Boars or Sows?

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Donna3939

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I haven't got any guinea pigs yet (will be getting them in the summer) but was wondering if what I've read is true about boars being easier to handle and are friendlier than sows?

As a total newbie I want an easy as introduction to keeping piggies as I can however I'm wary about later on should I choose to add to my piggie family.

I've read that you can introduce sows to other sows without much problem however the same san't be said about boars due to fighting between eachother. Is THIS true?!?

As a newbie, would I be better off getting boars or sows?

Thanks you,

Donna. x
 
I can only speak from my own experience. I have always had two boys and two girls. The girls live together but the boys have their own cages as I was unable to bond them. My boys are far tamer than my girls, however I wouldnt be without my precious girlies. I suppose it depends on the individual piggie and perhaps how much they have been handled. Over the years I have had six piggies and each has been so unique with its own personality and I have loved them all. Are you planning to adopt from a rescue? My latest girl was adopted and she has came on so much since I got her last year. Its wonderful seeing the progress a shy piggie can make with some TLC..
 
Oooh, I'll be keeping a beady eye on this thread too as I'm a similar position now the boy who I thought was coming to me over the weekend has gone 'elsewhere' :( so I shall be starting my new piggie family without having to worry about intros, just which of the numerous rescuepigs (sounds like a new breed of superheroes!) would cope best in my madhouse!

x
 
I started with 2 sows and they are vastly different - one loves to sit still on your lap giving you kisses whilst you fuss her - the other sow is a long hair (my avatar) who couldn't sit still if her life depended on it :)) - she too likes fusses but is very particular where you stroke her. I have just added a neutered boar to the mix and now think it is the best combo. I have a foster boy who is kept in a separate cage - (there is a thread on here "my current fosterling" i think with a piccy of him)

whichever route you chose to take for your new piggie family will be fab because each piggie has a personality of their own
drooldrool
 
hanna101 said:
My combination of choice is a neutered boar and lots of sows :))
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Me too! But you don't always need lots of sows either to see heard behaviour. I just have two girls for my Bo.

But I've heard that generally boars are braver and friendlier than sows. If you are looking at two I would get two boys or a sow and a neutered boar. If you know this piggie thing is for you then with two boys you'll need a new cage to get more pigs. Some people keep boys in trios or more, but it requires the right kind of piggies in combination with a very large cage.

Dominance and falling out happens with both boar and sow pairs but is very, very rare in boar/sow pairs, so for a beginner I think it's actually the safest!
 
We have always had 2 Boars. We started out with a single pig that was abandoned here from holiday boarding along with the rabbit. We got them both a partner from a local rescue and it just so happened for the pig it was another Boar. They bonded really easily and when one has died we've had another rescue piggie, again a boar. We've always found them really easy to handle and inquisitive and more vocal than the sows that have boarded with us. Though the sows seem more amenable when it comes to grooming.
 
So far I have a combinations of two sows or mixed pairs; simply because the first piggy whose big sad eyes and expressive face I fell for was a girl.

The most stable group is a mixed pair (neutered boar with one or two sows), but not all rescues have them. Just don't follow my example: somehow over the last year, my neutered boar has acquired seven new girls... rolleyes

What I would recommend is that you go to your closest rescues and spend an afternoon there. Quite often, it is not the showy piggies that have the great characters - but you have to experience it. I am sure that you will find the piggies that are "right" for you that way. And it won't matter at all which gender when you fall in love...

Which area are you living in?
 
I generally prefer male animals, but I'm getting 2 sows as I haven't got room for a second cage if 2 boars fall out!
 
skrikopanik said:
Me too! But you don't always need lots of sows either to see heard behaviour. I just have two girls for my Bo.

But I've heard that generally boars are braver and friendlier than sows. If you are looking at two I would get two boys or a sow and a neutered boar. If you know this piggie thing is for you then with two boys you'll need a new cage to get more pigs. Some people keep boys in trios or more, but it requires the right kind of piggies in combination with a very large cage.

Dominance and falling out happens with both boar and sow pairs but is very, very rare in boar/sow pairs, so for a beginner I think it's actually the safest!
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That's be being bias but I do love the group I have now. I have had boars in pairs and girls in various sized groups. My boars have always been quiet, my sows loud. Boys are rather smelly too from my experience.

All I would say is that I have had a lot of bullying with groups of 3 so I tend to go for even numbers now.

For a first time owner a nice pair of sows is probably the best way forward but there's no right or wrong answer really. :))
 
I agree with the even number thing! If you have an odd numbered group, someone's always left out!

I have a lone boar (who i'm gradually getting the courage to get done) and a group of four sows, the sows are adorable together and I cant wait to let sonny join them when he's dry! currently the girls go in the run and i sit outside the run with sonny, he loves his girls, but especially my quieter girl Bethany. I cant wait to let them live together and get properly aquatinted!
 
I have both boars and sows, but I personally prefer boars as I find they are more relaxed and dont run away so much as the girls, but then we have lone boars cos they have fought each other but then the girls live better with girls and (touch wood) we've never had to split any of the girls up.
 
I personally would go for a pair of boars in a LARGE cage. I had two sows first and they were so friendly, but both of them where ill and needed sooo much care so that is why they were so tame.


If you are considering a guinea pig or 2 then a rescue would be the perfect place to go, they are likly to have two very well matched pairs and will inform you of any issues and what to look out for. Remember to minimize the risk of fights have two of everything :)

Once i have a perm boar in my rescue that is a singleton and unable to be rehomed but healthy enough for the snip, he will go in with my girls. This is also a great combination, but i would just suggest two for now.

Goodluck finding your perfect pair
 
i only have boy piggies so i would say boys every day of the wheek :)p:)p
 
:))so we've definitely narrowed the options down to either girls or boys who are definitely either in pairs or groups or perhaps a singleton if they're not playing fair with other piggies or a boy/girl pair. :))

I Weibke's suugestion of just being allowed to visit a rescue and spend some time there getting to know the piggies and taking it from there... but when I went to my local rspca to try to do just that from the 10 they currently have in I was told 'These 2 are the ones you want, do you want to do the paperwork now?' ?/ without the lady there asking me anything about my animal experience or set-up. High pressure guinea-pushing - who'd have thunk it?

I'm going to wait 'til my OH comes back from his hols in just over a week's time and call a few of the more local rescues to see if I can't just come to spend some time with some piggies and see how things roll. Which makes it sound weirdly like a date:red

Can't wait though... OP, are there any rescues around you that might just let you spend some time?

x
 
I originally wanted two boars as that is what i had as a child and within a week of rehoming them they fell out and as a result instead of calming me down and reducing my seizures they made them worse! So i then went to a rescue centre instead of the free ads like i did the first time, and i got to cuddle about 20 pigs before i chose two sows who could not be more different, i have since had one of the original boar snipped and have him too. So i now have Jive(neutered boy) Cottonbud and Furby and Tango the other boy i got who was unsuitable is still being a troublemaker and is being returned to the rescue and will have to be neutered and then go with a sow (he will be on home number 6 by the time he gets homed again from the rescue :( )

Definitely go to a rescue is the message in there not don't get two boars as i had two boars as a child and they were fab it was just these two did not like each other and the breeder wanted rid!
 
mugwump said:
:))so we've definitely narrowed the options down to either girls or boys who are definitely either in pairs or groups or perhaps a singleton if they're not playing fair with other piggies or a boy/girl pair. :))

I Weibke's suugestion of just being allowed to visit a rescue and spend some time there getting to know the piggies and taking it from there... but when I went to my local rspca to try to do just that from the 10 they currently have in I was told 'These 2 are the ones you want, do you want to do the paperwork now?' ?/ without the lady there asking me anything about my animal experience or set-up. High pressure guinea-pushing - who'd have thunk it?

I'm going to wait 'til my OH comes back from his hols in just over a week's time and call a few of the more local rescues to see if I can't just come to spend some time with some piggies and see how things roll. Which makes it sound weirdly like a date:red

Can't wait though... OP, are there any rescues around you that might just let you spend some time?

x
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A private specialist rescue would be a better starting point than the RSPCA; they are also better in supporting you with advice. I do not want to slander the RSPCA - I have rehomed from them myself and had a good experience - but they are a bit more "businesslike" than other rescues!

Here is a list of rescues, so you can see what is within your reach: I still find that actually meeting a piggy before adoption gives you a better "feel" and it helps your own bonding with the piggies. Photos can only do so much; they can't tell you how piggies react on contact. Of course - it can be VERY difficult to leave the rescue just with a couple and not take home the lot! :)) http://www.guineapigrehome.org.uk/gp/centres.asp

I would urge you to keep an open mind about gender or age - piggies are such huge characters that they can surprise you even when you thought you'd seen the lot! Whether you start with a couple of girls or boys or a mixed pair, you can simply not generalise - it depends so much on the individual personalities and how you interact with them!
 
ive got pairs of boars, ive also got groups of girls with a neutered boar in with them, the rescue boars i have in always get over looked because people think that they will always fall out which is not the case, my girls have more domestics than the boys especially when their in season, ive got a trio of girls that refuse to live with other piggies male or female, ive tried adding various neutered males and they were evil to them :(
 
Glad you've come on here for advice, it's a great source of support and useful info.

The first 2 piggies I had were a pair of sows from when they were babies who were very snuggly and had lovely personalities. They were aged 6&8 when they went to the bridge. Very noisy girlies!^)

now I have 2 boars, originally I got Winston at 18 months old and was told he would not be bonded. A year later beth at Brinsley rescue bonded him to 3 month old Beanie and it was love at first sight! apart from dominance issues (which are all run of the mill stuff...usually over foodrolleyes) they get on well. Aren't as snuggly as my girls were, but will sit on your knee, but they wouldn;t sit on your knee all evening....the boys have an low attention span threshold and want to be put back in their run after half an hour;).

The best advice would be to go to your local rescue and get a pair of same sex or neutered boar/sow pairing. The rescue know the personalities of the piggies and would be able to match you up with a suitable pair!
good luck and please don't be afraid to ask anything on this forum
xx
 
I, on the other hand, have three girls :)) I was worried about fighting between boars (although I too had read they seem to be friendlier) so we initially decided on a pair of sows.

I had no problem whatsoever introducing Pixel (at 11 weeks or so) to my other girls who were both about 11 months old at the time. We had no fussing and now they're all best of friends. Introducing Pixel was the best decison we could have made, as even though we now have an odd number, both Willow and Pippa seem ten times happier. The extra girl seems to have completed our little herd somehow :)

All three are very different in their personalities.. Pippa is in charge and is very cheeky with it. She likes a fuss for a while but quickly gets bored. Willow is very chilled and quiet and likes to stretch out on your lap. Our youngest girl, Pixel, is still quite excitable but will be fussed, if only for short periods. She is very noisy though!

Good luck whatever combination you decide on :)
 
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