? Keeping A Single Herd?

[Steph linden]

So I have my girls and Ellie and Esme and oscar( neutered) living together. Then I have squeaky and her baby moo moo and Tilley and coco ( all girls) in another group. Then I have my babies Ana, Elsa, flora, emery, sassafras. In another group. And I have my baby boys Olaf, Jasper,and bumble in another group. Mind you that the babies are just being weaned so it will be some time before they go in with the adults. Then I have my new rescue boys Thomas and tank. I want to keep a single herd of piggies. All my boys are going to be neutered.

I have read a lot about how to go about introducing piggies. How ever I let all my girls have floor time in the same run they seam to be fine. What I'm wondering is if my neutered boy oscar will have a problem with the two new boys after they are neutered. A little back ground on the new boys...they came from a terrible situation and where living in not so nice conditions in two hutches by themselves. Needless to say they were more them elated to have each other's company now that I own them. Oscar has always been with his girls even before I figured out his cage mates where girls. But since he was neutered. I know he is fine with all the babies. Sorry I'm rambling.

I guess my question is does anyone else on here keep a single herd of piggies?

Esme, Ellie, Oscar.

The girls, Tilley, squeak, moo moo, and coco.

Esme's babies emery, flora, sassafras, and her son Olaf.

Ellie's babies bumble, jasper, Ana, Elsa.

Thomas

Tank

 

[7squeakers.]

@Wiebke

 

[Wiebke]

Hiya!

Please be aware that keeping more than one neutered boar per group of females usually doesn't work out, unless you have literally oodles of space that allow each boar to have his own territory where can live with the sows that he can attract. We have got only one member that has been able to provide this, and her set-up took up half of a large conservatory or a whole outbuilding. You need to have at least 1 sq metre (i.e. ca. 2x5 ft) per boar, ideally more, to make it work, plus extra space for any piggies that struggle within your set-up.

In all other cases, mixing more than one neutered boar with sows will not work! Apart from the obvious fact of potential boar fights, you also have to be aware that group dynamics in a larger groups can go wrong and end up with bullying, not just between boars, but also between sows. I and several other forum members have had to split up their large herds into smaller units after a few years when constantly evolving group dynamics ran into trouble. My own herd went through a very difficult stage in the wake of my old top sow being de-throned after 4 years by an ambitious younger sow, which caused me to having to find new solutions for a number of sows that ended up with weight loss/bullying problems in the year follwing the takeover.
I now have several medium sized groups in different pens with one neutered boar each and find these much more easier to keep stable or to balance out.

It may be easier for you to keep one larger boar herd (again, a minimum of at least 1 sq meter per boar, ca. 2x5 ft) in one room and two sow herds with a neutered boar each in another. You may find it difficult to get a well estaliblished top sow to surrender her position to another. Just be aware that large group experiments can go horribly wrong and that you will have to go through lots of dominance before things settle down.

 

[Steph linden]

Great information thank you. I am finally moving into my new house and I built a piggy room it's about 50' by 35' with a heated sealed tile floor. I want them to all live together, I would just love it but I can also separate them. I think all my girls could live with each other and oscar.

I don't know I just want them to be happy.

 

[Wiebke]

Great information thank you. I am finally moving into my new house and I built a piggy room it's about 50' by 35' with a heated sealed tile floor. I want them to all live together, I would just love it but I can also separate them. I think all my girls could live with each other and oscar.

I don't know I just want them to be happy.

If I were you, I would not rip apart existing working boar pairs, but rather see how your male babies are faring once they hit the teenage hormones in a few months, and to neuter/bond them with your sow groups then. It is usually pretty impossible to put back boar pairs together once they have been with sows.

 

[Steph linden]

Ok, I'll just have to see what happens. For now I am splitting the room in to four sections baby girls baby boys and four girls and my oscar and his girls. Tank and Thomas are still in quarantine, because of there health issues and their skin condition.