Least stressful way to put teen boars into new hutch?

machuandpicchumummy

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We have a pair of 3 month old boars and we have got them a new hutch as the old one is not fit for purpose (hard to clean etc.) So we want to know the least stressful way for them to switch over to the new hutch. We have a walk in chicken run over the hutch so we need to dismantle the old hutch and take that out before building the new one within the chicken run so there will be a couple of hours where they won't be able to be in their hutch.
They have moved before when we first got them where they came into an indoor cage for 2 weeks whilst we built the chicken run as we were having issues with cats hanging round the hutch and sitting on it. They were fine with this.

They seem to get on well and have only ever had one very minor fight when we made the mistake of putting non dominant piggie into the play pen first whilst we cleaned the hutch out and he was alone for 10 mins as dominant piggie was being a pain to catch so non dominant spread his scent all over the pen which upset dominant pig and a little teeth chattering happened. We separated them whilst we cleaned the hutch out but they were fine once we put them back into the hutch and have been ever since.

I just don't want the hutch move to spark anything off as I know this time in a boar's life is probably when anything would happen if it was going to. The new hutch is extra large so they'll definitely like it a lot more than what they're in now.
 
I use their carrier, herd them both into a corner and then into the carrier together, then into the run. That way they aren’t ever separated.

In terms of the hutch, keep the bedding from their current hutch and set aside. Once the new hutch is built, put the old bedding into the new hutch and then pop the piggies back into the hutch. This will mean It still smells of them and they will have an easier time adjusting and recognising it as their own territory.
 
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