Fighting Again, Getting Disheartened.

[helloitsbecca]

Hello, I posted a couple of weeks ago about my boars fighting. They are nearly 8 months old.

I did an overnight separation and introduced them on neutral ground and they were fine, still some rumblestrutting and dominance behaviour but no fights. They even slept in beds next to each other and sat eating hay together as well as their veggies.

This evening they started fighting again. It was only for literally a second, someone lunged and they were like 1 ball of fluff and then they separated and one ran away. I have separated them for now but they are biting the dividers again to get back to each other and one of them keeps wheeking really loudly for the other. I took each of them out individually and there is no wounds, no blood, no scratches, not even any hair pulled out.

I don't really know what this means to be honest and I am getting a bit disheartened with the whole thing. I am considering putting one of them up for adoption, as I don't think I can take the stress. I have quite a stressful job and I feel like I'm constantly worrying about the boys while I am at work.

 

[Swissgreys]

I just wanted to pop in and offer my sympathies.
It is so tough when a bonded pair fall out, but not clearly falling out with blood etc.

I recently had to separate my 4 pigs into 2 groups of 2, and initially when they went back into the C&C (with a divider obviously) Lucy kept biting the bars, and laying by the bars, and Eddi and Oreo would come up to her, and bite the bars too.
I felt they really wanted to be back together and had had a chance to calm down, so I tried reintroducing them again.
Like the last time, it all went well for a while, but ultimately broke down.

I have now just accepted that this is unlikely to work long term, and like you I was in constant fear that it would all kick off when I wasn't at home, and someone would be seriously injured.
I am not an expert and I am sure others will offer more boar specific advice, but I would say if this has happened twice and is causing you a lot of stress then separating permanently may be the best option.
I think with repeated fights there does come a point when you just need to make that 'final' decision, and avoid stressing everyone repeatedly.

Do you have a local rescue you could contact?
They might be able to help bond one of your current boys, and rehome the other one if you are only able to accommodate a pair.

I hope you come up with a solution soon so you can start enjoying piggie ownership again.

 

[helloitsbecca]

I just wanted to pop in and offer my sympathies.
It is so tough when a bonded pair fall out, but not clearly falling out with blood etc.

I recently had to separate my 4 pigs into 2 groups of 2, and initially when they went back into the C&C (with a divider obviously) Lucy kept biting the bars, and laying by the bars, and Eddi and Oreo would come up to her, and bite the bars too.
I felt they really wanted to be back together and had had a chance to calm down, so I tried reintroducing them again.
Like the last time, it all went well for a while, but ultimately broke down.

I have now just accepted that this is unlikely to work long term, and like you I was in constant fear that it would all kick off when I wasn't at home, and someone would be seriously injured.
I am not an expert and I am sure others will offer more boar specific advice, but I would say if this has happened twice and is causing you a lot of stress then separating permanently may be the best option.
I think with repeated fights there does come a point when you just need to make that 'final' decision, and avoid stressing everyone repeatedly.

Do you have a local rescue you could contact?
They might be able to help bond one of your current boys, and rehome the other one if you are only able to accommodate a pair.

I hope you come up with a solution soon so you can start enjoying piggie ownership again.

Thank you! I'm sorry your foursome didn't work out, I remember reading the thread and it sounded much worse than my two.

This is the first time they have properly went for each other like that, the last 'fight' wasn't really that bad. one of them lunged and then that was it, no actual contact. I think I may have overreacted the last time!

I have put Angus into the playpen with fleece, towels and puppy pads and William is in the cage, as he is the reigning boss pig. I just couldn't stand the biting of the divider anymore. I had them together in the playpen for about 20mins before I separated them again and they were okay. Teeth chattering but no fighting. They would chatter at each other and run away!

I think I may order a 2x6 cage once I get paid. They are in a 2x5 at the moment. Maybe more space would help. I don't want to give up on them being together, but it makes me sad when they fight. Also, William is popcorning at the moment but Angus is wheeking like a baby like he always does when they are separated. Maybe William is just a 'lone wolf' - he never did seem to enjoy Angus' company! Poor Angus just wants to be close to William all the time

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, I posted a couple of weeks ago about my boars fighting. They are nearly 8 months old.

I did an overnight separation and introduced them on neutral ground and they were fine, still some rumblestrutting and dominance behaviour but no fights. They even slept in beds next to each other and sat eating hay together as well as their veggies.

This evening they started fighting again. It was only for literally a second, someone lunged and they were like 1 ball of fluff and then they separated and one ran away. I have separated them for now but they are biting the dividers again to get back to each other and one of them keeps wheeking really loudly for the other. I took each of them out individually and there is no wounds, no blood, no scratches, not even any hair pulled out.

I don't really know what this means to be honest and I am getting a bit disheartened with the whole thing. I am considering putting one of them up for adoption, as I don't think I can take the stress. I have quite a stressful job and I feel like I'm constantly worrying about the boys while I am at work.

Your boys are currently going through the last really tricky period, which rarely leads to fall-outs, but which is often going right to the limit.
I am tagging @LisaAli for you; they are our most local mod to you.

 

[helloitsbecca]

Thanks @Wiebke! They had been separated overnight and all day as I was at work and didn't have time to attempt to bond them again this morning. Will see how it goes tonight when I get them on neutral ground. Hopefully they have had time to relax.

Do you think that lack of floortime could have added to their fighting? They are pretty much in the cage all the time at the moment as I am clearing out my house and moving furniture around, so there's a lack of floor space for them to run around in (the house is a bit like one of those hoarder programmes!), except the bathroom and it's quite small. They haven't really been out for floor time for maybe 3 weeks. I feel like an awful owner now that i've typed that.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks @Wiebke! They had been separated overnight and all day as I was at work and didn't have time to attempt to bond them again this morning. Will see how it goes tonight when I get them on neutral ground. Hopefully they have had time to relax.

Do you think that lack of floortime could have added to their fighting? They are pretty much in the cage all the time at the moment as I am clearing out my house and moving furniture around, so there's a lack of floor space for them to run around in (the house is a bit like one of those hoarder programmes!), except the bathroom and it's quite small. They haven't really been out for floor time for maybe 3 weeks. I feel like an awful owner now that i've typed that.

I would think that it is contributing, especially when the hormones are poking. I've just given my little 6 months old boy ground floor time, as he's become a bit of a pest for his companion boar. Nye has been neutered a week ago and been cooped up in the boys' cage for a week to make sure that he is healing well (which he is). He did zoom and popcorn like mad for about an hour and peace has now returned...

 

[LisaAli]

Hiya,

Sorry to hear you having a bit of a traumatic time with your boys.. Where about in Scotland are you.. anywhere near Fife.. ?

Lisa & Ali..

 

[helloitsbecca]

I would think that it is contributing, especially when the hormones are poking. I've just given my little 6 months old boy ground floor time, as he's become a bit of a pest for his companion boar. Nye has been neutered a week ago and been cooped up in the boys' cage for a week to make sure that he is healing well (which he is). He did zoom and popcorn like mad for about an hour and peace has now returned...

That's good to know. I have taken a long weekend from work, so am planning on taking all of the stuff I have cleared out to the rubbish dump/recycling centre/charity shops so hopefully I will be able to let them out for better floor time again. They are currently in the bathroom, I am sitting in my bedroom watching them as it is across the hall. They are doing mild dominance behaviours, rumblestrutting etc. There was some chattering but it didn't last long, although i just witnessed Angus nipping at William's face (no contact) but I believe this is also quite normal. Whilst they have been out, I have cleaned the cage, totally changed out all of the fleece and toys (the new ones they got for Xmas are now being used!). They only have cuddle cups in the cage (Xmas themed as the rest are either in the wash or drying haha), no hideys except their wooden stick tunnel, which I thought would be okay, and I am adding the spare hay tray to the main area as well as the food bowls and water bottles so that there is one of those in the loft and one in the main area. Hopefully this will help a bit.

 

[helloitsbecca]

Hiya,

Sorry to hear you having a bit of a traumatic time with your boys.. Where about in Scotland are you.. anywhere near Fife.. ?

Lisa & Ali..

Hello Thank you, it's quite an anxious time in this house at the moment. I am on the west coast so pretty much the complete opposite side lol!

 

[helloitsbecca]

Update:

Put them back in the cage and one was chasing and nipping at the otherast night so I split the cage. Probably the wrong thing to do as this is normal behaviour I believe but I was in tears by that point so had to save my sanity. One of the main areas of contention is the hay loft, so I have decided to remove it and extend to a 2x6 so they have more space and also so that they can both be in the proper 2x3 should they need to be permanantely separated. Gutted because the loft really kept the hay mess to a minimum haha! The things we do for piggies!

There is currently a lot of bar chewing trying to get back to each other. I feel bad for them but I also don't want anyone to get hurt.