Combining Two Pairs Of Sows

[ChrisC27]

Hi
We currently have 2 pairs of sows:
Piglet + Peppa we have had for 3 months, they're roughly 6 months old.
Ebony + Honey we have had for 3 weeks, they're about 4 months old we think.

They are currently in commercial cages but I am just putting the finishing touches to CandC cages. The C+C cages are both 4x2 with an L-shaped loft of 4x1(+1).

The 2 cages are in a combined L-shape themselves. I've done this partly to save grids(!) and with the hope that if they could all get along they could have one massive cage for the 4 of them.

I've read guidance on introducing one pig to another and one pig to an existing pair/herd.

Any advice on combining the 2 pairs into a 4?

Is it better to let them get to know each other through the adjoining grids first?

Piglet is very dominant towards Peppa (although when we first got the new girls in the house this seemed to kick off some attempted dominance behaviour in Peppa for a time).

Ebony is the dominant one towards Honey, although they will sometimes cuddle up to each other afterwards while the other two girls never do!

 

[Wiebke]

Whether your girls gel as a group or not is largely due to how dominant your two top sows are and whether they can come to an understanding. It is impossible to tell in advance. I have been through both successful and unsuccessful bondings. I would recommend to have your girls next to each other for a day or two beforehand. if there are hostilities through the grids, I would not proceed.

You may find these threads here helpful:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/

 

[ChrisC27]

Thanks - I've read both of those threads already

 

[biscandmatt]

i'm no expert but living side by side and seeing how they respond to each other seems like the best idea to start with. good luck