Beginner qs on bedding

[4yoniD]

Hello, haven't owned GPs since I was a kid and I swear it has all changed. Just reading up before we take the plunge and getting rather confused:

Hay as bedding? Some say not too, and to use shredded paper - others say shredded paper won't hold heat (thinking ahead to winter). Saw some rescue GPs looking very happy buried in hay!

Also wood shavings, or more shredded paper in the "living quarters"? I don't fancy trying fleece, and cat litter etc sounds very hit-or-miss.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Hay - they love hay.
But they wee in it, pooh in it and it gets flattened. They eat where they sit.
Readi Grass is good but not a bedding material, it's short cut dried grass, used as a supplement to hay.
I tried a hay rack when it got really hot (hay is a good insulator, sometimes too good). They pulled it out of the rack to sit on.
If mine don't have a 'roof' over them (the haybox has a lid, but sometimes I leave it open to cool them. DH made them a dark screen from mesh , otherwise they bury themselves in hay.

The hay does need changed regularly (in summer every couple of days./ every day depending on how mucky they are)
I give them shredded paper to rummage about in, but it isn't warm.
I gave my boars a soft pillow bed, they slept in the hay trug

In summer, I use newspaper and hay (which gets rolled up and binned daily).
Their Pighouse has a wooden floor- there's rubber car mats on the wooden floor (insulating and protective) then cardboard.
In their haybox and their 'sitting' areas, Puppy Pads under the newspaper (so they can't chew them)
My new girls are very messy so I gave them wooden cat-litter (rodent safe) in their cage.
The 2 girls are sharing now with the neutered boar so I need to see where they pee.

In winter, I use deep hay over the whole floor and haybed - when I had boars they didn't sleep in the same place so I needed to make sure they had lots of comfy hay.
A deep bed could last 3-4 days with daily spot cleaning ( make sure though they don't sleep on damp hay. Risk of mould/mildew and they won't eat it)

Shavings or sawdust isn't recommended (too drying on feet and fur. Too dusty and respiratory risk)
Straw isn't recommended either, but I found Soft Barley Straw was softer than hay , I put it at the back wrapped in the newspaper as a buffer to insulate. But I'd only use with adult pigs (not my daffy little sow) it can cause injuries and has no food value
Fleece is nice but you need to get all the hay and hair off to wash (wash in a pillowcase to protect your machine)

When mine are indoors for winter they have a trug of hay to eat and a towel/fleece to sleep on.

Cor that was an essay

[4yoniD]

thanks - hay it is!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I was going to add, they need hay.
I sometimes use those hay cookies in summer or indoors if I'm trying to keep them tidy ( thankless task)

I kept GPs from 9yo - 22yo, then we got my DD 2 pigs when she was 9yo.

It's not just me that remembers them being much less complex in the old days

[crocodileshavenoears]

So 70, do they need hay/shredded paper in the bit of the cage they play in? At the moment I have a layer of newspaper and just shredded paper in their "play area" and that plus hay in their sleeping area (plus a hay rack for hay to eat). On dry days they go outside into their run for the whole day anyway.

I'm just wondering if there's any real point in having the shredded paper in their play area - it would be easier to clean with just the newspaper. I'd obviously leave the shredded paper and hay in their sleeping area.

Thank you!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I put shredded paper in their beds once I've collected a container full. When my boars went on holiday they had shredded paper in their cage (it was a long narrow one with a sleeping area at one end and a hidey space in the middle) they tore through the paper like a child would in a pile of swept up leaves , It is a pain to sweep up, so you could try leaving the play area clear and maybe a box or tunnel>


I give paper in summer too, it's not a insulating as hay (and give hay in a rack or a small pile in summer) mine like to bury themselves but I worry about them getting too hot. (I think I worry too much )

Last week I bought Ecobale (cardboard equine bedding) they seem to like it. It's absorbant, I scooped up the dirty hay and any soiled bits of Ecobale. It seems to be coping with my hogs.
There's no definitive Holy Grail of Bedding that I've found TBH. Sometimes it depends on the weather or what I've got in.
If I've got no newspaper, they have puppy pads and an old towel