Bonding two pairs together?

[Goldie]

Hi guys ... any advice would be greatly received.

I have 9 piggies in total. My hubby is going to build me some new hutches to replace the other ones in my shed. We are going to build as big as we can get to go through the door (originally I hadn't thought of the logistics of getting the hutches through the door, I just measured the inside of my shed and thought hey, 6ft long x 2ft wide, that'll be fab! ;D).

Anyway the question really is this - I have 2 pairs of piggies ... Stuart & Sparrow (who is a sow) and Rikkyboy and Josie .... both living in pairs in 3 foot hutches. Both Stuart and Rikkyboy are neutered, infact Rikkyboy is the dad and Josie is the Mum of Stuart & Sparrow. Do you think they would live happily together in one hutch? I know it usually comes down to personalities and trying them out on neutral territory, bit by bit. But has anyone else done this please?

 

[MemberX]

Is it 1 Boar in the 4 some or is it 2? If 2 then it would be rare for them to get along. usually it is 1 boar with a herd of sows.

It may work if 1 boar is very submissve but I personally wouldn't chance it. If it is only 1 boar for the group than fine!

I have bonded 2 pairs of sows and just stuck them in a new environment and watched them for a while.

 

[Goldie]

It is two boars and two sows so that is why I am very unsure. They are both really happy in their pairings and I don't want to upset them, just thought it would be nice if they had a very large hutch to run around in. I haven't the run at the moment for each to have a large 5ft x 2ft hutch in my shed.

My guess is that it will not be possible though but wondered if anyone else that tried this in the past.

 

[roninnorfolk]

Ultimetly the only way to find out is to try it!
I had Bing and the Andrew sisters (1 neutered boar and 3 sows)next to Merlin and the Welsh 'ladies' (1 neutered boar and 11 sows) with no problems as son as i introduced them Bing went potty running around first went for Merlin then he started attacking the girls chasing etc had to get Bing out and calm for an hour before seperating every one off again the sows loved it in the group but now Bing and Patty are rehomed and happy!
You can never tell until!

 

[joosie miss loosie]

please don't put two boars together with sows, even if the boars are neutered.

we tried this with a bonded pair of neutered boys. the boys had lived together for approx 9 months and no probs. we took RSPCA advice, after a few introductions with opur girls it looked as if they would settle. so we housed them all in a brand new massive hutch. within days serious blood had been shed.. it seems as soon a females became involved they would fight to the death. we had to take one of the boars out. the girls has accepted gus, so howard was now on his own.

we now have two seperate groups. the whole experience was very distressing. If you don't need to try then please dont. because of the introduction, we couldn't put howard back with his brother, so he spent sometime on his own. a couple of months after we seperated, the oh thought he would try another go at bonding howard back with his brother gus, it was on neutral territory, they flew at each other, and rob ended up with a really nasty bite that reqiured stiches. Its such a shame. we will never have 2 males in a group of sows.

 

[mackpossum]

Wouldn't recommend putting two boys and two girls together.....the boys will fight, regardless if they are neutered or not. The minute a girl is involved they fight to death.... male thing!
So if you can avoid the whole scenario, please do so for your piggies sake!

 

[Goldie]

Thanks for the advice. They are happy as they are in their pairings. I don't think it was a good idea so I won't attempt it.
Also now that Rikkyboy is not well , I will leave things as they are.

My hubby is going to make me some new hutches which will be 5ft by 2ft by 18" high with one on top of the other. So I will house 3 piggies in one, and a pair each in the other two. Then two smaller hutches for my other two, who are now housed alone.