Hi, I am selecting my first group of guinea pigs and I have done my research and heard that one boar and multiple groups of sows work, I just want to ask, will my sows fight over the neutered boy?
Thx :3
The sows will establish a strict hierarchy amongst themselves. A neutered boar is part of an overall group hierarchy, but he stands outside the sow hierarchy. He will mate with all sows in his group when they come into season and generally heed his First Lady although he may from a particular friendship with another sow he enjoys hanging out with. Sows do not fight over a boar although in larger groups there may be a bit of a competition between two sows vying for being a boy's special girl. It should however not go any further than a few mild face-offs and dominance nips.
When creating a larger group, it is advisable to make sure that any new sows cannot challenge an existing hierarchy, which makes for much more stability; ideally they are younger or submissive and ideally they come from a group background so will just find their place in the hierarchy and fit in.
It is always best to build a group around a dominant leader piggy that remains unchallenged, even by a husboar. Please be aware that not all sows will accept a boar, especially not a dominant one that threatens their leadership. It is really worth dating your foundation piggies of either gender at a rescue so you come home with a mixed gender core group where acceptance has happened (you still have the dominance phase to sit out); this allows to then slowly extend the group as much as you like.
Doing your homework and being as careful as you can really makes a difference! Sows can bully and have fall-outs if you just chuck a lot of them together without regard as whether they like each other and are willing to live together. If you have a good standard rescue within your reach, they may be able to help you and bond a suitable group at the rescue, so you have got an easy start. It is generally best to use already stably bonded sow pairs at first until you get to 4-5 piggies where small group dynamics apply and the risk of outsider problems becomes less.
All my various groups are built around one piggy that will not accept a challenge to its leadership.
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Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
, and I live in England 
