new behaviour problems

[crazypiglady30]

Hi all

I wonder if you can offer advice.

I have 3 sows. My youngest sow Poppy is going to be 2 next month.

I have one boar, who will be 2 in around June/July time.

All 4 have lived together without any real issues since bonding Stuart, my boar, with the 3 girls in June last year. They have a large C&C cage, plenty of hay / food bowls /shelter with exits/ water bottles. Stuart was neutered by the rescue centre I adopted him from. All 4 are in good health and had check ups in February.

Yesterday, Poppy started chattering her teeth at Stuart - fair enough, as she has always tried to challenge his dominance. It escalated very quickly to a full fight between them, which didn't last long. Thankfully there was no sign of injury or bleeding from either of them, however due to the nature of the fight but I still separated Poppy from the others. Since they have a C&C cage she will still be able to smell/see them etc.

I tried getting them back together this morning, but there was a lot of teeth chattering, puffing up of fur - no actual fight, but I guess I'm anxious after yesterday. I've joined this forum for some advice. My partner thinks we should keep them apart but I know this is not healthy for pigs, and I want them to eventually be a group of 4 again if they are able.

Any tips? thanks

 

[Siikibam]

Hmmm for some reason Poppy seems to have taken some dislike to Stuart. When you tried again did you just remove the divider or put them on neutral ground? If she’s reacting like that I don’t know whether it’s salvageable. I’ll link to a thread below. Have a read and see if you think their bond in particular won’t last. IF you had to split them then perhaps think about making two pairs.
Bonds In Trouble

I’ll also tag in others who have more experience with mixed pairs/groups
@Wiebke @PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns

 

[crazypiglady30]

Hmmm for some reason Poppy seems to have taken some dislike to Stuart. When you tried again did you just remove the divider or put them on neutral ground? If she’s reacting like that I don’t know whether it’s salvageable. I’ll link to a thread below. Have a read and see if you think their bond in particular won’t last. IF you had to split them then perhaps think about making two pairs.
Bonds In Trouble

I’ll also tag in others who have more experience with mixed pairs/groups
@Wiebke @PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns

Thank you, that link looks super useful.

I did it on neutral ground. As it's been only 1 day since, I might give it another day or so and try again. Poppy would very happily be paired with Luna, and Ginny sees Stuart as her huspig anyway, so that wouldn't be a problem IF it's beyond repair. I have no idea why Poppy has taken such a sudden dislike to Stuart, guess we won't ever know.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all

I wonder if you can offer advice.

I have 3 sows. My youngest sow Poppy is going to be 2 next month.

I have one boar, who will be 2 in around June/July time.

All 4 have lived together without any real issues since bonding Stuart, my boar, with the 3 girls in June last year. They have a large C&C cage, plenty of hay / food bowls /shelter with exits/ water bottles. Stuart was neutered by the rescue centre I adopted him from. All 4 are in good health and had check ups in February.

Yesterday, Poppy started chattering her teeth at Stuart - fair enough, as she has always tried to challenge his dominance. It escalated very quickly to a full fight between them, which didn't last long. Thankfully there was no sign of injury or bleeding from either of them, however due to the nature of the fight but I still separated Poppy from the others. Since they have a C&C cage she will still be able to smell/see them etc.

I tried getting them back together this morning, but there was a lot of teeth chattering, puffing up of fur - no actual fight, but I guess I'm anxious after yesterday. I've joined this forum for some advice. My partner thinks we should keep them apart but I know this is not healthy for pigs, and I want them to eventually be a group of 4 again if they are able.

Any tips? thanks

Hi!

Please have Poppy checked for ovarian cysts. She is at the age when small but growing hormonal cysts are typically making an unwelcome appearance.
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

However, once a piggy has taken a serious dislike to another for some reason or other, they will usually not back down again and the old grudge will resurface again and again; usually at the worst time possible.

 

[crazypiglady30]

Hi!

Please have Poppy checked for ovarian cysts. She is at the age when small but growing hormonal cysts are typically making an unwelcome appearance.
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

However, once a piggy has taken a serious dislike to another for some reason or other, they will usually not back down again and the old grudge will resurface again and again; usually at the worst time possible.

Thank you, I will definitely get her checked for ovarian cysts.

This morning I'm very reluctant to try re-bonding her with Stuart, since the first attempt was not successful. I don't want to risk injury.

 

[Siikibam]

I wouldn’t if I were you. She’s taken a dislike to him (for whatever reason) and when you tried before, she got riled up. Perhaps pair her with one you think suitable and they can just live alongside each other in their separate cages.

 

[Swissgreys]

Our rather opinionated sow Ruby has fallen out with several cage mates over the years (ok, 5 to be precise).
She fell out with our gorgeous and very sweet natured board Eddi when she was around 18 months old after living with him (and several others) her entire life.
At that point we also had to split our group of 4 (3 girls, 1 boar) into two pairs and it worked very well.
We never could work out why Ruby suddenly couldn't live with Eddi.

 

[crazypiglady30]

Our rather opinionated sow Ruby has fallen out with several cage mates over the years (ok, 5 to be precise).
She fell out with our gorgeous and very sweet natured board Eddi when she was around 18 months old after living with him (and several others) her entire life.
At that point we also had to split our group of 4 (3 girls, 1 boar) into two pairs and it worked very well.
We never could work out why Ruby suddenly couldn't live with Eddi.

'Opinionated' is one way to describe Poppy, for sure. She's certainly a complex little (big?) character.

Thanks for sharing this. I thought maybe I'd done something (that's anxiety for you, so irrational) as they'd lived together for almost a whole year without any problems whatsoever.

 

[Swissgreys]

'Opinionated' is one way to describe Poppy, for sure. She's certainly a complex little (big?) character.

Thanks for sharing this. I thought maybe I'd done something (that's anxiety for you, so irrational) as they'd lived together for almost a whole year without any problems whatsoever.

You have not done anything wrong at all.
I think piggies are often far more complex than many of us realise and just like humans they have differing emotions and feeling and relationships can change. Sometimes there is a clear reason for this - Ruby fell out with Lucy after 2 years living together when she was ill, so to me it was clear she wanted/needed to be alone and then never accepted Lucy back, but she fell out with Eddi after 18 months out of the blue and with no warning or obvious reason.
Initally we did take her and Eddi to the vet to rule out possible medical issues causing the changes, but both pigs were pronounced to be healthy and well so we viewed it as a 'divorce'.

 

[crazypiglady30]

You have not done anything wrong at all.
I think piggies are often far more complex than many of us realise and just like humans they have differing emotions and feeling and relationships can change. Sometimes there is a clear reason for this - Ruby fell out with Lucy after 2 years living together when she was ill, so to me it was clear she wanted/needed to be alone and then never accepted Lucy back, but she fell out with Eddi after 18 months out of the blue and with no warning or obvious reason.
Initally we did take her and Eddi to the vet to rule out possible medical issues causing the changes, but both pigs were pronounced to be healthy and well so we viewed it as a 'divorce'.

I agree, they all have their individual characters, as with any social animal they will be incredibly complex. I will definitely get Poppy checked out for possible ovarian cysts though.