Are Any Of Your Pigs Partial To Specific Voices?

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Freela

Freela

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I've noticed recently that Hadley is REALLY partial to my teenage son. She perks up when she hears him talk, she touches noses with him when he bends over, she will try to find him if he is sitting on the couch and gets up and leaves. She is friendly with everyone, but she responds to him distinctly than anyone else in the house. I am wondering if she finds him 'different' because he has a deep voice. My husband also is here, but he doesn't interact with the pigs all that much, plus he is more of a tenor while my son is shaping up to be a baritone! The rest of us are girls with higher voices. My mom suggested that Chander (my son) may feed her more or otherwise draw attention to himself, but he really doesn't. If anything, it's me and my daughters that do most of the feeding. So I'm wondering if she simply likes the sound of his voice.

Incidentally, one of my other pigs was VERY nervous of male voices and didn't like my dad or my husband and would actively try to avoid them. Fortunately my son's voice hadn't changed at that point and she accepted him no problem! But again, it makes me wonder if she was more partial to female voices and found male voices threatening.

Anyone else's pig show a male/female preference or a preference for certain voices?
 
I'm sure mine prefer my husband. I do the bulk of the feeding while he maybe feeds them once a week, but it's him they wheek loudly at whenever they see him and I hardly get a peep!

I've also noticed they're a lot more demanding when we have visitors round; once the pigs get over the initial shock of there being PEOPLE, they get more and more high-pitched (and loud!) when they are sure that someone should have fed them by now :))
 
As their main carer it's me they respond to most, but when it comes to lap time they will often be more relaxed with my 16 year old lad. He seems to be a piggy-whisperer! They also respond well to his voice, but will be interested in hubby's and older son too when they know they're speaking to them :)
 
my sixteen year old son doesn't bother much with the piggies so mine are stuck with the dulcet tones of me and my daughter but one of them adores my seven year old grandson. We only see him twice a year as they live away but if she is on his knee she relaxes totally, chicken legs and everything.
 
madguinealady said:
my sixteen year old son doesn't bother much with the piggies so mine are stuck with the dulcet tones of me and my daughter but one of them adores my seven year old grandson. We only see him twice a year as they live away but if she is on his knee she relaxes totally, chicken legs and everything.
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Aw that's really lovely :) Sometimes children have quite a raport with animals :)
 
@Galaxy&nibbles that made me smile :)
While we are on the subject, as well as voices and tone, do any of your piggies respond to specific words? Mine know grass and treat, and Freddie responds to his name. I think the tones I use for 'grass' and 'treat' help, but with Freddie it's the word Freddie, not the tone I use.
 
It's true, every time I give them veggies I shout veggies as I go upstairs and into the bedroom and they are start wheeking and waiting for me, I love it! I think Roddy knows his name too!
And dinner (pellets) I think they know too
 
I know what you mean, When I'm in the kitchen chopping up the veg they can hear it and start working themselves up. Just as I'm done I say 'treat, treat' but in a wheek- wheek kind of way, and they can hardly contain themselves :) It is lovely when you hear them getting all excited.
 
Great thread @Freela Very interesting.

Cookie and Treacle could be whipped up into a frenzy saying 'girls,girls,girls' which was the indication for teatime.
 
I do all of the cleaning out, feeding, looking after their health etc but it's their daddy that they love most! Funnily enough, if I lower my voice right down and call for Barney he will come to me so it might be the tone.

Saying that, they both come out of hiding and start shouting as soon as they hear daddy's van pulling onto the driveway at night. So I think it's just that they love their daddy!
 
I've noticed that I can get Hadley all worked up if I use the same voice you'd use to get a dog excited about something: "Do you want a treat? Do you? Do you? Who wants a treat!" She will popcorn around and get all wild. The actual words don't matter, it's the tone.
 
I think mine get most excited at the sound of my voice although they respond to the word cucumber from both of us. They respond to their names being called, the fridge door opening and rustling bags but the sound they wheek the loudest to is the lid coming off the tin the nuggets are kept in. They live in our sitting room and seem to get most excited with popcorns and zoomies when we are sat down talking together, we always joke it's because they know where we are, and we are not going near the cage to interfere with them!
 
For a long time I did the majority of things for the pigs, so they definitely know me and my voice. Biscuit seems to love me and will climb/jump over anything to get to me if I'm not sat right next to her. She likes to sit on my chest or my shoulder and has occasionally clambered over Fudge to reach me. Fudge is generally happy with anyone as long as she has a dark spot to hide her head although she is still quite skittish and not always good when we have visitors, unlike Biscuit who chortles to them (and expects food).

They know their names, 'breakfast' and 'tea time' and probably a few others but I don't know whether its the tone I use or the routine. They have breakfast in the pen, so as soon as the pen is being put up Biscuit is climbing the bars of the cage to get out and once in the pen she sits chortling at the gate, looking at the door waiting. Fudge generally starts feet stamping and staring at us around 7pm when it is tea time, and they fall over each other trying to get to the corner of the cage for it. They both know when the lid is being taken off the hay tub and occasionally when we eat in the room, Biscuit spots the plates and demands food too!
 
I think mine prefer me to anyone else but again its me who spends the most time with them and feed them, when I feed them one of mine will hand feed from me and he will lick my hands and is really comfortable with me, sooty is still really nervous but getting better
 
My pigs definitely only respond to my voice. And my gait. They can tell the difference between me walking up the stairs and any of my roommates or my girlfriend. They abhor strangers and will quickly find a hiding spot when someone new comes in my room. They're only beginning to adjust to my girlfriend being around lol. Also I think mine don't like male voices, maybe because the boys I live with don't pop in for a visit as much, so they're not used to deep voices and taller, broader humans.
 
Hi pitch seems to get some of my pigs attention , l have a meater in the pig room that emets a soft hi picth beep every 12 hours
And the lift there heads as if to say whats that, ?
 
Ours can definitely recognise mine and the hubster's voice and our gait in the house - I can barely make it out of bed and on to the landing before there is a wheek's chorus. They completely ignore my teenage lads (feeling is mutual). They adore one of my friends and pop out when they hear her but otherwise seem not too bothered by anyone else. I guess they do recognise their main carers.
 
Yes, my boys love listening to Uncle James who has a deep and loud voice. They also like to listen to my boyfriend but not as much :)
 
Mine can definitely understand "breakfast time piggie wiggies", but then maybe it's the time of day and the fact that is followed by a crinkling bag! Now there is a sound they know any time of day. Generally though because I clean the cage and feed, bath and play with them every day, its me they respond to best.
 
My girls respond to my voice over everyone else. They are a little spooked when hubby speaks to them as he has deep voice.
However this evening for lap time all 5 of us were around and the piggies ran from lap to lap on the couch and responded so well to the kids and my hubby. Still they will come to me to relax or if my arm is near where they are on kids lap they will lean on me to relax.
Tonight caramel started chewing on the dogs nails (he wasn't happy) and then nibbles on his face and tried to shove her face into his ear canal. Poor pup didn't know what to do. He sits for lap time waiting for the poop dispensers and will lick their bums to encourage pooping for him. Think he thinks they make doggy treats. Lol
 
My piggies are starting to respond to my high pitched voice. I usually say "piggles" and they start twitching their heads and looking around and emerging from their houses. Today I walked into the room while saying it and they started squeaking so loudly! I'm trying to say "come on pigs" and "there you go" whenever I give them food so they tend to respond to all of them now. I think in general though, a high pitched voice means food!
 
archie wakes up in the evening when my dad comes in to see him and give him a treat, always rushes out when he says "hello little guinea pig", and once hes got the food, he brrs twice, slightly different tone so that he says thank you, and runs back into his love cave to eat it, soo adorable and very polite.
 
My pigs definitely respond to the 'pet voice'- that high-pitched excited tone you use when promising treats. We can actually get Hadley to popcorn if we use the 'treat voice' for long enough. She gets very excited!
 
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