Separating my two baby boars at 18 days.

[NosieyPiglets]

18 days ago I had a surprise. Four weeks before, I'd bought a young sow to be a new companion for my old girl after the unexpected death of her sister. The private seller told me she was 8 weeks old, and that seemed a fair assessment given her size and I have no reason to question it. She clearly came to me pregnant, though. I won't go into the details of the birth but the mum gave birth to both boys and cleaned them up without any fuss, all while I was out for the evening.

They're now two weeks and three days old. Both are definitely boys, at least as certainly as I can tell - they both have pretty clear looking genitals. I was planning on going to get a cage to separate them tomorrow, but wasn't expecting to need to do the actual separation until mid-week.

I've prepped a cardboard box to house them tonight, which they're now in, but I'm worried because I've never seen them drink from a water bottle or bowl, despite both being available to them at heights they can easily reach. They've seen their mum and my other girl drinking but since they've been suckling their mum (even inbetween mounting attempts) they've presumably not needed to.

Both are comfortably over 250g despite their age. Benefits of a small litter I guess! I'd researched when to separate them but kept seeing "3 weeks" and "21 days" and somehow didn't see the warning about weight.

I just wanted to confirm that everything I've done is necessary, and if there's anything I've missed. I've only ever had females before and never needed to deal with any this young. They seem healthy and happy though and she seems to have been a good mum despite her young age.

They are not impressed by this turn of events and are making a *lot* of noise.

Advice please! Much appreciated!

 

[Siikibam]

Hi. Unfortunately private sellers can make the ‘mistake’ of not separating sows and boars early enough. If they were a breeder, then they’re not fussed.

It’s good you’ve separated them but I would worry that a cardboard box isn’t secure. Do you have a play pen you could set up and keep them in - away from the sows? Are the sows housed in a secure cage that they can’t get into?

The other thing you’ll have to bear in mind is that boars need more space than sows. The minimum recommended is 150x60cm but we recommend 180x60cm. The cage you’re planning to buy isn’t likely to be the minimum size. It will do for now but you would be advised to buy something more suitable soon.

They will wheek for their mum. This is normal but you just have to sit through it. It will eventually stop! It’s tough but you’ll do fine. The alternative isn’t one you want!

We’d love to see photos of your boys and girls.

PS I don’t know what kind of cage your girls are housed in. Would you be able to stack cages using a table? So sows below and boars above? Or you could build a c&c (if you don’t mind the look of them) and stack them.