[Gpdd] CARE bedding

[Bellarobi at aol.com]

Hello Jason and Maria,
your little piggies sound beautiful.
As far as your bedding question, you probably will get a lot of different 
advice and inputs. I have gotten wonderful ideas on the digest, and bedding was 
one of them.
Just like you, money doesn't fall of trees in my yard either. Providing a as 
natural habitat as possible for my pigs is important to me. I have used Aspen 
bedding for many years. It doesn't soak up moisture very well, but it is 
basically dustfree and has no smell. I wanted to find a way to safe on costs, so I 
was looking for super size bags of Aspen bedding but had a hard time finding 
it. I "dared" to buy pine bedding, $ 5.00 at Wal Mart for the big bag. I also 
bought an air tight container I store it in, so mice and other creatures won't 
find their way in.  I keep the container in my garage.
Anyway, I've been using pine bedding ever since. My piggies do not seem to 
have any ill effects because of it, it does not have a strong smell and soaks up 
moisture like you wouldn't believe. I also buy Timothy hay at Wal Mart for 
under $ 3.00 a bag. I give them plenty each day because not only do they like to 
eat it but also like to lay on it...like in nature I like to think....
And while we are at it I am saving bucks on food as well. I had my piggies on 
Brownberry pellets for a long time, and like it happens with a lot of other 
items I usually buy, my store discontinued the brand. I tried Oxbow in the 
past, but both of my piggies would not touch it. So while I was at Wal Mart I 
checked out their pellet food, read the labels, and decided to give 8+1 a try. It 
seems nutrionally sound and 2 lbs cost under 2 dollars. Little pieces of hay 
are mixed in with the pellets, and the pigs think it's the greatest food they 
ever tasted. 

I hope this helps,
good luck,
Marion