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4 Boars

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hayleyandjohn

I have got 4 boars living together at the moment. Has anyone else had this many, cos usually 3 is a push! I'm quite suprised!
Although 2 are still about 8 wheeks so probably when they get older they will have to be taken out.

The older two, Fudge and harry, are brothers. The younger two, smudge n mini-me, are also brothers. But Harry does push them all out the way and when he does it to the younger two, fudge has a go at him, which is quite funny!

No worries, no blood has been shed!
 
I now have only 2 boars, Cameron and Brecon, who live very happily together. However in the past I have been able to run around 6 young boars together ... that is, until they get to around 3-4 months of age, when 'fisticuffs' began to appear! At that time I split them into pairs, and they were then just fine.
 
I have a lady who only keeps boars, she has a group of 5 (brothers) and 2 groups of 4. The accomodation she uses is huge which I think is half the reason she doesn't have problems.

I know another lady who has 2 herds of 4 boars all age 2.5 years or over whom she often changes partners, they are all very laid back boys with no one needing to be the boss.
 
Hopefully they should be fine then!
All but one is laid back but he squeaks at me for some unknown reason. Probably cos he can see the girls in the cage opposite and wants to be put in with them! lol. Dont think so mister!
 
If you have girls about, keep your boys well away from them and also ensure that you handle and do everything to the boys before you touch your girls. Even in the garden dont let the boys on grass girls have recently been on.
 
janice-arc said:
I have a lady who only keeps boars, she has a group of 5 (brothers) and 2 groups of 4. The accomodation she uses is huge which I think is half the reason she doesn't have problems.

I know another lady who has 2 herds of 4 boars all age 2.5 years or over whom she often changes partners, they are all very laid back boys with no one needing to be the boss.
Click to expand...

mine are exactly the same I have 5 in together at the moment 3 lots of pairs 2 on their own and a trio who adore each other, mine all have hugh runs multiple water and feed bottles and plenty of hidey holes the most I have kept together was 10 and they were fine I jsut split them up when I had a new shed built but they lived happily together for months, my boys are all very laid back boys probably because i spend quite a bit of time with them all,and the girls are in a seperate shed, yes i do know that "you should never keep more then 2 togther" but have done so for over 30 years with no major problems if they argue big time they get seperated but are rarely put alone , I hate them on their own, dipstick and artie are alone because they are shy and dont mix but are next to each other and are always sniffing each other through the bars , obvioulsy dont do this yourself until you are 100% sure of their temprement, its taken me years to get to where i am with boys, and I have an instinct that seems to work,
 
I have 3 boars who at the moment are living together very happily. Two brothers who are 5 months and a "cousin" who is 6 months. They have been together since they were very young.

I also have 3 girls the boys mums and a sister. They live in separate cages in the shed and have outside runs that are sometimes close. They seem to all be used to each other and although the boys must be able to hear and smell the girls they do not fight. They are more likely to have a tiff if one has some food that the other wants :)
 
I personally would be careful if you have females in the same shed. Once them hormones kick in, anything could happen. I know you probably think, if they start fighting I will seperate them, but the damage could already be done and you may have huge vet bills to face. You may be lucky and they could be fine, but you won't know until they mature.
 
totally agree with Linda.b.
I had two brothers together and the girls were the other side of the garden and all hell broke out between them. Blood drawn big puncture marks, teeth broken.
Now they won't tolerate each other even few the bars spend all their time strutting at each other and teeth grinding :'(

but then I do have a pair of brothers who are now 6 and are not bothered by the girls at all. :)

I think it does depend on their temperaments

good luck

karen
 
They are quite laid back boys with the exception of harry. But I will move the boys away from the girls dont want any wounds
 
Hi Hayley and John, I am am infrequent visitor to the forum but have been reading the thread and felt that I should jump in with my two pennies worth! The advice from this forum is always honest and helpful in my experience but the best judge of your pigs charactors is you - regardless of your experience. My advice is to experiment and watch the results closely i.e. keep the boars in close proximity to the sows (but not together unless you particularly want to be over-run with babies) and you will soon see if the boars are going to become agressive with each other - I have two sexually frustrated but very happy entire boars that live together in close proximity to my 4 sows and they are fine - if I've been holding the girls and then pick the boys up they rumble a bit and lick & nibble my hands and arms bacuse they can smell the girls but they tend to just get excited and Mojo often (how do I say this politely) trys to hump Marmite but they don't fight - however yours may behave very differently! Your boys are still very young and will probably go through a phase of mild aggression while they sort out the hierarchy but that will either settle down quite quickly or there will be a war and you will have to seperate them but don't worry - if you spend time with your pigs you will spot the changes in behaviour - particularly as feeding time tends to stir things up. Don't seperate just because you think they might start fighting - once seperated it is much harder to re-unite so don't act to quickly.

By the way: My sows are more aggressive with each other than the boys!

Trust your own judgement and I am sure you and your pigs will be fine!
 
totally agree with last post you are the only one who knows your pigs and if i had listened 100% to advice over the years mine would all be seperate, trust your own judgment listen to advice and then deciede what applies to you and your piggys,
incidently i have 2 sheds one for boys and one for girls in the girls shed is a large metal cage with 2 boys who both spend a lot of the day gazing at the girls and get along brillaintly floo will stand on the side and sniff the air, and is happy with that, but to some boars girls around can make them more aggresive, my 2 are very comfortable with each other,despite the girls, I guess my pigs dont follow the rules of being a typical pig lol ::)
 
hi
this is really intresting, i have 40 + piggies , mostly females who live with neutered males, in groups of 4/5 but i have 3 sets of unsnipped boys , 2 brothers of 3 yrs , 2 brothers of 8m & 2 brothers & a cousin of 6 weeks, they all seem really happy together & all are near to girls , but to be honest dont seem that intrested !
I'm ever watchfull of my piggies day 2 day lives , but never seen any thing to concern me in the older boys , I'm also hoping to get 3 boar brothers , so really find this intresting, i did have a group of 4 boars who had lived together for over a year handed in to me , but one was a terrible bully , & i took him out straight away, the others were ok for a while , then i noticed one was being picked on so removed him ( he had a chunk taken out of his ear) & the last two just didnt get on , one was really checky & lively the other reslly shy & retiring, they were all snipped n paired up with girls & are now as happy as larry :D but ive never had any probs with the others so i really do belive its to do with temprement? also ive never had problems with introducing girls , but i have one thats a right diva & have found problems getting her into a 'herd' but again i watch & observe & they ALL spent a lot of time cuddled in my lap each day ;D
 
Thanks Cyberjez for your advice. I have not moved the boys away from the girls and they do seem perfectly happy!
Although if the dominant pig, Harry, see me picking a girl up from her cage he squeaks to me as if to say "bring her over here!".lol.
No but they dont fight or anything, I think i will leave them as they are, they can dream cant they!
 
Hi thought i would do an update as its a while since i have been on.

Well as many of you anticipated the harmony of my three boars living together didn't last! I went to see them one morning and the atmosphere in their cage was completely changed. Brutus and Tibus were in separate corners of the hutch with cuts on their faces they had obviously been fighting. Ceasar the third boar was hidding and not happy although it didn't look like he had been involved.

When i opened the cage Tibus climbed out into my arms. So that was that. Tibus had to be taken to a cage on his own. I did try introducing Tibus and Brutus again over the next few days but they chattered their teeth and were not happy.

Anyway i decided aster careful thought that i would get Tibus neutered so i could put the young female Mouse in with him. he was done on friday and seems to be doing ok.

Brutus and Ceasar are getting on ok....at the moment.
 
Sorry it didn't work out, but it's good to hear that you promptly dealt with the situation :)
Hope everyone is happy now...it sounds as though they are.

Barbara
 
Thanks Barbara

Yes Things are good. Tibus is fully recovered from his op. The vets were very good and kept a careful check on him after his op till he was on the mend. They really knew their stuff on Guinea pigs which was reassuring. Mind it did cost £63!

Infact I have now put Tibus in with the three girls and they are getting on really well. I have to clean them out every other day but I don't mind that. The two boys are ok too.

It will be nice when the nice weather comes and they can go outside for some fun in their runs. They are all in the shed still at the moment.
 
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