Hierarchy questions in Mix-gender herd

AlphaUrd13

AlphaUrd13

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I have read all the threads here about guinea pig bonding that should help me bond my boar Leo with his family of 3 females: Mom (boss of the herd) , sister and aunt. Tomorrow he'll get neutered and the 6 weeks wait will start.

Will the top of the hierarchy go to Leo or can he accept his mom as the leader cuz she's the most dominant - and smartest- of the piggies and Leo is the shy one among them all and the youngest. Would his character help with the bonding? She's also still larger than him which is a matter of time before he outgrows her
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Here's Leo.
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and here are the 3 females, My piggies aren't your usual calm piggies and suffer from veeery intense and aggressive seasons
and that makes Leo way too hyper in trying to get to them and mount them so I'll avoid the bonding when the females are in season and wait a bit more. Any extra tips that weren't mentioned in the pinned threads will be much appreciated.
 

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Size doesn't matter in the hierarchy. Until recently my biggest girl was bottom of the hierarchy but now she's in the middle. My smallest girl is boss and when we had a neutered male he was a boss but only after her. If he wasn't willing to accept that I wouldn't have been able to bond them as she is particularly dominant
 
:agr: Our smallest sow Peggy is the dominant piggy of our trio. Georgie, our boar, is second in command and our largest sow Mavis (a very laid back girly) is quite happy to be third.
We also have two skinny pigs and again Dora (who weighs less than 1kg) is the dominant piggy. She runs rings around her much larger husboar Ginger.
 
AlphaUrd13 said:
I have read all the threads here about guinea pig bonding that should help me bond my boar Leo with his family of 3 females: Mom (boss of the herd) , sister and aunt. Tomorrow he'll get neutered and the 6 weeks wait will start.

Will the top of the hierarchy go to Leo or can he accept his mom as the leader cuz she's the most dominant - and smartest- of the piggies and Leo is the shy one among them all and the youngest. Would his character help with the bonding? She's also still larger than him which is a matter of time before he outgrows her
View attachment 114706
Here's Leo.
View attachment 114707
and here are the 3 females, My piggies aren't your usual calm piggies and suffer from veeery intense and aggressive seasons
and that makes Leo way too hyper in trying to get to them and mount them so I'll avoid the bonding when the females are in season and wait a bit more. Any extra tips that weren't mentioned in the pinned threads will be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

It is what I call 'kudos' that decides where a piggy fetches up in a hierarchy. Force of personality wins the day anytime over size.

Please have your sows vet checked for ovarian cysts. Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

Be aware that adult sows past ideal pup bearing age may not necessarily accept a husboar.
 
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Lady Kelly said:
Size doesn't matter in the hierarchy. Until recently my biggest girl was bottom of the hierarchy but now she's in the middle. My smallest girl is boss and when we had a neutered male he was a boss but only after her. If he wasn't willing to accept that I wouldn't have been able to bond them as she is particularly dominant
Click to expand...
YvonneBlue said:
:agr: Our smallest sow Peggy is the dominant piggy of our trio. Georgie, our boar, is second in command and our largest sow Mavis (a very laid back girly) is quite happy to be third.
We also have two skinny pigs and again Dora (who weighs less than 1kg) is the dominant piggy. She runs rings around her much larger husboar Ginger.
Click to expand...
thank you both for the your insight, my worries melted away. Now I just gotta wait for the bonding day to come and see how it goes.

Btw, Leo's operation went well and he's home munching hay as usual.
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Wiebke said:
It is what I call 'kudos' that decides where a piggy fetches up in a hierarchy. Force of personality wins the day anytime over size.

Please have your sows vet checked for ovarian cysts. Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

Be aware that adult sows past ideal pup bearing age may not necessarily accept a husboar.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the advice. I had them check a while ago and they were alright, perhaps it's their adolescence, they should be one year old around this month with to ungest female being 6 months.
 
YvonneBlue said:
The bonding guides on the forum are very good. Do tell us how it goes. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Yes they are indeed, I've checked them all and will re-read whenever necessary 🤣👍

and sure, I'll have my updates on this same thread.
 
AlphaUrd13 said:
Thank you for the advice. I had them check a while ago and they were alright, perhaps it's their adolescence, they should be one year old around this month with to ungest female being 6 months.
Click to expand...

At that age it is teenage hormones rather than ovarian cysts, which become more common as adult sows age. many sows have strong seasons during the teenage months (see the strong seasons video link!)
 
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