Is it okay to touch pigs' poos?

[salana]

Pig poops consist of hay and veggie fiber, B vitamins, and whatever bacteria are in their guts. So a pig that has a nasty case of Baytril intolerance might have poops full of Clostridium, which would not be healthy for other animals, while a healthy pig would have poops containing Acidophilus, Enterobacter, and whatever other normal gut flora pigs have.

If you are worried about pig poops, you can use a handheld vacuum, wash your hands afterwards, and/or wear gloves. The risk of getting any infection from pig poops is minimal.

 

[pigsmakemesmile]

hello,
I,ve been chuckling at all your responses because they're cute. No, piggie poo's are not toxic. They are purely organic and I even throw them into my garden as fertilizer, my Basset thinks it's a great snack and so do the wild birds. I pick them up with my hand. It use to gross me out at first but not anymore since I gave it a lot of thought and realized what it is they really eat plus the fact that they eat certain poops themselves. I like the idea of a hand held dustbuster, but I wouldn't call it that. I'd call it a "poop buster." Anyhow I use large beach towels that I just shake outside then wash (at least every other day or more if needed).
Lynne

 

[piggymama]

I always just grab a piece of paper towel or toilet paper and pick them up with that. My son ate 1/2 a piggy poo and he's fine, so I guess they aren't toxic, lol!

 

[jabberwock]

The best story I've read about touching piggie poos was on the Cavy Spirit site.
http://www.cavyspirit.com/ourstory.htm

Then read the "you know you're a cavy slave when...' story on the right.

 

[JennG]

Like katiecavyNC posted, it's probably the healthiest poos your dog can consume with all the veggies the piggies eat. Plus with all the crappy dog foods out there, it's probably way healthier. teehee!

 

[cutie puff]

Thanks so much for your replies, they were so adorable!
I think I'll get a little hand held vac like a lot of you have, it'll save me a lot of time.
The poops get all over the floor because they fall through the sides of the cage, the bottom isn't wire at all.
I have a dog, but he stays with my sister now. He likes to eat Primo's poop (the cat), I'm certain he would have enjoyed Brownie's poops just as well!

 

[monikah]

Speaking of poos, I'm so comfortable with them, I don't even give it a second thought. But I know some people are horrified by poop so I thought I'd share my funny story.

I use towels for my pigs bedding which means a lot of laundry. Well, one time I threw a load of 'pig towels' in the washing machine, turned it on, and forgot about them. At the time, we had an international student living with us, she was a *very* clean and tidy person, and would spend an hour cleaning the kitchen each evening after making dinner, someone who makes a great roomate. The kitchen counter always sparkled.

Anyway, it turned out that she decided to do a load of laundry that evening. No matter how small a load it meant, she always washed her blacks with blacks, whites with whites, you get the picture. Well, I was upstairs cooking dinner and I heard this stifled scream coming from the laundry room. I went down to see if maybe someone had accidently chopped their finger off or something. It turns out she had reached into the washing machine to remove my laundry and apparently had gotten a hand-full of freshly laundered pig poops. I don't know if maybe she thought it was human poop, but at the end of the month she politely gave her notice.

 

[naturegal592]

I just found out I am pregnant. Piggie poo's shouldn't have anything in them like cat poo's right?