Cleaning Frustrated with smelly kitchen!!

[barbaramudge]

I can not for the life of me figure out why the girls cage is always so stinky now! I thought my kids just weren't spot cleaning properly but I've been heavily supervising for weeks now and it's not any better. Within 24 hours for a full clean and 2 spot cleanings it already was smelly. I'd say they do most of their peeing in the kitchen so I don't think it's the fleece. We scoop out the peed on parts of the litter and add some fresh every day. I just can't figure it out and it's making me crazy!! They have a 2x6 and their kitchen is about a 1x2 or a little bigger. Any ideas? We've been using yesterday's news for litter because the wood pellets I bought at the feed store had too much of a smell too them. I've been on the lookout for different wood pellets. I can't afford care fresh at the rate we go through it. I'm running out of ideas Help please.

 

[Gforcepiggies]

Maybe something soaked near the coro and is stinking it up? Just a suggestion.

 

[Flowering]

How many pigs do you have in a 2x6. If you have 2 you could downsize to a 2x4 and use carefresh, fitch or other pet bedding. They are designed to reduce odours. If you want to stick with fleece I would consider changing it every two days completely

 

[daisy1cow]

Downsizing isn't a good idea. Pigs need lots of room and it isn't the solution to smell.

I had that happen once and for the life of me I couldn't figure out where it was coming from and no matter how often I cleaned or spot cleaned it still was stinky.

I found the grids and the connectors on the bottom where peed on. A little pee was in each little divot on the connector. I put the pigs out for floor time and took the 2x5 outside and sprayed it all with vinegar, let it soak a bit and rinsed with the hose. I took an old toothbrush and brushed each connector. All was good again.

Its easy to see it on a white grid, but I had black and couldnt see the yellow pee stains, but that help considerably. I also got rid of towels and newpapers and use uhaual and fleece. Spot clean daily and wash weekly with a little vinegar in the hot wash cycle.

Hopefully its an easy fix, I know how irritating it can be, but don't downsize, that doesn't help anything.

 

[barbaramudge]

Yeah, I wouldn't downsize. I'll try taking it all apart this weekend and looking for hidden pee. I'll admit that totally possible and it never occurred to me. Dumb human. Maybe Fudgie's been pee-squirting over the top of the coro. My cage is built right onto the top of a tall dresser so if she did manage that it would be hidden in the back. Maybe I need to put some waterproof fabric under the entire thing so I can prevent that. I'll be bummed if it's soaked into the wood

 

[daisy1cow]

It never occurred to me either and was making me CRAZY!! Thats all I could smell was pee and I knew it was clean. I also noticed one time years ago, that when they were up next to a wall and the little stinkers sprayed the wall!!!!!!
Dont take it all apart. Are they zip tied too by any chance??? Mine is both so I can take the connectors off and soak in the tub or bathroom sink in vinegar water. You could clean with them in there too, but it is hard on the back. WIth mine being zip tied, I could fold it up, take it out, hose it down and bring back in and put the scrubbed up connectors back on!
Dont make it too much of a chore.

 

[barbaramudge]

Mine is all zip ties and I have no grids on the bottom. The side fridge are attached to the top of the dresser and the coro is inside. Having just looked at it I think it might have gone through the corner onto the wood underneath. Most of the wood the cage is on is sealed but there is six inches on the front that is unsealed that we added to get the width we needed (or depth depending on how ya look at it) so pee may have soaked into that

Hubs and I were already planning on taking it apart to redo it. It's a case of having used it long enough to know what we wished we'd done differently. We'll get it straightened out and fixed up. Good call [MENTION=28396]daisy1cow[/MENTION]! Thanks for the help!!

 

[daisy1cow]

Cool, hope thats the problem. I do mine like every 6-8 months. Being all zip ties, it should just kind fold in on itself and clean away!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Have loads of fun