Can The Little Pig Be The Dominant Pig?

[Kylie80]

I've had my two little terrors for ten months and no matter how much I observe them I can never decide which is the dominant one. They seem to be both evenly matched and don't take crap from each other and take turns at trying to force each other chin/noses up. I know that Coco used to be the dominant one but she has since mellowed out after several months of strong seasons and now it's Patchy's turn for the strong seasons (yay...not) and she seems to want to dominate Coco but Coco won't have any part of it. Is it even possible that neither of them are the dominant one and can the little piggy that's 100gm smaller than her giant sister ever be the dominant one?

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

I had the exact same thing with my first two! My little one Bella was the runt of the litter and had strong seasons and would hump Cissy who I assumed was the boss piggy.

Turned out she was still the boss piggy, she was just really patient with her sister bless her

I only noticed a distinct hierarchy when I introduced my other two girls, before then I was very confused as to who was boss!

 

[Wiebke]

I've had my two little terrors for ten months and no matter how much I observe them I can never decide which is the dominant one. They seem to be both evenly matched and don't take crap from each other and take turns at trying to force each other chin/noses up. I know that Coco used to be the dominant one but she has since mellowed out after several months of strong seasons and now it's Patchy's turn for the strong seasons (yay...not) and she seems to want to dominate Coco but Coco won't have any part of it. Is it even possible that neither of them are the dominant one and can the little piggy that's 100gm smaller than her giant sister ever be the dominant one?

In short - yes! Dominance doesn't rely on size, but on personality.

My Tribe First Lady for several years, Nia, was one of the smallest sows in the group, for instance, despite her sister Nerys being the largest of the group that grew to 12 piggies during that time - and yet it was energetic Nia who had all the push.

 

[Freela]

Yes, the littler one (or the younger one) can be dominant. It's not about size, it's about personality. In some pairs it can be difficult to tell who is the dominant pig. Others leave no room for doubt! Rest assured that the pigs always know, even if the human is in doubt. At present Hadley has been the dominant pig in each pairing (she was the boss of Sundae and now is the boss of Leela), but it's hard to tell. She is a pretty benevolent ruler. When we had Linney, who was the boss of Frenzy and then of Sundae, it was very easy to see that Linney was the boss. She was a tyrant queen! LOL!

 

[Betsy]

Not sure who the boss is of my neutered males but Velvet is the boss over everybody. That is abundantly clear! The others don't dare eat their veg if she's not around! She has to sniff it first and have first pick or else!