Pleeeease help, will my boar fight his mate if he accidentally got close to a female 😪

doosnska

doosnska

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BACKSTORY/ FYI. I rescue piggies, once you pop you can't stop 😂
We are fortunate enough to have plenty of space for them all.

So my herd of females lives in
the front garden, each night they walk to their shed maybe 5 metres from their day area (they cannot access this shed during the day) And sleep safely in there. And each morning they make their way back!

Then our house is there, followed by the dogs garden.
Lucky for us we have another shed and a back pen, this is where the herd of boys are. They also come into their shed at night (different sheds)

Unfortunately someone did not realise my male Chip was in the shed, and they left the door open. This person also left our driveway gate open 🤦🏽‍♀️
Hazel, one of my females had been spending a lot of time as close to the boys as possible (8 metres was as close as she couldget 😂) so she was more than likely in heat.
I came home to find them snoozing together in the middle section of the garden. I didn't want babies but the care and finding homes etc should not be an issue for me 🤞 she's not pregnant though.. but we all know it doesn't take long 😅

*******
So my QUESTION is...
How do I go about putting Chip, my male.. back with the males.? Or is on his own now with cage interactions
 
It should be ok to put him back with the boys, if he wasn't with the girl too long. I would isolate him for maybe a week or so, so he might forget the girl a bit and won't try and fight the other boys.

Your girl will need to go on pregnancy watch for 10 weeks, even if they weren't together for long, it can happen very quickly...

I recently rescued a group of pigs, told they were all girls and it ended up being 2 girls 1 boy. After isolating the boy for a little bit I was able to bond him with another male. Only 1 of the girls was pregannt and the other wasn't. So it depends on the girl and the boy. Your girl might not be but she quite possibly is so she will need to be on pregnancy watch.
Hope that helps🙂
 
Pregnancy watch and potential dates are already on the calendar 😂
I just didn't want him to end up on his own! Great advice, thank you so much!
 
Keeping him isolated for any length of time could put the chances of a reintroduction failing higher given the boys in this case do already have a hierarchy which could break because of it - the same reasons why medical separations (particularly in bonded boars) are not recommended.

In a case of missexing where a boar had unknowingly been kept with sows, while there is always a risk a boar who has been with sows won’t accept living with a boar in the future, there also an existing boar bond to break.
In a boar herd it might be a slightly better chance of him being reintroduced if there are enough boars in the herd but you should still have a back up living plan (in the case of a boar herd a plan should always be present given their instability).

Reintroduction needs to be done on neutral territory so as to not cause a territorial based fight, particularly if he has been apart from them for 24 hours or more
 
Piggies&buns said:
Keeping him isolated for any length of time could put the chances of a reintroduction failing higher given the boys in this case do already have a hierarchy which could break because of it - the same reasons why medical separations (particularly in bonded boars) are not recommended.

In a case of missexing where a boar had unknowingly been kept with sows, while there is always a risk a boar who has been with sows won’t accept living with a boar in the future, there also an existing boar bond to break.
In a boar herd it might be a slightly better chance of him being reintroduced if there are enough boars in the herd but you should still have a back up living plan (in the case of a boar herd a plan should always be present given their instability).

Reintroduction needs to be done on neutral territory so as to not cause a territorial based fight, particularly if he has been apart from them for 24 hours or more
Click to expand...
Yes I don't want to isolate for too long, I plan cleaning all my fences and putting then in neutral ground with a fence between then as you said etc. His the second youngest and pretty mellow so 🤞
As I somehow kept accumulating pigs I redid my shed and pig has his own iso section, I stayed positive but knew there was a risk with a herd so ive always got back up plans 😂 not to mention all my friends love them and always offer to take them. It would be hard but you always do what's best for the animal!

Great advice, thank you and thanks for your time!
 
doosnska said:
Yes I don't want to isolate for too long, I plan cleaning all my fences and putting then in neutral ground with a fence between then as you said etc. His the second youngest and pretty mellow so 🤞
As I somehow kept accumulating pigs I redid my shed and pig has his own iso section, I stayed positive but knew there was a risk with a herd so ive always got back up plans 😂 not to mention all my friends love them and always offer to take them. It would be hard but you always do what's best for the animal!

Great advice, thank you and thanks for your time!
Click to expand...

You don’t want to isolate at all if he is part of the herd.
When in neutral territory for rebonding as a herd you don’t put a fence between them. If you do that they aren’t rebonding at all.

If you are saying (regarding the comment about how you redid the shed and he had his own isolation section) he has never actually lived in with them as a herd and had always lived in his own separate section with only through bar interaction then there is no rebonding to take place - nothing needs to be done, he simply goes back into his own cage as if none of this ever happened. He doesn’t have a hierarchy with them at all so can’t fight as he never is with them anyway.

Fences between them is only for if bonding between them failed and they can’t share space.
 
Piggies&buns said:
You don’t want to isolate at all if he is part of the herd.
When in neutral territory for rebonding as a herd you don’t put a fence between them. If you do that they aren’t rebonding at all.

If you are saying (regarding the comment about how you redid the shed and he had his own isolation section) he has never actually lived in with them as a herd and had always lived in his own separate section with only through bar interaction then there is no rebonding to take place - nothing needs to be done, he simply goes back into his own cage as if none of this ever happened. He doesn’t have a hierarchy with them at all so can’t fight as he never is with them anyway.

Fences between them is only for if bonding between them failed and they can’t share space.
Click to expand...
I see your point also! Makes sense the fence could make it worse. The iso sections aren't always available. They each have their own carry cage for cuddle times/ treats/ vets/ illness etc. Which I used when slowing Introducing the heard and it worked really well and when I pull them down they only go in their own box. They free range a 9m by 8m secure garden with loads of hides during the day and come in the shed all together. Sorry i didnt word that well, my apologies. The shed they sleep in has multiple levels, no where they can get trapped together and they've all found they're spots. My partners tools etc got moved to the small shed so the boys could have as much room as possible over winter! Lucky he loves how much I love my pigs 😂

I had most of thse ideas, it's so good discussing the pros and cons with people! Thank you!
 
So, as they all live together in one herd it means you need to take every pig out and put them somewhere which is not part of their normal space (ie not in the secure garden and not in the shed) and let them all reintroduce and see if they accept him back/he wants to go back.
If they do then all is fine and they remain together as a herd.
If they don’t then you need to split him away from the herd permanently (ideally taking one other pig with him if there is one he still wanted to be with) in his/their own cage and his/their own garden space (no more free roaming as a whole group).

Slow introducing with boars cuts across their societal needs - it’s all or nothing, a one time event, in neutral territory to either be able to form a hierarchy or not.
 
Piggies&buns said:
So, as they all live together in one herd it means you need to take every pig out and put them somewhere which is not part of their normal space (ie not in the secure garden and not in the shed) and let them all reintroduce and see if they accept him back/he wants to go back.
If they do then all is fine and they remain together as a herd.
If they don’t then you need to split him away from the herd permanently (ideally taking one other pig with him if there is one he still wanted to be with) in his/their own cage and his/their own garden space (no more free roaming as a whole group).

Slow introducing with boars cuts across their societal needs - it’s all or nothing, a one time event, in neutral territory to either be able to form a hierarchy or not.
Click to expand...
Yeah I intended to do neutral ground as it doesn't take long for hiarchy to change
 
Piggies&buns said:
So, as they all live together in one herd it means you need to take every pig out and put them somewhere which is not part of their normal space (ie not in the secure garden and not in the shed) and let them all reintroduce and see if they accept him back/he wants to go back.
If they do then all is fine and they remain together as a herd.
If they don’t then you need to split him away from the herd permanently (ideally taking one other pig with him if there is one he still wanted to be with) in his/their own cage and his/their own garden space (no more free roaming as a whole group).

Slow introducing with boars cuts across their societal needs - it’s all or nothing, a one time event, in neutral territory to either be able to form a hierarchy or not.
Click to expand...
I ended up just keeping him on his own for the day to let him settle. Then gave all the boys coats a rub with coconut oil. 12 hrs later he was with his mates, they could still smell the females I'm sure. However, they were all busy with the veggie platter and grooming themselves and each other!
Hazel birthed three healthy and gorgeous pups, 2 girls and a boy!
 
doosnska said:
I ended up just keeping him on his own for the day to let him settle. Then gave all the boys coats a rub with coconut oil. 12 hrs later he was with his mates, they could still smell the females I'm sure. However, they were all busy with the veggie platter and grooming themselves and each other!
Hazel birthed three healthy and gorgeous pups, 2 girls and a boy!
Click to expand...

I’m glad you got them back together.
We would not recommend rubbing them with coconut oil though.

I had assumed the incident of you finding hazel and chip together had happened on the day you made the post (4 October) but I guess it can’t have done if she’s had the babies
 
May I ask why you would not reccommend coconut oil?
I've also used it to clear up skin and coat conditions under veterinary supervision.
I have had very positive experiences and success with it thus far!

Without sounding up myself (i think i already gave that impression to some people on here, sorry, intent is never to offend anyone, only to learn, I'm just a lazy typer 😂)
I have done extensive research and have qualifications in small pet nutrition. (Companion animals to be technical) My qualifications are recently completed in 2019, and re-updated at the beginning of 2024. There is always new research being conducted and something new to learn!
You do not have to agree with the true fact that It is okay to rub coconut oil into the skin and hair/ coat. But it will not harm the GP unless they're allergic which is highly unlikely.

Hazel has had her babies fathered by Chip in May this year. My GP live outdoors, the females live in the front garden of the property and sleep/ shelter in a garden shed. The middle garden is the dogs yard and finally the boys are up the back of the property. The dogs garden area is what separates the two GP herds.
so when the driveway gate was left open, hazel had access to the dogs yard. The 4 boys were outside grazing in their garden but Chip was lurking/ sleeping/ hanging out in their shed. The shed door was also left open 🤦🏽‍♀️ this gave Chip.. access to the dogs yard also.
Thankfully, the rest of the herd were at the opposite end of the property and did not notice their shed do or had been left open.

Rubbing coconut oil onto the skin;

It is not reccommend to be a regular thing and seems i found a good use for it. I've since used it when introducing new boars to one another, with great success (* I also use a completely different method for "bonding" / introducing new guinea pigs or boars inparticular, my method so far, has helped 108 piggies find a new housemate with 100% success so far.
1. I was curious.. there unfortunately isn't a lot of documentation regarding GP behaviour especially recently.
Why?
2. Neutralise individual scents,
3. Makes them different for themselves but similar to the new pig (they automatically have something in common, covered in weird stuff
4. creates a distraction by encouraging pigs to self groom
5. increased chance of grooming one another and actually getting to know one another.
I'm sure there will be more pros and some cons out there, feel free to comment!
 
Ok so the gates are left open and hazel and chip get together. Hazel gives birth in May, so that means she would have got pregnant around February/March time.

And then in October your post says the gate had been left open, you hope she isn’t pregnant but she is on pregnancy watch, with dates in the calendar.
So this means October must be a second incident of the gates being left open and the second time of chip and hazel getting together, and likely a second litter on the way.
Do you know if hazel is pregnant again yet?

You must have reunited chip back with the other males after the first incident in February occurred, so it’s curious that you specifically asked how to do it in October, particularly with you having experience of 108 bondings with no failures.

Rather bad luck though to have someone leave gates open twice and even more bad luck that it was the exact same two piggies who managed to get together.


1. Coconut oil can be used to help break up grease from a dirty grease gland as part of a bum bath, but with the warning that overdoing it can make matters worse.
2. It may also be used on an area of diagnosed dry skin with a vets advice.
If you’ve used it on medical grounds then that is at the discretion of your vet.

Bonding is not one of those valid reasons for its use.
I do disagree with rubbing them with coconut oil being beneficial in bonding - so does the forum as a whole. It’s an outdated method and myth, like many others, which occasionally comes back to do the rounds.
I, many others on this forum and any rescue, have also had great success in bondings without the need to rub coconut oil on them (and Ive kept small animals for over 35 years), its for the same reasons buddy baths aren’t recommended anymore - a successful bond is about character compatibility and mutual liking. Bathing or neutralising all their body scents doesn’t change character or give them the ability to agree a hierarchy.
 
Yeah do not think I have communicated something well here and now I'm confused.

Anyway, all my pigs are happy, I'm confident Hazel is not pregnant as she hasn't gained any extra weight.

Whatever, bonding pairs for people is a bit different and I was just seeing what other tips might be out there.
Thanks for your concern and help
 
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