By way of back story Holly and Ivy came to me as fosters in December. They had been paired in the rescue. Ivy had always lived with a rabbit and Holly was an unwanted baby sow. They were a happy couple at first. But as Holly developed from a baby into a teenager she and Ivy started to fall out and last week they had a bit of a bust up. So we had to take the decision to separate with them. Which left us with the problem of 2 single sows.
The obvious solution for Holly was for her to meet my girls. Her first meeting with one pair of her neighbours was not a success. Mollie hated her at first sight, so that was never going to be an option. Which left us with Violet and Poppy. Violet is known as "Violent Violet" and "Pocket Rocket" and she has rejected numerous other piggies over the years, so I didn't hold out much hope. But after about half an hour in the bonding pen things were calm enough to put in some sofas for the girls to recline on.
After a couple of hours they went off to explore their newly extended and rearranged cage.
And continued bonding over a shared bowl of vegetables and a bowl of Timothy hay.
These lovely ladies have not had one single cross word since last Saturday. They share a single bowl of pellets and a single bowl of veg. They are so calm and civilised and have even coped with Poppy going off for the day on Tuesday to the vets. Utterly adorable. Welcome to our family Holly.
PS Don't worry - Ivy has gone to be bonded with another older sow at the rescue.
The obvious solution for Holly was for her to meet my girls. Her first meeting with one pair of her neighbours was not a success. Mollie hated her at first sight, so that was never going to be an option. Which left us with Violet and Poppy. Violet is known as "Violent Violet" and "Pocket Rocket" and she has rejected numerous other piggies over the years, so I didn't hold out much hope. But after about half an hour in the bonding pen things were calm enough to put in some sofas for the girls to recline on.
After a couple of hours they went off to explore their newly extended and rearranged cage.
And continued bonding over a shared bowl of vegetables and a bowl of Timothy hay.
These lovely ladies have not had one single cross word since last Saturday. They share a single bowl of pellets and a single bowl of veg. They are so calm and civilised and have even coped with Poppy going off for the day on Tuesday to the vets. Utterly adorable. Welcome to our family Holly.
PS Don't worry - Ivy has gone to be bonded with another older sow at the rescue.
I can just imagine!
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