Does the heirarchy ever change?

GeorgesHuman · May 13, 2011

I have 3 boys, George aged 5, Elliot aged 5 months and Oscar who is a little younger than Elliot by a few months. George had been on his own for 4 years til Elliot came along and really isn't interested in establising a pecking order with El, although he does put him in line if Elliot is bugging George. Elliot does challenge George occasionally, but as far as I can see neither pig is 'top pig'.

Along came Oscar a few weeks ago and so the battle to sort out the top pig between El and Oscar ensues. I don't think they've still decided who's boss yet, but when they do, will that be it or could the previously inferior pig challenge top pig and maybe become top pig someday?

Mother Hubbard · May 13, 2011

I don't know to be honest but I'd be interested to know.

When my bloss was under the weather with a bad foot, it was interesting dynamics for a while, the others were unsure for a short time until violet was getting a bit stroppy with the others then eventually blos felt better she reminded them whose the boss...bloss of course. Some rumblstruting, scent marking, hogging food bowls until it sunk in! grrrr

Returned to normal again...but guessing it can with age etc.

Little Piggles · May 13, 2011

I had a bit of an odd time with my girls at one point too. Pippa was always in charge of Willow but she ruled with a gentle paw. Shortly after Pixel was added to my pair, Willow seemed to take over for a short while and then I couldn't really tell who was in charge.

On later adding our neutered Boris, Pippa quickly reminded everyone that she was in charge and if everyone wanted to live here it's her way or the highway!

They are now a very chilled group again and Pippa's dominance is really subtle

The Pog Nation · May 17, 2011

We're experiencing a change with our two boars at the moment. Chewie is the older (Just over a year now) and, until recently, by far the larger of the two and was firmly in charge. Now that Leo is over 6 months and has grown as large if not larger than Chewie we are having a rather tense time with them. Leo is very bolshy and in Chewie's face a lot. For the moment Chewie seems to be dealing with it and accepting that Leo may now take over as the alpha pog. However Chewie's temper may break and end up in a fight. He ended up fighting with the last younger boar he shared a cage with that tried to assert himself. That was a lot sooner than Leo has and Dylan was still half Chewie's size at the time though.

William&Keith · May 17, 2011

I think the pecking order definitely changes.

When Keith was still alive, him and William would always be trying to figure out who's the boss - who gets the best bits of cucumber, who gets to sleep where, etc.

It's only natural for animals to try and be the boss.

When Keith was poorly, William was ever so sweet and didn't try and take over, instead he would snuggle up to him and bring him food.

The want to be boss certainly changed as they got older and bickering soon became less and less. I guess they kind of learnt how to live together

Sharon.Mackay · May 17, 2011

I wonder if this will happen with my boys, Jasper is 15 months and way bigger than Jem who is just 9 weeks. Jas is the obvious boss but Jem shows signs of beig a real tough guy and he is big for his age. He already humps Jas which looks sooooo funny cos of the size! But i wonder if he will take over. Interesting thought

Freela · May 17, 2011

I've read that the pecking order will be re-establised any time a new pig is added to the group. They need to all figure out where they stand all over again! It's part of the reason I keep considering adding a third pig and then getting scared! LOL!

Our original pair was Linney and Frenzy- Linney was definitely head pig, though Frenzy would occasionally get assertive and a minor skirmish would ensue. After Frenzy passed away, we got Sundae... Linney is still the boss pig, and Sundae has never argued with her on the matter! The two get along better than our original pairing, since for whatever reason (age gap? temperament?) Sundae has never even remotely made a play to be top pig. She is very mellow and is a happy number two!

CaseyTiggerPie · May 17, 2011

The hierarchy changed around quite often with my piggies... Casey was always top and then Tig and then Pie. Then Pie challenged Tig and eventually came out up top. Then Tig started challenging Casey and he has been top pig ever since Pie passed...