Is Separation Best? Re: Barbering.

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Flutterby

Flutterby

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Hello,

So the last few days I have noticed that Tikka my sow is being Barbered quite badly. She's lived with the 4 other ladies she's with for the past 6 months and I have had no problems. My oldest lady and 'top of the pack' passed away not so long back and that's when the dynamics of the group changed a little.

Originally it was Tikka and Peri. Then I added Chilli and Sasla two 12 week old sows. Not a problem. A couple of months later I adopted Mavis and Dory, two sows in their senior years. Had no problems apart from Peri and Mavis sorting out who's boss and the nothing for a long while. Now that Peri has passed I feel Mavis has took over her title as 'queen bee' and is barbering Tikka. I can't see any barbering on any of my other ladies and Tikka is a very shy and laid back piggy (with a grumpy side a times).

My plan to find out who is barbering is to split my C+C and put Mavis and her original partner Dory in one section and Tikka, Chilli and Salsa in the other to see if mavis is the culprit.

My question is, am I doing the right thing? The girls will still be technically in the same cage just not able to 'get at eachother' until i find out who's doing what. If at the end of the day they have to split it's not a problem as I have the space to do this and i'll do anything to keep my pigs happy :)

Any advice greatly appreciated :)
 
Unless the barbering is very bad and right down to the skin, I would leave your girls together. Quite often, it passes again. And very often, it is not the top sow that is doing the barbering, rather an underpiggy. Occasionally, piggies can also self barber.

It is currently the head sow of my Tribe Hedydd that has a nibbled back end courtesy of my elderly piggy Ffraid since their exile in the kitchen due to building work... ;)
 
Ok thanks Wiebke, I'll hang fire for now. The barbering isn't down to the skin, but its a large patch over her shoulder and neck, she's a long haired piggy so its very easy to see where it's been done, look's like someone has taken the clippers to her! I'll keep an eye on it and see if I can pinpoint the culprit! I don't think for one minute it's bothering Tikka, so that's a good start :)
 
Flutterby said:
Ok thanks Wiebke, I'll hang fire for now. The barbering isn't down to the skin, but its a large patch over her shoulder and neck, she's a long haired piggy so its very easy to see where it's been done, look's like someone has taken the clippers to her! I'll keep an eye on it and see if I can pinpoint the culprit! I don't think for one minute it's bothering Tikka, so that's a good start :)
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Long-haired piggies or crosses with only partially long hair are much more prone to being barbered, but it can happen to all piggies. Thankfully, it will grow back pretty quickly. At the extreme, your long-hair will end up with an all-over shorthair coat for a while.
 
Oh that's good to know! It will save me clipping her in the spring! :P Thanks for the advice Wiebke :)
 
Hmm.. now I've noticed that Mavis (who I thought was the original culprit) has a few new area's or barbering, and salsa has a patch. That means It's either Dory or Chilli. I bank Dory lol x
 
Unless you can catch them at it, it can be quite difficult to find out the culprit!
 
Haha, I don't think I'll catch them at it! It could be more than one! No one seems distressed by it, just a couple with nibbled coats. I'm guessing things are still a little unsettled after Peri's passing :(
 
So... both Mavis and Dory are barbering.... Grr! Now they have started on poor salsa. They are very dominant ladies! No other bad behaviour apart from the occasional humping...
 
Bwuahahah! Those are amazing! Yes I completely agree that Mavis has the larger establishment, but she isn't the best hairdresser out of the two! :P :P
 
Ha ha ha. This post made me lol. They are just trying to copy their namesakes. lol.
 
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