Best combination- looking for advice

[Darcey15]

Hello.

After losing our lovely Domino this weekend, my mind has been working overtime trying to work out the best thing to do for our solo boy Gregory. He's 7 months now so I'm having to think carefully about how to get him some company & have the best chance of making it work. I also plan to increase the number to 4.

I have read as much as I can, esp @Wiebke posts about bonding combinations & it looks like the best route is to have Gregory neutered, wait for the advised period & bring in new already bonded pigs (sows). Am I correct in thinking 3 already bonded sows would be better or does it not matter if it is 2 sows & another neutered boar? Also will he be ok with 3 younger ones? I don't have a piggie rescue near me to do dating but we do have an animal sanctuary which occasionally has rescued piggies so I'll try that first but I just want to be a bit clearer on the best combination to go with. Any advice much appreciated x

 

[PigglePuggle]

You can only have 1 neutered boar in a group, so if you have your boy neutered it will be a case of adding new wives for him, not another boy, if you plan to keep them together. After 6 weeks post neuter you can add 1, or 2, or 3, or even more ladies as long as they get along and you go through the proper bonding procedures! We have a neutered boy with 5 ladies, we bonded 2 pairs of ladies (2 younger girls and a couple of fat older aunties) before introducing the husboar (the younger pair knew him well already as a next door neighbour) then we added another young lady a few months later. I would say the space you have and the bonds between the girls are your main concern, most ladies will happily share a friendly laid back boar but they might not necessarily get on with each other! If you only bring in one girl at first I think you might struggle to add others to a closely bonded mixed sex pair without disrupting their bond and getting a disgruntled outsider, but if there are a couple of ladies to start with you might later bring in an extra lady friend or two for whoever feels a bit left out, again subject to the piggies finding their new companions agreeable!

 

[Darcey15]

You can only have 1 neutered boar in a group, so if you have your boy neutered it will be a case of adding new wives for him, not another boy, if you plan to keep them together. After 6 weeks post neuter you can add 1, or 2, or 3, or even more ladies as long as they get along and you go through the proper bonding procedures! We have a neutered boy with 5 ladies, we bonded 2 pairs of ladies (2 younger girls and a couple of fat older aunties) before introducing the husboar (the younger pair knew him well already as a next door neighbour) then we added another young lady a few months later. I would say the space you have and the bonds between the girls are your main concern, most ladies will happily share a friendly laid back boar but they might not necessarily get on with each other! If you only bring in one girl at first I think you might struggle to add others to a closely bonded mixed sex pair without disrupting their bond and getting a disgruntled outsider, but if there are a couple of ladies to start with you might later bring in an extra lady friend or two for whoever feels a bit left out, again subject to the piggies finding their new companions agreeable!

Thanks very much, I have a pre op assessment next week & will get Gregory all sorted first and after 6 weeks will bring in some lady friends for him. Hopefully I can find 3 or 4 already bonded ladies but I have plenty of time now to look properly. I'm not under any illusion that it will all be plain sailing but I'll give it my best shot & hopefully in due course will have a happy little herd & happy Gregory. For now, he gets the piggie palace, the outdoor run & cuddles all for himself! Thanks again x

 

[Merab]

When my boar Titus lost his cagemate I faced the same choices you are dealing with.
In the end I opted for neutering and acquired a mother & daughter from a local breeder who didn’t want them.
This was in my pre forum days so I was just researching as best I could.
It was reading this forum as I was browsing that helped me decide.
Still took a couple of years lurking before joining up.

Let us know what you decide to do for Gregory

 

[Darcey15]

When my boar Titus lost his cagemate I faced the same choices you are dealing with.
In the end I opted for neutering and acquired a mother & daughter from a local breeder who didn’t want them.
This was in my pre forum days so I was just researching as best I could.
It was reading this forum as I was browsing that helped me decide.
Still took a couple of years lurking before joining up.

Let us know what you decide to do for Gregory

Yes it's been a great source of help as no matter how many pigs we've had I always find myself in a new situation as they are all so different! This has really helped me (thankyou) & yes of course I'll keep you posted hopefully fun times ahead for Gregory!