Dominant Behaviour Again

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Flamestriker

Flamestriker

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image.webp I had a cage change recently - removed the platform - and added bendy logs for hidies and I think the girls are going through the dominant behaviours all over again. Plus they are going in a new pen daily for an hour or two.

Should I keep them in the cage until they settle down, or should I continue giving them pen time? How long will the behaviour last this time? They are almost 13 weeks old
 
Flamestriker said:
View attachment 51748 I had a cage change recently - removed the platform - and added bendy logs for hidies and I think the girls are going through the dominant behaviours all over again. Plus they are going in a new pen daily for an hour or two.

Should I keep them in the cage until they settle down, or should I continue giving them pen time? How long will the behaviour last this time? They are almost 13 weeks old
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I'm not an expert on behaviours so can only comment based on my past approx 2 1/2 years of experience of girl piggies but I would continue with the daily pen time. They will continue with little squabbles and displays of dominance throughout their time living together. I've read it can be "worse"/happen more when they are in season - which is a fairly regular event.

People move around stuff in their piggies cages quite a lot. It might be a cause but it might not. I've not noticed a particular increase in dominance behaviour with ours if I've changed what's in their set up. Yours are still quite young and so I'd expect they've possibly still got a bit of agreeing to do about who will be top pig.
 
My girls are a very similar age to yours and I also noticed quite an increase in dominance behaviour recently. Lots of teeth chattering and rumbling and some rumble strutting as well. And on most days so it can't be related to being in season. I did notice that it was mostly happening in their hidey houses. I use cardboard boxes as hideys, and one was bigger than the other. I found two identical boxes, cut them the same, and replaced the ones I had with those. There's a still a bit of dominance behaviour but nowhere near as much.
I do definitely also notice it more when they've been out the cage or when I've done the full cage clean though. Sadly I don't seem to be getting them out for floor time more than twice a week at the moment (luckily they do seem to have plenty of space for running in the cage).
 
Thank you for your answers. I was not happy with the cage so I moved a bendy log leaving a gap behind it and replaced the other with a chub filled with hay. No piggy can get caught if chased and there is more room to zoom.

Smudge was popcorning and I think Poppy did when she thought that I was not looking. Poppy seems to have regressed a bit and is very timid now and seems scared to death of me. She wasn't this bad several days ago
 
Strangely enough the same thing happened with my more confident sow.
Patches was always the most confident with me (and in the cage she still is), but suddenly when I take her out for lap time she burrows away frantically and seems desperate to get away and hide, like she's terrified.
Nia, on the other hand, who's always been the most scared of me now seems to be getting quite confident during lap time and even lets me hold her quite a bit!

these pigs are confusing!
 
I will let them get used to the pen before I continue with any cuddle sessions as Poppy could be a bit overwhelmed especially with Smudge and her dominant behaviours
 
I have found similar. First cage clean today and they seemed to be fine but when they went back in there was all the dominance again. Grace even sprayed urine on Bella and lots of squeaking even when Bella goes near (Bella is the dominant piggy, I think). In a way it's good to know other people have similar experiences.
 
The girls seem to have settled down a lot in the last two days. They like their new pen (one of the large fabric pens from Zooplus) and I have placed two large chubs, a carrot ball filled with hay (from P&H) a Trixie frame filled with hay, a fleece hat (one I don't use) bendy sticks, and a log full of hay. They have their afternoon veggies in the pen now.

They still have the odd squabble, but I'm waiting for the hormones to kick in with dread.
 
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