Buttercup if you want to avoid the hay bedding, try fleece?
And either hay contained in a cube/ball or rack .
'Tis a pain to re-jig all their bedding (I've tried umpteen beddings but my pigs do seem to prefer hay)
The hay has been rough in the past few years, I think wet summers have meant artificially drying it (heat) so it;s been more brittle.
I've hoiked grass seeds out of eyes with sterile salt water and non fluffy gauze many times.
I bulk buy fleece (Primark) and cut into sections (some of the really soft ones don't wick so the pigs get wet bellies. The coarser ones seem better)
Shredded looroll tubes (confetti cut shredder) makes lovely soft bedding (and it's free although it takes a while to accumulate). I shred all thin card and pig-safe paper. If its tiny shredded pieces , it's soft .
You could stuff looroll tubes with hay to let them pick at (I did this when my boars were neutered so they couldn't sit in it)
I give mine hay cookies at night time (less messy and keeps them occupied)
I bought a large chrome 'cube' from HomeSense (I think it is meant to go in the fridge) to put their hay in, but found my boar and one of the sows lardily parked in it , so defeating the purpose of it 
Good Luck to all the pigs who are ailing, they are so pitiful when they're ill, 
< clover