Ear biting

[Ethel & The Girls]

Hello all - I've just joined and finding my feet on the forum.

I have two sows who we've had for four weeks now. I thought they had been settling in well together even though I had noticed Ethel biting / nipping Gertrude's ears occasionally. I assumed this was dominance behaviour (Ethel also rumblestruts and mounts Gertrude) but today whilst on poop patrol I noticed a very small amount of blood on the fleece cage liner.

My husband and I picked them both up to check them over and noticed Gertrude's ear appears to have been bitten. My husband has taken this photo. We've not seen any chasing or Ethel launching herself at Gertrude so I'm hopeful it's not aggression. However the sight of blood (even such a small amount is concerning) so wanted to post on here for your thoughts / advice.

The ladies are in a C&C 4x2 cage (with 1x2 loft) and appear to love running around and popcorning in their.

They seem quite happy to eat together - they share food bowls and a hay tray with no squabbling / blocking of each other.

I did have one pigloo to start with and noticed Ethel could be possessive over this so I've added a willow hideaway (open ended so they can run through). This does appear to have helped so I'm now considering removing the pigloo altogether.

Could Ethel's behaviour just be normal dominance / establishing a hierarchy or could it be a sign of aggression?

Thank you all in advance.

 

[Ethel & The Girls]

I forgot to add should I take Gertrude to the vet for a check over?

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum.
A vet check certainly won’t hurt.

There are more experienced people on the forum who will be able to advise better but so far as I know a nip isn’t a major problem unless serious blood is drawn.
When I was bonding 2 pairs of sows my Jemimah ended up with a few nips and scratches and a little blood . The culprit, Priscilla, and she sorted themselves out and are best friends.
Sows do sort out their hierarchy and from what you have said this sounds normal behaviour

 

[Ethel & The Girls]

Welcome to the forum.
A vet check certainly won’t hurt.

There are more experienced people on the forum who will be able to advise better but so far as I know a nip isn’t a major problem unless serious blood is drawn.
When I was bonding 2 pairs of sows my Jemimah ended up with a few nips and scratches and a little blood . The culprit, Priscilla, and she sorted themselves out and are best friends.
Sows do sort out their hierarchy and from what you have said this sounds normal behaviour

Thank you for your reply @Merab's Slave . I'm hoping I'm just being over cautious but better to be safe than sorry!

 

[Merab]

It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
My last vet always said they’d rather see a piggy who was ok but had a concerned owner than one who was too sick because the owner didn’t pick up signs.

 

[Ethel & The Girls]

It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
My last vet always said they’d rather see a piggy who was ok but had a concerned owner than one who was too sick because the owner didn’t pick up signs.

That's so true! Thank you

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

Dominance ear nibbling can occasionally go a bit further than it should. I would recommend to have the ear vet checked.
It can also be the result of a back leg swipe when a nail catches the ear by accident.

It is not the result of a fight, though.

 

[Ethel & The Girls]

Hi!

Dominance ear nibbling can occasionally go a bit further than it should. I would recommend to have the ear vet checked.
It can also be the result of a back leg swipe when a nail catches the ear by accident.

It is not the result of a fight, though.

Hi @Wiebke - thank you for your reply. That's good to hear. I did notice Gertrude sniffing Ethel's bottom last night which resulted in Ethel 'bucking' / kicking out. So after reading your reply I'm guessing the ear incident could have been a result of something similar to that if it wasnt nibbling. I will get Gertrude vet checked as suggested.