"Possessive" sow

[florna]

I have 5 pigs: 2 old ladies, 1 boy and girl pairing and 1 lone sow (she's been ill and won't bond - I'm working on finding the right pairing). My 2 old ladies are very placid. My mixed pair are high energy and the girl (N) seems to be very possessive of the boy (G). I've never seen a pig rumble strut the way she does - it's very intense. She's very fiesty and will bite. This is fine for me, she's lovely, but it makes the prospect of future group bonding feel impossible. She doesn't even like the other girls and G showing interest in each other. When, sadly, one of my elderly sows dies, I don't know what I'll do. I'm certain N won't allow her to join the mixed group, and I've already tried bonding my lone sow with the elderly girls (disaster). Is it normal that all my pigs hate each other apart from their pen mates? I would actually be terrified of N seriously hurting another pig who tried to join the mixed group. Hope this makes sense. Any guidance? Thanks

 

[Eriathwen]

Unfortunately sows are very prone to hormonal issues due to ovarian cysts. Have they been checked by a vet to rule this out? I have had large groups of very strong personalities and the only time there was any friction it was settled by spaying the problem sow and, every single time, they had cysts even when there were zero symptoms other than behaviour and every time, they settled back into the group or joined a new one smoothly. It's something like 75% at the very least of sows over 3 years old have cysts, even the non hormone producing cysts can cause pain which can lead to behavioural issues and they can start appearing as young as 12-18 months old.

If that's not an option there are lots of boars in need of homes who, after being neutered, would love a female companion and have a higher success than trying to mix sows with dominance issues.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Aside from the ovarian cyst issue, it is rather common for a bonded pair of piggies to not want any others to join their pair. Bonding a single sow in with a bonded pair has a risk of not working for this reason.
Added to that, the older sows get the less tolerant they can become of new company.
Plus any bond comes down to character compatibility and some piggies just are never going to get on


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