Guinea pig social dilemma, 4 males

[free range guinea pig]

I have three free-range males (this means they sleep in their hutches and its open for roaming in the day). Here is my problem...
Pig 1 is the ladyboy and everyone wants to mate with him.
Pig 2 is tiny and is in love with Pig 1. I took him on from a rescue centre because all the other guinea pigs beat him up. He is in love with Pig 1 and they cage together.
Pig 3 arrived (all its cage mates had died and I offered to take it on free range). He is very dominant and wanted to mate with pig 1 but was very aggressive. After he lost a mating fight with pig 2 both pigs now ignore him. He now lives solo and cages alone. I thought he must be lonely so have introduced...
Pig 4. However! Lonely pig 3 ignores him and pig 1 wants to mate with him, and tiny pig 2 is jealous. Oh what to do, what to do?

Is he, as an older indoor pig, going to be happier as an indoor guinea with no friends or an outdoor guinea with lots of social action? He is 4 years old, looks old, has always been an indoor guinea not outdoor.

PS Guineas generally adore being free range rather than in a cage.
PPS If you are free range you can easily escape from fights.
PPPS I am currently trying pairing 3 and 4 on neutral territory.

 

[Swissgreys]

Welcome to the Forum.

As you have already discovered larger groups of males can be complicated to manage.

You may find our guide here useful:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

The good news is that it sounds like you clearly have one established and stable pair with Pig 1 and Pig 2.
If it were me I would make sure they still have plenty of space but would also come up with a way to keep them separate form the other boys.
This could prevent future injuries or falling out.
In the event of a full on fight there is never any guarantee that one won't get injured, no matter how big the space.

Pig 4 is not particularly old at the 4 - more middle aged really, so could have many years ahead of him.
He could adapt to live outside, but a lot will depend on your set up and how you make sure the boys are kept warm and dry in the Winter months if they also still free range.
Are they in a shed? It would help if we had more information about your hutch and free range set up.

You could try to do a proper bonding between Pig 3 and Pig 4 and see if they would live as a pair, separate from the other two to reduce the social complexity?

 

[free range guinea pig]

Welcome to the Forum.

As you have already discovered larger groups of males can be complicated to manage.

You may find our guide here useful:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

The good news is that it sounds like you clearly have one established and stable pair with Pig 1 and Pig 2.
If it were me I would make sure they still have plenty of space but would also come up with a way to keep them separate form the other boys.
This could prevent future injuries or falling out.
In the event of a full on fight there is never any guarantee that one won't get injured, no matter how big the space.

Pig 4 is not particularly old at the 4 - more middle aged really, so could have many years ahead of him.
He could adapt to live outside, but a lot will depend on your set up and how you make sure the boys are kept warm and dry in the Winter months if they also still free range.
Are they in a shed? It would help if we had more information about your hutch and free range set up.

You could try to do a proper bonding between Pig 3 and Pig 4 and see if they would live as a pair, separate from the other two to reduce the social complexity?

They are free-range outside all year (unless about -3) in an enormous garden with lots of wild spaces. They go back to their hutches themselves at bedtime. I heavily insulate the hutches in winter. That's definitely an idea to separate them, but I need to do some prep work first. I'm just wondering if I've bitten off more than I can chew in my quest for happy guinea pigs! Thanks for the link to the guide.

 

[Siikibam]

They shouldn’t be free range when it’s too cold for you to be comfortable in a t shirt and bare feet. Even 10c is too cold for them to be out.

I think you can still pair them up and give them the lifestyle they’re used to. Is there a way you could ‘split’ the garden so they have their own areas (in their pairs) and can reach them freely? Perhaps a play pen divider of some sort? Is the area they free roam covered by anything?

 

[Piggies&buns]

You mentioned you had piggy 3 and 4 on neutral territory. How did that bonding go?
Ensure pig 1 and 2, as they seem to have compatibility and be a good pair, don’t have access to the other piggies. Allowing this to happen can break their bond and disrupt all other potential bonds. Boars really do best in pairs only.

The best case scenario out of a boar quartet is two separate pairs; the worst case is it can break all bonds and all four end up single.
If the bonding between 3 and 4 failed, then the alternative is one pair with 1 and 2 Living together. And with piggies 3 and 4 needing to live separately. So three hutches and run spaces required in total.

Unfortunately the Uk isn’t the right sort of climate for constant free ranging - it’s too damp and cold unless it is mid summer. Piggies are most comfortable between 18 and 22 degrees and below 15 (definitely below 10) is too cold and it’s too damp by then.

Mine free range in a shed with a hutch inside the shed. This is 24/7 during summer (although they have a separate lawn run for the days when I’m able to supervise their grass time). Between October and April their lawn time stops completely as it’s too damp and cold for them to be out but they still have daytime access out of the hutch Into the shed floor. They get locked into the hutch at night with heat pads once late autumn arrives and not allowed access into the shed at night (still able to come out in the day while it’s warm enough) until the following April. It’s the only way I can ensure they are definitely kept above 10 degrees at all times.