Charlie's 8
New Born Pup
Hi guys,
I am a newbie to this group but I have been a piggy mum for coming up to 2 years now
I am desperately seeking some advice on my cage dynamics and possible suggestions of things I could do to help me resolve some issues.
I have 8 piggies; 7 sows (Maisy, Sharron, Butter, Brownie, Dorris, Maggie-May and Nutmeg) and 1 husboar, Arnold. Maisy and Sharron were my first two piggies and are a very strongly bonded pair. After having my two gorgeous girlies for 1 year I decided to expand their cage and introduce two new 2 month old sows, Butter and Brownie (also a well bonded pair). Introductions took a little longer than expected however after perseverance the group of 4 were getting along very well indeed and a hierarchy formed, everyone accepted their places with Maisy being the clearly dominant sow. Six months down the line I saw an adorable little albino Alpaca sow; Dorris, who I instantly fell in love with. Dorris was accepted almost instantly when introduced which was fantastic however Brownie started challenging Maisy for dominance. At this point I decided to get my male lunk Arnold. He lived in a cage next to my girlies happily up until neutering and for the period after. The time then came for introductions to be made and outside the cage this went very smoothly and everyone was getting along however the problems arose when I again expanded the cage and moved Arnold in. Maisy my dominant sow will not back down and neither will Arnold. Everyone else is getting along well despite Maisy being a little irritable with the other girls but there is regular scuffles between Arnold and Maisy. I separated them both from the main cage for a time out. during this period I had two tiny new baby sows who were dying to get into the main cage with the other girlies and this introduction was great! Everyone is happily playing and eating and just generally having a wonderful time. I decided to see how Maisy would be reintroduced back into the main cage and with utter surprise this also couldn't have gone smoother. Now however I am at a loss at what to do with my husboar Arnold. I do not want to keep him separate from everyone if I don't have to. Will Arnold and Maisy ever be able to get along or will there be a constant dominance battle? Does anyone have any suggestions for things I could try? They have a C&C cage so Arnold is separated however they can still nuzzle and interact through the grids so he doesn't get lonely. I really would love for them all to be able to live happily together. But I am starting to think this may not be possible but I wouldn't want Arnold to be alone so would need to search for a sow to pair him with.
I am a newbie to this group but I have been a piggy mum for coming up to 2 years now
I am desperately seeking some advice on my cage dynamics and possible suggestions of things I could do to help me resolve some issues.I have 8 piggies; 7 sows (Maisy, Sharron, Butter, Brownie, Dorris, Maggie-May and Nutmeg) and 1 husboar, Arnold. Maisy and Sharron were my first two piggies and are a very strongly bonded pair. After having my two gorgeous girlies for 1 year I decided to expand their cage and introduce two new 2 month old sows, Butter and Brownie (also a well bonded pair). Introductions took a little longer than expected however after perseverance the group of 4 were getting along very well indeed and a hierarchy formed, everyone accepted their places with Maisy being the clearly dominant sow. Six months down the line I saw an adorable little albino Alpaca sow; Dorris, who I instantly fell in love with. Dorris was accepted almost instantly when introduced which was fantastic however Brownie started challenging Maisy for dominance. At this point I decided to get my male lunk Arnold. He lived in a cage next to my girlies happily up until neutering and for the period after. The time then came for introductions to be made and outside the cage this went very smoothly and everyone was getting along however the problems arose when I again expanded the cage and moved Arnold in. Maisy my dominant sow will not back down and neither will Arnold. Everyone else is getting along well despite Maisy being a little irritable with the other girls but there is regular scuffles between Arnold and Maisy. I separated them both from the main cage for a time out. during this period I had two tiny new baby sows who were dying to get into the main cage with the other girlies and this introduction was great! Everyone is happily playing and eating and just generally having a wonderful time. I decided to see how Maisy would be reintroduced back into the main cage and with utter surprise this also couldn't have gone smoother. Now however I am at a loss at what to do with my husboar Arnold. I do not want to keep him separate from everyone if I don't have to. Will Arnold and Maisy ever be able to get along or will there be a constant dominance battle? Does anyone have any suggestions for things I could try? They have a C&C cage so Arnold is separated however they can still nuzzle and interact through the grids so he doesn't get lonely. I really would love for them all to be able to live happily together. But I am starting to think this may not be possible but I wouldn't want Arnold to be alone so would need to search for a sow to pair him with.
