5 sows 😑

Coco&Luna

Coco&Luna

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Messages
1,231
Reaction score
1,432
Points
705
Location
Scotland
Hi I have 2 adult female sister's.
I adopted 3 sows. A mother and her 2 very young pups. The mother does not appear to be an adult herself.

I introduced them on neutral territory etc.
However, during the intro one of my older sows became very physically aggressive towards her own sister attacking and lunging tearing fur out but was completely fine with the new pigs?

The other sister became very protective of the new 2 pups and would not allow mum near them, chatting her teeth at her to keep her away from her own babies.

I separated them back into the two groups of mum and two pups and the two sisters due to the sister attacking the other sister and placed them in a cage side by side.

I had to then completely remove the 3 new pigs from sight of of aggressive sister (Nox) as she continued to attack her sister every time she even seen one of the other 3

Could someone please explain Nox' behaviour and why she would misdirect her aggression towards her sister when they have no issues when alone?
I'm so gutted.

Thank you.
 
They were in a completely sterilised 6x5 C&C. All toys and blankets and everything was brand new. I even sterilised every grid and connector. 😑 Lol
Ive just put grids down the middle and thrown blankets over it for now and when I finish my Nightshift tomorrow night I'll devide it into two 2x6 C&C's.

It's so strange how Nox was fine with the new 3 but would attack her sister...
There was no blood but lunging, chatting and mouthfuls of fur being torn out. It was really vicious looking. And even if she smelled one of the new pigs poops her hackles would go up and she'd lunge at her sister instead of the new pigs? It's bizarre!
 
Coco&Luna said:
Hi I have 2 adult female sister's.
I adopted 3 sows. A mother and her 2 very young pups. The mother does not appear to be an adult herself.

I introduced them on neutral territory etc.
However, during the intro one of my older sows became very physically aggressive towards her own sister attacking and lunging tearing fur out but was completely fine with the new pigs?

The other sister became very protective of the new 2 pups and would not allow mum near them, chatting her teeth at her to keep her away from her own babies.

I separated them back into the two groups of mum and two pups and the two sisters due to the sister attacking the other sister and placed them in a cage side by side.

I had to then completely remove the 3 new pigs from sight of of aggressive sister (Nox) as she continued to attack her sister every time she even seen one of the other 3

Could someone please explain Nox' behaviour and why she would misdirect her aggression towards her sister when they have no issues when alone?
I'm so gutted.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Hi! Please keep the two groups separate. Riled up and stressed out piggies can turn on their submissive companions as everything travels down the chain of command. If this happens, a bonding is never going to work out. :(

Nox and her sister should be left as they are; for Nox you may consider living alongside your other piggies for stimulation and companionship rather than finding a new mate if her sister dies before her.

New mothers and older sows are the most difficult to bond in my own experience. New mums are not willing to give up their new-won rise in status through having their babies creating a lower level in the group they are now leading and older sows that have been together with their mate since they were very young can get very stressed when faced with strangers and not want any newcomers in their territory, especially when they are not so dominant in themselves that they can assert their overall leadership easily.

Sadly by far not all group bondings work out; it all depends on the personalities involved - and you can never really predict the dynamics!
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
 
I'd always be very wary of introducing a mother and daughters into another group. The mother sow (even if she was a submissive sow before her pregnancy) will have acquired a level of status as a result of motherhood that she will be unlikely to give up. That will leave you with 2 sows expecting to be herd leader and sows can be very unyielding in terms of their power.
As @Wiebke has said, the presence of a rival threat has caused Nox such upset that she has turned on her otherwise accepted cage mate.
Not all sow bondings are successful. I have had more than my fair share who refused to live harmoniously in groups (as has Wiebke). I wouldn't try bonding your group again.
 
Right ok thank you!
Mum was actually being really submissive towards Bo and Nox, maybe cuz she's a baby herself.
But I'm not risking any already formed relationships. I'm gunna get up early after Nightshift tonight and make new cages. I got all the correx delivered today so ready to gooo! 👍
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top