New boar is bullying older pig

[HertsPigMum]

Hi, hoping for some advice on whether to be worried about my older pig (aged approx 3). We recently adopted a young pig (aged about four months) who was living on his own in a pet shop. We have a pair of rescued boar brothers who are aged about 3 years. We were worried that the new pig would be bullied by the older pigs, but after living apart for a while we gradually introduced them and after some dominant behaviour by the dominant pig in our older pair, all seemed to settle down and everyone was getting on ok. However, the young pig has recently started bullying the older dominant pig, for example chasing him away from veggies even though I was putting out two bowls. They all live in a 5 foot long C&C cage with a mezzanine floor, and now the older pig spends all his time upstairs. I moved a water bottle upstairs and give him separate nuggets, hay and veggies but I'm worried that he's living in such a small space. The boys go out in the garden when it's warm enough and they seem to get along ok in their run, although I have noticed the young pig chasing my older pig into the covered hutch area when he comes out to eat grass (not every time though). The older pig seems ok if a little subdued, but he is eating and drinking well. When we get them all out for a cuddle they will seek each other out and spray, mount each other, have a piggy snout off etc but there haven't been any injuries.
Should I worry or do you think things will settle down when the younger pig is a bit older? I know young boars go through a teenage phase after which they settle down.
Thanks for advice!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

It seems you’ve got three boars together. Is that correct?
If so, then I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am afraid three boars together almost never works out. Boars are best kept in pairs only. Added to that, a 5ft x 2ft cage isn’t big enough for three boars (its minimum size for two boars - 10 sq ft minimum, but 12 sq ft is recommended for two boars and upper levels don’t count towards the cage size). Due to the difficulties in keeping three boars together (its very difficult to get the match of characters right), the space needed is huge - 32 sq ft needed to keep three boars together so that they all have enough territory each, but even then it isn’t a guarantee given the character compatibility issues a trio face.

If things are tense now little one has hit his teens, the situation that most often occurs in a boar trio is separation. The usual course of action is to separate them out into a pair and a single, and then find a new character compatible friend for the single piggy.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[VickiA]

Great info and advice from @Piggies&buns. I’m afraid your boar trio is unlikely to succeed and you could end up with 3 solo piggies if things progress too far. Boars live happily in a pair, but very rarely do they do well in a trio.