Possible Dominance issues - Dont like enclosed hideys?

[Hbecooper]

Hi,
Has anyone any suggestions, i have a NB Bruce and 3 sows (2 x 9m and 4m). One of our sows is very territorial over all patches shes in? Shes always chases or headbutted the others out, sometimes mild nips if too close to her. She very much likes her own space and will share space but on her terms, we find though we cant put any enclosed hideys in like.pigloos etc or she will always be the one in it and not let anyone else in, even if we have a few she goes round and stamps her ground continuously. We even had to remove the loft space as she refused for anyone else to be in it :/ Its like the other pigs are on tip toes with her, its a bit odd, she recently has got a bit more agressive so much so we dont have any enclosed small spaces, we now have 2 log bridges, a fleece tunnel (shes tends not to like that) and then have 2 fleeced off areas (a grid in the corner with a small peice of fleece dangling 3/4 down and seems to work well. Just wondering if its normal or if somehow shes ended up un-bonded to the others? Shes always been that way to be honest with her sister but bonding with our boar worked really well but still she stamped her ground and now we have our little pig in shes a bit more aggressive with it but bonding went fab, not even subtle issues that i could.see, just left her too it and oddly was the undersow that was trying to hump her etc. they do seem to chase her a little, more so when she zooms around or gets too close in their space. I dont want to leave them stressed if they are so just wondering if ive missed anything subtle, like the new pig causing the issue or something to do eith hideys. Could well be a space issue ( in a 5x2) but wont be able to upgrade extra grids till we move in the the new year :/

 

[sport_billy]

What are the dimensions of the cage please? A 5x2 if that is the case is a little small for 4 piggies it needs to be a 6x2

How long have the piggies all been together? Sounds like some dominance issues going on with that particular sow

Moving this to behaviour as it will get more views there.

We had a lively undersow in chickpea but she settled after a few weeks and this in turn settled the dominance behaviour displayed in our top sow, so they may need a little more time. More space would be helpful

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
Has anyone any suggestions, i have a NB Bruce and 3 sows (2 x 9m and 4m). One of our sows is very territorial over all patches shes in? Shes always chases or headbutted the others out, sometimes mild nips if too close to her. She very much likes her own space and will share space but on her terms, we find though we cant put any enclosed hideys in like.pigloos etc or she will always be the one in it and not let anyone else in, even if we have a few she goes round and stamps her ground continuously. We even had to remove the loft space as she refused for anyone else to be in it :/ Its like the other pigs are on tip toes with her, its a bit odd, she recently has got a bit more agressive so much so we dont have any enclosed small spaces, we now have 2 log bridges, a fleece tunnel (shes tends not to like that) and then have 2 fleeced off areas (a grid in the corner with a small peice of fleece dangling 3/4 down and seems to work well. Just wondering if its normal or if somehow shes ended up un-bonded to the others? Shes always been that way to be honest with her sister but bonding with our boar worked really well but still she stamped her ground and now we have our little pig in shes a bit more aggressive with it but bonding went fab, not even subtle issues that i could.see, just left her too it and oddly was the undersow that was trying to hump her etc. they do seem to chase her a little, more so when she zooms around or gets too close in their space. I dont want to leave them stressed if they are so just wondering if ive missed anything subtle, like the new pig causing the issue or something to do eith hideys. Could well be a space issue ( in a 5x2) but wont be able to upgrade extra grids till we move in the the new year :/

I have one group where all four have the same log tunnel which are standing next to each other in a row so nopig can see what is going on in the others; that has ended any fights over the favourite hidey and peace has returned.

Here is a little video of my solution, which has been working for several months now.

 

[HeatherW]

I have one group where all four have the same log tunnel which are standing next to each other in a row so nopig can see what is going on in the others; that has ended any fights over the favourite hidey and peace has returned.

Here is a little video of my solution, which has been working for several months now.

I see three guinea pigs and a wig!

 

[G&C]

I have one group where all four have the same log tunnel which are standing next to each other in a row so nopig can see what is going on in the others; that has ended any fights over the favourite hidey and peace has returned.

Here is a little video of my solution, which has been working for several months now.

Great idea, they must all think they have their own personal space to chill out.

 

[Wiebke]

Great idea, they must all think they have their own personal space to chill out.

Indeed! No piggy can control and claim more than one log tunnel at any time.
Make sure that you only use hideys with two exits, which also cuts down on fights.

 

[Hbecooper]

I have one group where all four have the same log tunnel which are standing next to each other in a row so nopig can see what is going on in the others; that has ended any fights over the favourite hidey and peace has returned.

Here is a little video of my solution, which has been working for several months now.

Thank you Wiebke, i have done that and will try to.pull them from the sides as if it isnt open ended it really does seem to cause a lot of noise like they seem to be quite high pitched noisy a lot of the time so have a feeling they arent too happy, i think its mostly a space issue but adding a loft wont solve the problem.so may try to rearrange the space as they are in an L shape at the moment. Thank you all x

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you Wiebke, i have done that and will try to.pull them from the sides as if it isnt open ended it really does seem to cause a lot of noise like they seem to be quite high pitched noisy a lot of the time so have a feeling they arent too happy, i think its mostly a space issue but adding a loft wont solve the problem.so may try to rearrange the space as they are in an L shape at the moment. Thank you all x

Line the hideys up in the middle so no piggy can be trapped anywhere. How old are yours? My worst time was when the twins were 6 months old and in full teenage mode to take on the two adults in the group.