Dominant Piggie Guarding Half the Cage?

[mstarpiggie]

Hi,
So my dominant female piggie has been guarding half of the cage lately. They have a very big cage plus a loft so I wouldn't think she would feels like she doesn't have enough space. I have three females, the dominant one was a solitary pig all of her life (she's 4 now) until her old owner asked me to take her about a month ago. She is massive and easily agitated by most things but overall she has been getting on well with my other two once dominance was established. I noticed one of my other girls rumble strutting at her about two or three days ago and ever since then she is guarding half of the cage pretty intensly. She is lunging a lot, she will come up behind them and nip their bums, rumble strutting almost constantly and she will lie in the middle of the cage so she can see the other two and will stop them from coming to "her side". Is this all just because my other girl challenged her? I haven't had a piggie who is as intensely dominant as she is before and sometimes it seems like she does bully the smallest piggie but they all have enough space and hides to get away from each other. I just feel bad because when my younger two get the zoomies and want to play and run, she gets mad and tries to immediately dominate them. Is this something I should wait out?

 

[mstarpiggie]

I also just rearranged and fully cleaned the cage yesterday to try to see if that might help but it doesn't seem so

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
So my dominant female piggie has been guarding half of the cage lately. They have a very big cage plus a loft so I wouldn't think she would feels like she doesn't have enough space. I have three females, the dominant one was a solitary pig all of her life (she's 4 now) until her old owner asked me to take her about a month ago. She is massive and easily agitated by most things but overall she has been getting on well with my other two once dominance was established. I noticed one of my other girls rumble strutting at her about two or three days ago and ever since then she is guarding half of the cage pretty intensly. She is lunging a lot, she will come up behind them and nip their bums, rumble strutting almost constantly and she will lie in the middle of the cage so she can see the other two and will stop them from coming to "her side". Is this all just because my other girl challenged her? I haven't had a piggie who is as intensely dominant as she is before and sometimes it seems like she does bully the smallest piggie but they all have enough space and hides to get away from each other. I just feel bad because when my younger two get the zoomies and want to play and run, she gets mad and tries to immediately dominate them. Is this something I should wait out?

Hi!

I would recommend to have your dominant girl checked for ovarian cysts. They are very common in adult sows and are the most common cause for any disruptive/antisocial behaviour in them.

You can find more information on ovarian cysts and treatment options in this guide here: Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)