bonding-when to relax?

[gingy pig]

hi, I'm bonding Woody 3 yrs with 6-8 week old Wilfred.
2 hours in and all seems ok, so far we've had rumblestrutting, mounting & a small bit of chasing from Woody.
Wilfred has been humping Woodys head & back-but quickly bucked off & rumbled at. both have been eating alongside each other ok .Woody has done a bit of bum slinging at Wilfred which I'm assuming is just saying leave me alone?
just wondering when i can relax and back off from watching constantly!

 

[Wiebke]

hi, I'm bonding Woody 3 yrs with 6-8 week old Wilfred.
2 hours in and all seems ok, so far we've had rumblestrutting, mounting & a small bit of chasing from Woody.
Wilfred has been humping Woodys head & back-but quickly bucked off & rumbled at. both have been eating alongside each other ok .Woody has done a bit of bum slinging at Wilfred which I'm assuming is just saying leave me alone?
just wondering when i can relax and back off from watching constantly!

The most critical stage is usually once the boys wake up from a shared nap. You have to see that one through.

Please take the time to read our bonding guide. The good news is that it is going well and behaviours are well within acceptable limits. We have got lots of illustrated social interactive behaviours as well as detailed bonding advice, including tips for bonding boars with babies in the guide, inlcuding when it is safe to move them to their cage.

Make sure that you have only hideys with two exits in the cage and that the little one has a safe place with exits on opposite side that the adult cannot get into if the dominance and the mounting is getting too much.

Right now they are in the middle of working out their hierarchy and cannot be moved or left alone.
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics

 

[gingy pig]

thanks for the reply.
Well, its been 24 hours & all seems good!
both seem to be keeping a respectful distance & sleeping in separate areas, they are happy to eat from the same pile of hay and veggies. have had a bit of chasing/humping last night but seems to have been half hearted .
fingers crossed it continues like this.

 

[Wiebke]

thanks for the reply.
Well, its been 24 hours & all seems good!
both seem to be keeping a respectful distance & sleeping in separate areas, they are happy to eat from the same pile of hay and veggies. have had a bit of chasing/humping last night but seems to have been half hearted .
fingers crossed it continues like this.

You can relax - your boys have worked through the roughest bit of the bonding process and are now settling down together well. You will see the odd dominance behaviour, but with babies the dominance phase is usually dramatic but very short. You just have to accept that babies are very vocal and dramatic. Humping and rumblestrutting is part of normal boar life.

 

[gingy pig]

brilliant! cant wait to see both personalities emerge- Woody has been alone for a while & is a very shy boy,be nice to see him come alive with his new friend :-)

 

[VickiA]

Sounds like all is going well. Look forward to seeing photos.