Increasing My Chances

[Reenie]

I'm just wondering if there are any tips to increase the chances of my three boars staying bonded. I got three because I was hoping to bond one with a foster I had at the time, and have two pairs, but he was having none of it.
Two are brothers about 15wks and the other has been with them since birth. He's about 12 weeks.
There was a bit of a skirmish with the two bigger ones a week or so ago, and Chicco is now clearly boss-piggie. The little one gets on fine with both of them (at the moment anyway), although Chicco asserts his authority with him too.
I know it's rare for a trio of boars to work, so looking for advice to increase my chances.
Also -if it does go south, should I separate off the boss, or one of the others? I know I could end up with a 3 way split, and I am prepared for that scenario too. Any advice appreciated x

 

[sport_billy]

Get as big a cafe area as possible would be my advice, the larger the area the less on top of each other they are going to feel. They can all have their own space. Unfortunately once hormones kick in it is going to be luck as to if they will stay friends. If it goes south keep rthe ones together that aren't fighting. Hopefully when @Wiebke is around shay be able to offer better advice than myself

 

[Reenie]

Thanks for this. They're currently in a 5x2 C+C with an added 1x1 Lshape with a 3x1 loft cafe on top of the L. I've a couple of panels left so i'll extend the loft and maybe split it into 2 distinct cafe areas in preparation for the teenage shenanigans. My natural tendency would have been to increase the downstairs, but it makes sense that the eating space would be the tinder box, and I hadn't thought about that. Thanks again. Very useful.

 

[Wiebke]

I'm just wondering if there are any tips to increase the chances of my three boars staying bonded. I got three because I was hoping to bond one with a foster I had at the time, and have two pairs, but he was having none of it.
Two are brothers about 15wks and the other has been with them since birth. He's about 12 weeks.
There was a bit of a skirmish with the two bigger ones a week or so ago, and Chicco is now clearly boss-piggie. The little one gets on fine with both of them (at the moment anyway), although Chicco asserts his authority with him too.
I know it's rare for a trio of boars to work, so looking for advice to increase my chances.
Also -if it does go south, should I separate off the boss, or one of the others? I know I could end up with a 3 way split, and I am prepared for that scenario too. Any advice appreciated x

Give your boys as much space as you can afford; if necessary on two levels with full catering, so they can get away from each other if they wish to. Also make sure that access to each area cannot be blocked - rather have two ramps to any upstairs area and use only hideys with two exits. Log tunnels and children's stools are perfect for this, as they prevent cornering.
That is how they get on in society - each boar has their little space. It is the sows tht decide which boar they want to associate with, but fights are very rare as long as boars have got enough space to move and find some space for themselves. It is not a surefire advice, but it will go a long way; if you design your set-up in a way that it can be split comfortably, then it will also make things easier on you. In my own experience, having the option for a plan B where guinea pigs are concerned prevents lots of sleepless nights and headaches...
Just don't expect your three boys wanting to live together and if necessary, be prepared to date the outsider with a new friend in the long term, ideally at a place that allows him to choose to achieve character compatibility.

You are most likely to end up with either one very dominant boy not leaving the other two, two dominant boys getting into trouble with each other and the third getting along with either or the two stronger ganging up on the most submissive boy.
Having three dominant (i.e. a three-way fall-out) or three laid-back (i.e. all boys getting on) boars is statistically much rarer, but your chances are about the same for either. You can play the game with randomly picking three pieces out of a bag of red and white lego (or two different coloured lots of marbles) and see how often you end up with three pieces of the same colour.

 

[Reenie]

Give your boys as much space as you can afford; if necessary on two levels with full catering, so they can get away from each other if they wish to. Also make sure that access to each area cannot be blocked - rather have two ramps to any upstairs area and use only hideys with two exits. Log tunnels and children's stools are perfect for this, as they prevent cornering.
That is how they get on in society - each boar has their little space. It is the sows tht decide which boar they want to associate with, but fights are very rare as long as boars have got enough space to move and find some space for themselves. It is not a surefire advice, but it will go a long way; if you design your set-up in a way that it can be split comfortably, then it will also make things easier on you. In my own experience, having the option for a plan B where guinea pigs are concerned prevents lots of sleepless nights and headaches...
Just don't expect your three boys wanting to live together and if necessary, be prepared to date the outsider with a new friend in the long term, ideally at a place that allows him to choose to achieve character compatibility.

You are most likely to end up with either one very dominant boy not leaving the other two, two dominant boys getting into trouble with each other and the third getting along with either or the two stronger ganging up on the most submissive boy.
Having three dominant (i.e. a three-way fall-out) or three laid-back (i.e. all boys getting on) boars is statistically much rarer, but your chances are about the same for either. You can play the game with randomly picking three pieces out of a bag of red and white lego (or two different coloured lots of marbles) and see how often you end up with three pieces of the same colour.

Thank you so much for this. I knew I was taking a gamble with three, but so far so good - very early days though. I will definitely have another look at my layout. It would be easy to split into two as it stands, and three involves a cage too, but I've one on standby. I'm giving them plenty floor time too (although this is currently when I'm seeing most of the dominance). Thanks again for your help with this.