Bonding Boar With 2 Sows. Sow Chasing Boar

[xkatymayx]

My boy is 5.5 years old and recently lost both of his ladies, one passed away 30/10/16 the second passed away 28/12/16. He has been living alone in a cage next to his brother and his 2 ladies. My boy would sit and look into his brothers cage and would squeak a lot for attention. He seemed to be sad and lonely.

Today I took him to a rescue who had 2 ladies that were already in a 3 with another boar. Their original boar is going to be paired with other piggies. The 2 ladies and my boy met each other on neutral ground, one of them, the submissive sow Camilla, took an interest in him and sniffed each others bottoms etc. The other sow Faith, just stayed still and didn't move even when the boy went over to her and sniffed her. It seemed to be OK as there was no fighting etc, so they're now all in a big cage together. They've only been there for 6 hours as a group.

I am concerned that Faith who appears to be the dominant sow out of the 2 of the girls is bullying the boy. She chases him a little and the boy runs away and hides in the house. He doesn't really come out of the house. The boy hasn't rumbled at all at the girls. He doesn't really rumble anymore anyway, he stopped rumbling at his previous girls about 6 months ago. He has a problem with his tooth at the moment and he's on the skinny side, he used to be big back in his day.

Will this get better? Or will I have to try again with pairing the boy?

 

[xkatymayx]

Left-Right. Faith, Camilla, Button (boy)

 

[Kate187]

I bonded a new boar to 2 sows a few months ago. Lots of ups and downs and nervous moments but I think you need to give them a few weeks to settle before you make a decision. I thought one of my girls would never leave the poor boy alone, she followed him round chattering and snapping for ages. But now the 3 of them love each other. After about 2 weeks they were pretty much settled.

 

[Kate187]

He has gorgeous colours!

 

[Wiebke]

My boy is 5.5 years old and recently lost both of his ladies, one passed away 30/10/16 the second passed away 28/12/16. He has been living alone in a cage next to his brother and his 2 ladies. My boy would sit and look into his brothers cage and would squeak a lot for attention. He seemed to be sad and lonely.

Today I took him to a rescue who had 2 ladies that were already in a 3 with another boar. Their original boar is going to be paired with other piggies. The 2 ladies and my boy met each other on neutral ground, one of them, the submissive sow Camilla, took an interest in him and sniffed each others bottoms etc. The other sow Faith, just stayed still and didn't move even when the boy went over to her and sniffed her. It seemed to be OK as there was no fighting etc, so they're now all in a big cage together. They've only been there for 6 hours as a group.

I am concerned that Faith who appears to be the dominant sow out of the 2 of the girls is bullying the boy. She chases him a little and the boy runs away and hides in the house. He doesn't really come out of the house. The boy hasn't rumbled at all at the girls. He doesn't really rumble anymore anyway, he stopped rumbling at his previous girls about 6 months ago. He has a problem with his tooth at the moment and he's on the skinny side, he used to be big back in his day.

Will this get better? Or will I have to try again with pairing the boy?

This is normal dominance behaviour, and it should die down eventually.
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Sow Behaviour

 

[xkatymayx]

Thank you for your replies. They have helped to reassure me. It seems to have got better today, the larger lady chased the boy again this morning but since then they have been alright together, sitting together to eat pellets/hay. Fingers crossed things improve more and they all live happily. My boy was desperately squeaking when he was on his own, he hasn't squeaked like that since he's been with these 2 ladies. I want him to be happy. And selfishly I love these 2 girls, I've always wanted long haired ones!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for your replies. They have helped to reassure me. It seems to have got better today, the larger lady chased the boy again this morning but since then they have been alright together, sitting together to eat pellets/hay. Fingers crossed things improve more and they all live happily. My boy was desperately squeaking when he was on his own, he hasn't squeaked like that since he's been with these 2 ladies. I want him to be happy. And selfishly I love these 2 girls, I've always wanted long haired ones!

It sounds very par for the course. Take heart - the piggies wouldn't sit and eat together if they hadn't already bonded. They are currently just working out the fine print on their marriage contract.