3 1-year-old Sisters Started To Fight?

[hattie.r]

I got 3 sister sows when they were 8 weeks, then added Mum (1 year old at the time) to the mix a few weeks later. Babies are now a year old, mum is 2. They sorted out the pecking order, but I've started to notice them fighting more in the past couple of months. It's become particularly noticeable as my sister got 2 sows of her own, who rarely fight. The girls are in a 6x2 c&c cage with enough hay/food/water stations, and all cosies/hideaways are tubular so none of them can get trapped. The lowest-ranked little one has had 3 large chunks taken out of her ears, 1 very recently, and has always had a lot of tiny scabs on her bum, which must be from getting nipped by the others. My top-pig in particular always has a nip or chase at the other two little ones whenever they're near, and there's a heck of a lot of teeth chattering amongst the 3 (Mum is above all this and just does her own thing!) Is it that they're all in season, or is it time to finally separate them into 2 pairs?

 

[Wiebke]

I got 3 sister sows when they were 8 weeks, then added Mum (1 year old at the time) to the mix a few weeks later. Babies are now a year old, mum is 2. They sorted out the pecking order, but I've started to notice them fighting more in the past couple of months. It's become particularly noticeable as my sister got 2 sows of her own, who rarely fight. The girls are in a 6x2 c&c cage with enough hay/food/water stations, and all cosies/hideaways are tubular so none of them can get trapped. The lowest-ranked little one has had 3 large chunks taken out of her ears, 1 very recently, and has always had a lot of tiny scabs on her bum, which must be from getting nipped by the others. My top-pig in particular always has a nip or chase at the other two little ones whenever they're near, and there's a heck of a lot of teeth chattering amongst the 3 (Mum is above all this and just does her own thing!) Is it that they're all in season, or is it time to finally separate them into 2 pairs?

Please have your smallest sow checked for a skin condition, to make sure that you are dealing with sustained bullying, as the state of the eays and bum suggests. If that is the case, I would strongly recommend to split and keep mum and the bullied girl together. Sisters can be quite squabbly, as proven by my two teddy sisters Nia and Nerys and my TEAS foster triplets, who are now a year old. However, it should not amount to systematic bullying.