Bonding advice

[Rachel1234510]

Hi there. I've had a good read of a lot of bonding advice and there's no much I fo out there I'm a bit frazzled.

We have a new pig, Poppy, who we adopted from a rescue yesterday to join our recently bereaved Sow Emily. There together but separate separate the moment, both eating happily. There's been a lot of rumbling from Emily through the bars, a bit of chattering from Poppy.

How long shall we leave them like this before we try a proper meet on neutral ground? Can we try a meet and then put them back into the separated cage or will that confuse them? Emily was frantically trying to chew her way through the bars to get to Poppy yesterday, we're hoping this excitement!

Thanks in advance

 

[Piggies&buns]

If the new piggy is over four months old, then you can either bond them on neutral territory now or do it in a couple of days once Poppy has settled. It really just depends on how they are doing being alone (although as they are interacting through the bars, they aren’t technically alone) - a piggy who is struggling to be alone needs to be bonded straight away.
If Poppy is under four months old, then bonding needs to be done immediately.

Bonding is all or nothing. Once you put them on neutral territory, if all goes well then you must not separate them again. After several hours in the bonding pen, you move them into the same cage together. It takes around two weeks to fully form their relationship. Introducing and then separating causes stress and interrupts the bonding process. You only separate them after the initial introduction, if it is clear they are not getting on

Good luck. Keep us posted on how things go

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Unless you have a youngster under 4 months (i.e. sub-teenager), then the need for companionship comes before any other considerations.

Otherwise, you need to take these considerations into account:
- Has your piggy been quarantined at the rescue (i.e. do they need to be quarantined first)?
Have you double-checked the gender of both piggies?
- Give any new piggy time to settle in and get their bearings (at least 2 days but it can take longer). This will mean that they are less stressed out when meeting and less likely to over-react. Don't hurry this stage.
- Always conduct a bonding outside the cage on space that not part of their usual territory so they start on even footing. Once you commit, you have to sit it out and ride the tiger, wherever it is taking you. What you can never predict is whether your piggies will gel or not; that is entirely down to their personalities and the dynamics between them and there is nothing you can change in that respect.
- Do not be tempted to transfer to the cage too early. It pays to leave them in the bonding pen for longer (even a night) so they can work through the rough part of the bonding (the hierarchy part) before they settle in the cage; otherwise you can get another full blown round of dominance and at the worst a territorial over-reaction of the piggy whose cage it is. This is a common mistake.
- Make sure that you only use hideys with two exits and that you sprinkle feed pellets and veg to minimise the usual dominance flashpoints while your girls firm up their bondin the two weeks after the intro. The bonding will only be fully over after this stage.
- Have a plan B at the ready in case your girls do not get on. Once they have made up their mind that they do not suit, they won't change it.

Please take the time to read these two guides here:
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

All the best!