the whole cage when I had C&C cage. I used it with my wooden cage.

The weight was an issue for me because I live on the 2nd floor. I have two 18 sq.ft. cages to fill. Each cage takes two 40 lbs. bags to fill. Hauling 160 lbs. of pellets up and down the stairs is not fun! Dumping is also an issue until I started posting them for free on Craigslist as ground cover and compost.

 

[Flowering]

Personally I find wood shavings tried and tested. However it's only good if you can afford it.

 

[pinky]

I'd like to see some videos of people cleaning out a cage with wood pellets. I understand they're pretty heavy so I'm curious about the methods people use and the amount of time it takes.

 

[pigger123]

The weight was an issue for me because I live on the 2nd floor. I have two 18 sq.ft. cages to fill. Each cage takes two 40 lbs. bags to fill. Hauling 160 lbs. of pellets up and down the stairs is not fun! Dumping is also an issue until I started posting them for free on Craigslist as ground cover and compost.

I definitely understand how weight would be a problem for a lot of people. My piggy cage is on the main floor of my house, so I fortunately don't have to worry about lugging them up and down any stairs, but if I did have to I almost certainly would not use wood pellets!

Do the used pellets work well as ground cover/mulch? I feel like it would just get washed away in the rain, but I would love to be able to dump it in my garden if I could.