Bullying?

[Grabbipig]

Hi everyone,

I recently posted that I was looking to bond my five year old piggy, Pickles, with two younger piggies. Anyway, the piggies are now here and have been living next to Pickles for the past week.

I started the bonding today by bathing them all together this morning, which seemed successful as they all cuddled up together and when I took them out of the bath I put them in a neutral area with some hay and veggies. This also seemed to go well as they all ended up cuddled together and they were grooming each other, so I then put them all in a clean cage with lots of hay, some houses and some toys.

Unfortunately, they all started lunging at each other and appeared to be fighting over the houses. Pickles ended up sat in a corner, scared to move, so I took out all of the houses to see if they would sort things out, which seemed to work for a while.

However, now Pickles is in the corner again and if she tries to eat from a food bowl, the other piggies come over and force her off it. She is also squeaking at them loudly if either of them come near her.

My question is, is this a sign that this is not going to work at all, or is there something more I can try?

Many thanks,

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone,

I recently posted that I was looking to bond my five year old piggy, Pickles, with two younger piggies. Anyway, the piggies are now here and have been living next to Pickles for the past week.

I started the bonding today by bathing them all together this morning, which seemed successful as they all cuddled up together and when I took them out of the bath I put them in a neutral area with some hay and veggies. This also seemed to go well as they all ended up cuddled together and they were grooming each other, so I then put them all in a clean cage with lots of hay, some houses and some toys.

Unfortunately, they all started lunging at each other and appeared to be fighting over the houses. Pickles ended up sat in a corner, scared to move, so I took out all of the houses to see if they would sort things out, which seemed to work for a while.

However, now Pickles is in the corner again and if she tries to eat from a food bowl, the other piggies come over and force her off it. She is also squeaking at them loudly if either of them come near her.

My question is, is this a sign that this is not going to work at all, or is there something more I can try?

Many thanks,

Hi! Unfortunately, you have moved them too early into the cage with the houses, so the dominance phase (leadership and then hierarchy sort out) has not been established on neutral ground.

Please separate for tonight and then start afresh on neutral ground tomorrow.

Pickles is wheeking is submission wheeking; it translates as "don't be mean to me, I am no rival to you."
Please take your time to read through this whole guide here; it is give you a good idea what you are dealing with and what to expect.
Give your girls time to sort out the worst of the dominance in the neutral zone. The dominance phase itself tends to last around two weeks until everything is settled, but it is usually roughest in the first 2-3 days. You will see the worst of the dominance coming from the new #2 in the group as she makes sure against Pickles that she is not losing her standing. That is perfectly normal and par for the course.
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics

 

[Grabbipig]

Hi Wiebke,

Thanks so much for your reply. I will split them up for tonight. So should I be putting them in the neutral area for a time each day and then separating them again for two weeks?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi Wiebke,

Thanks so much for your reply. I will split them up for tonight. So should I be putting them in the neutral area for a time each day and then separating them again for two weeks?

No, you put them in the neutral area for as long as possible tomorrow, by the end of which time they should have sorted out the worst. No hideys, just a big pile of hay in the middle and a couple of water bottles at different ends. Sprinkle any pellets across the floor. They just need to time to work through the big print; the rest of the two weeks is for the small print. The guide I have linked you to is explaining it all in detail, including the behaviours you have to expect.

 

[Swissgreys]

Just wanted to add that when I originally introduced Oreo to the other 3 pigs, they stayed in the neutral area for about 6 hours, and then went into a cage that only had tunnels in it (and boxes with both ends cut off).
It definitely took them over a week to really settle things, and at that point I added houses, etc.

 

[Grabbipig]

Thank you both for your help . I don't have another full day off work to watch them for a while now, so I will wait until I have another full day and try again