shall i neuter my male piggy pair and bond with females?

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Littlepig&co

Littlepig&co

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Hi everyone ive been considering neutering my father and son pair of piggies:red who are 1 year and the other is 10 months , jasper the older one is pretty nervous . Anyway for those who don't know I thought I'd tell you my piggies story I'm sorry that its quite confusing !

Basically on 8th January 2012 , I got ruby and daisy , 2 female piggies from kind of friends 'breeders' anyway they are apparently half sisters , different mums but same dad, daisy born on 15th December and Ruby 17th 2011. In February we started to notice daisy was developing a lump so we were worried took her to the vets and she was infact pregnant! So young its just wasn't fair . We phoned our 'friends' and they said their was only one male out of the litters and he was separated a week before getting them . Anyway on 15th march daisy gave birth to Edmondo a little boy , we made sure to separate just before 3 weeks to be on the safe side , they still had his mums brother his dad so they met us and gave us him for free so we could bond him with edmondo and he wouldn't be lonely . So they've been together since the 2nd of April but I'm now wanting to neuter both boys as jasper the oldest boy is very nervous and I think imo he'd benefit from being with a confident girl or 2 and edmondo be with his mum and aunty and then I can improve my setup and have them in their own shed in a c&c cage and things , I think both boys would benefit , I'd get a rescue girl/s as obviously i support rescues :) do you think I should risk neutering the boys baring in mind edmondo is inbred but fully healthy ? They'd benefit from having lots of space and I can get rid of their small 4ft hutches which I hate so much!
 
I personally wouldn't neauter unless I had to for medical reasons, it can be risky for a pig & can have serious after effects... When I lost one of my boars last year neutering the other just wasn't an option for me, so I got him a new man friend.

That's just my opinion tho...
 
If The boys are bonded and get on very well, i would leave as is.
 
I agree with the previous comments that it doesn't really seem necessary, some pigs are nervous and the best way to try and change that is by spending more time socialising them by handling them daily, handfeeding veggies and things like that.

Considering neutering costs around £45, you'd be saving £90 and you wouldn't have to put your pigs through the stress of a major operation and all the potential complications and associated risks. There is also the after care which ideally should be indoors on something like vetbed with strict cleaning to prevent infection. Then you have a six week wait to ensure everything is fine and that there is no risk of pregnancy before you can introduce them to the females. After that there is the possibility that they won't even get along with each other.

Could you not put that £90 towards changing their setup and leaving the pairs as they are? :)
 
I think unless there is a real reason for it (medical reasons) there is no need to do it. Besides, neutering doesn't change a boars territorial and hormonal behavior so even if you did neuter them wouldn't they fight over the two girls?
 
I agree with all of the above if the males are bonded and happy i would leave them as they are as neautering any small animal is tricky and a risky op and a long process afterwards before they could all live together. I agree with Hermes it surely would be simpler to spend the money you would have on neutering on changing the living set up?

Some piggies take a long time to settle down and bond to you, one of my last piggies took 6 months to start to trust me, food is your biggest friend with piggies, it creates a positive response to them so they begin to associate you with good yummy things, i always give mine little treats when i pick them up. In time he will become less nervous :)
 
I wouldn't neuter either as long as the two boars are happy together. I don't particularly agree with the neutering of small animals unless it's for medical reasons, of course. :)
 
Thank you all for your replies, think i have decided what to do now, leave the boys as a pair and only neuter them 'if' they fall out which hopefully they won't :) It is my birthday tomorrow so I will hopefully have enough money to buy a shed for the piggies :)) Is it okay to have the 2 boys in a 4x2 c&c with a 2x1 loft raised up so obviously they could not see the girls and then the girls have the floor space of the shed or a bit penned with a playpen but make sure it is over the minimum requirements and they have lots of space?
 
Good plan, I had to consider it when I lost my little Rufus because finding a spayed female was impossible - but I just would have been devastated if anything had happened to Rodney during or after his op which could have been avoided. He is perfectly happy with his new adopted brother Billy xx
 
jackloveshispiggies said:
Thank you all for your replies, think i have decided what to do now, leave the boys as a pair and only neuter them 'if' they fall out which hopefully they won't :) It is my birthday tomorrow so I will hopefully have enough money to buy a shed for the piggies :)) Is it okay to have the 2 boys in a 4x2 c&c with a 2x1 loft raised up so obviously they could not see the girls and then the girls have the floor space of the shed or a bit penned with a playpen but make sure it is over the minimum requirements and they have lots of space?
Click to expand...

That sounds okay. Being out of sight of the females helps, some people say that the smell of the females can cause boars to fight but I've seen quite a lot of posts from people on here saying they keep boars and sows in similar arrangements to what you've described without issue. I'm also assuming that you've got both pairs in the same shed at the moment without issue so it should be okay. :)
 
Yep both pairs are in hutches in the rabbit shed at the moment and no problem so hopefully it will also be fine in the new shed :)
 
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