Adding Another Pig to a Pair

[fwiend]

i recently took in a year and 6 month old pig. the owner couldnt take care of her anymore and the pig was all by her self since she got her
my pigs are about 3 years old. (all females) i set up a new cage in a new room they have never been in. i've been watching them for an hour. my one pig seems to be okay with her but the other kept teeth chattering and running away. it also looked like they tried to lung at eachother the new piggie also yawned which i think means she was showing off her teeth?
that was in the beginning though, and now they seem to be okay. the one pig stopped teeth chattering and now they are just sniffing each other. after they sniff each other the new piggie popcorns i think lol
the new piggie is also laying down in the cage is that a good sign she is comfortable with the other piggies?
I'm still kind of scared to leave them alone because the rough start, I'm not sure if they are okay with each other still. i dont want anyone to get hurt while I'm not watching and I'm not sure when i can put them back in their old cage. can someone help me? thank you!

 

[Wiebke]

i recently took in a year and 6 month old pig. the owner couldnt take care of her anymore and the pig was all by her self since she got her
my pigs are about 3 years old. (all females) i set up a new cage in a new room they have never been in. i've been watching them for an hour. my one pig seems to be okay with her but the other kept teeth chattering and running away. it also looked like they tried to lung at eachother the new piggie also yawned which i think means she was showing off her teeth?
that was in the beginning though, and now they seem to be okay. the one pig stopped teeth chattering and now they are just sniffing each other. after they sniff each other the new piggie popcorns i think lol
I'm still kind of scared to leave them alone because the rough start, I'm not sure if they are okay with each other still. i dont want anyone to get hurt while I'm not watching and I'm not sure when i can put them back in their old cage. can someone help me? thank you!

Hi!

Can you please specify whether you are bonding sows or boars? it makes a massive difference.
Sows you can separate overnight once they have accepted each other and roughly sorted out the hierarchy, boars you cannot separate until they have either fully bonded or fallen out.

However, it sounds like your girls have bonded, so I would not worry. If your new girl popcorning, it means that she has been accepted and is very happy to have a new piggy family she belongs to!
If in doubt, just leave them overnight in the bonding area with plenty of hay in more than one pile and more than one bottle of water. I prefer to leave off any hideys in this kind of situation and just have a blanket overhead - that keeps any dominance flash points for altercations to a minimum.

Your new girl has been what I call fear-aggressive at the beginning. That is very normal for piggies that are insecure.
In order to understand the observed behaviours, the bonding stages and dynamics (which arestill ongoing), please carefully read this guide here. It has lost of pictures and some bonding videos, too.
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics

 

[fwiend]

Hi!

Can you please specify whether you are bonding sows or boars? it makes a massive difference.
Sows you can separate overnight once they have accepted each other and roughly sorted the hierarchy, boars you cannot separate.

However, it sounds like your girls have bonded, so I would not worry. If your new girl popcorning, it means that she has been accepted and is very happy to have a new piggy family she belongs to!
If in doubt, just leave them overnight in the bonding area with plenty of hay in more than one pile and more than one bottle of water. I prefer to leave off any hideys in this kind of situation and just have a blanket overhead - that keeps any dominance flash points for altercations to a minimum.

Your new girl has been what I call fear-aggressive at the beginning. That is very normal for piggies that are insecure.
In order to understand the observed behaviours, the bonding stages and dynamics (which arestill ongoing), please carefully read this guide here. It has lost of pictures and some bonding videos, too.
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics

they are all sows, sorry!
thank you so much for the advice!