Poor Cannoli. She has really taken a shine to the new free-range ramp. She loves that it's the perfect escape hatch. If I make a grab for her and Noli doesn't want to be caught, she makes a beeline to the ramp. I can't catch her once she's on the ramp. So I learned - I close the gate before I go after her. But she forgets that the gate
can be closed or doesn't see the grids. I've seen her do a hard brake just before leaping, or worse, face plant into the closed gate in a full run. Ouch.
I know Noli will figure it out eventually, but after watching her hit that grid at full tilt, I wanted to prevent her from doing that again. (Silly pig should stop running away from me!) I moved the hay rack to the gate. Can't miss it when the ramp is closed. Plus the hay will be a good cushion if she forgets and runs into it anyway.
I love my
hay rack but it requires two hands to fill it. It was impossible to thread the hay into in the back corner of the cage. So I whipped together a new version last week that's a top-loader. Not a bad design, although it sags in the middle a little. Cannoli and Boadicea seem to dump it quicker than the old rack. I may tinker with it over the next few weeks. At least it should keep Noli from bonking her nose!
Haha, poor Cannoli! We had a pig that used to tear off when you'd try to pick her up as well and more than once she ran face-first into the coroplast wall. Poor pig! I hope the new arrangement works well for her - I feel bad she hit the wall but it was a funny mental image. Best of luck with the tinkering!
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