Biting from fear?

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Julie H

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We have 2 female pigs who are now almost a year old. They came to us with health issues (unbeknown to us at the time) which we got through, but that's another story. They are very healthy and eat well. They have a large hutch inside a shed, and an outside run for summer use.
One became friendly quite quickly from the start, and has always seemed happier than her sister, who has always been much more nervous . Lately this seems to have become much worse. She seems terrified of everything, and literally jumps on top of her sister and appears to nip her (other pig squeals) when we try to take her out of the hutch. Today the nip was to the other pigs ear, which drew blood. She appears stressed when we try to hold her, and often makes a chattering sound - which we take to mean she is not enjoying the interaction, so we soon put her back into the hutch. Has anyone any advice they could give on this situation please?
 
Any sudden change in behaviour warrants a trip to the vet.
She may be behaving like this becasue of an underlying health or pain issue which should always be checked out by a professional.

How is her weight? Have you noticed it dropping or changing at all?
 
Thanks for the reply. No change in size and still eating fine. I will get her checked over. Thankyou
 
It might be wise to take both in to the vet if you have a carrier big enough - if it is scary to be separated from her friend she'll appreciate her companionship on the way. Just remember to tell the vet which one is the 'patient'! I actually use a cat carrier which can take 2 grumpy pigs or 3 good friends. If you can get them to go in on their own rather than 'catch and load' it keeps things calmer.

If the vet can find nothing wrong she might just be very panicky. If they are in a shed away from the house (and there's nothing wrong with that) they don't get to see people just going about their daily business. She might think that whenever she sees a person there's a chance she's going to be picked up or her friend might be taken away. You never know whether she's had a bad experience like being dropped painfully in the past. Good luck in finding some answers!
 
Thank you Free Ranger. Yes I will take them both to vets. Have done this on other visits to keep stress to the minimum. I think you may have hit on the problem in your second paragraph. The shed is away from the house. The nervousness seems to have got worse over the winter, maybe because they havent been out in the run.

Incidentally - this poor piggie was diagnosed with ringworm by the vet a week after we got them both as youngsters (from a reputable place, or so we thought!) On examination both were also found to be pregnant. Our other pig had 1 male pup who has been rehomed. Our nervous piggie had1 stillborn pup. So she didnt have a good start poor girl. Not surprising she's unhappy really?!
 
Poor girls, what a beginning! I think there's sometimes a lot that goes on behind the scenes that we don't know about.
Wiebke has said before that there is some thinking about nervousness in pigs being the product of stresses in pregnancy. If that's true then our nervous pigs (meet my George on the left) are just always going to be on the alert. After 2 years with George I can tell you that's pretty much true in his case but for him regular positive interaction has made him more comfortable with us big-pigs. He'll always be a bit worried but nowadays he isn't frightened to death at every little thing. And it is really rewarding when they do start to trust... even just a little bit 💕
 
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