Should I Separate?

[Dilly's Piggies]

From what I can gather Dolly (the white Lunkarya) has just come into season, the other two females you can see next to her are both being investigated for ovarian cysts due to this behaviour happening very often (normally directed at each other and not at Dolly) and they both have enlarged crusty nipples. Poor Dolly is only 4 months old so a relatively new addition to this herd, she has lived with them for 2 months, quite happily until a couple of days ago when I assume she came into season and it has triggered the other two sows hormones. They are both constantly chasing, mounting and rumble strutting at her, they are also very interested in smelling her urine and bottom, Dolly allowed the mounting initially but is now getting stressed with it.

This is normal behaviour but the whole situation is being made worse by hormone issues in the two adult sows, I feel that Dolly is being harassed and it's not her fault, the other two are also not at fault either and I completely understand why they are behaving this way. I just wish it wasn't happening because Dolly is happy in this herd and they like her too, the hormones are causing a lot of problems here and I wonder if Dolly should be separated for her own health and wellbeing until these two have been sorted out. Dolly gets extremely stressed as you can see she's now snapping at them, but she does recover quickly and goes back to eating, it just seems that she can't move or do anything without getting bombarded by two raging sows, it's rather unfair!

Should I leave them and hope it calms down when Dolly's season finishes or should she be separated? No blood has ever occurred but they have pulled and chewed Dolly's hair, barbering isn't an issue to me but pulling hurts.

 

[Jesse's pigs]

I'll tag @Wiebke I don't think you should separate because no blood has been drawn and it is likely due to her coming into season but not 100% sure. They're sneaky aren't they? I saw the (sheltie?)sneak up behind her. Beautiful girls

 

[Swissgreys]

So sorry you are going through this with your girls - those hormones are a beast aren't they.
I know that @Beans&Toast had similar issues with her girls and she used to separate them with grids for a day or two to give them a break. Is it possible to give Dolly a small part of the cage where she can still see and interact with the others, but also have some space for 12 - 24 hours?
I wouldn't move her elsewhere, but if she could get a break with indirect contact it might be nice for her.

 

[Wiebke]

If Dolly is really getting stressed, I would consider trying a temporary separation with a grid, so they can still interact. If Dolly is keen to join her friends (bar chewing), then you know that she is OK. If she perks up when having her own patch, you know it has been too much. It has helped with undersows of mine in company of ovarian cyst sows going overboard. A short-term 24 hour separation in extremis will not break the bond.

Sows having a strong season tend to hump the sow ranked below them in the hierarchy (if she lets them or there is one), otherwise they will turn to the one right next up or if they are close enough in the hierarchy a neutered boar for humping.
Sows with hormonal ovarian cysts are basically nonstop in season, which is very hard on their bodies and can be very disruptive for a group. Guinea pigs are not engineered to live long with being nonstop pregnant until their small bodies give out, hence why their hormone production never stops and there is no menopause. This can become a problem in pet piggies that live much longer. have you considered contacting your vet for hormone therapy?

 

[Beans&Toast]

Yeah I had to separate my two every time they came into season. They are in a C&C cage so I used grids to divide the cage in half to give them rest for a few days. They did tend to pine for each other but they were so close to fighting so it was better to separate while in season.

At first it was Beans who had ovarian cysts causing her a lot of bother, I initially tried hormone injections but they didn't work so I went for a spay. This sorted Beans out but then Toast developed hormonal issues, she got so aggressive, constantly mounting and chasing it got to the point poor Beans was getting distressed and stopped eating so I had to separate again.

Toast was spayed last week because her hormonal issues were causing serious problems with her own health and her bond with Beans as I was having to separate so often.

Separating with a divider for a day or two is a good short term solution to give poor Dolly a rest if she's getting harassed, she must feel quite overwhelmed especially as she's so little. Have you and your vet spoke about what you will do if cysts are found to be the problem?

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Yeah I had to separate my two every time they came into season. They are in a C&C cage so I used grids to divide the cage in half to give them rest for a few days. They did tend to pine for each other but they were so close to fighting so it was better to separate while in season.

At first it was Beans who had ovarian cysts causing her a lot of bother, I initially tried hormone injections but they didn't work so I went for a spay. This sorted Beans out but then Toast developed hormonal issues, she got so aggressive, constantly mounting and chasing it got to the point poor Beans was getting distressed and stopped eating so I had to separate again.

Toast was spayed last week because her hormonal issues were causing serious problems with her own health and her bond with Beans as I was having to separate so often.

Separating with a divider for a day or two is a good short term solution to give poor Dolly a rest if she's getting harassed, she must feel quite overwhelmed especially as she's so little. Have you and your vet spoke about what you will do if cysts are found to be the problem?

The two hormonal sows are actually having ultrasounds and xrays tomorrow to look for cysts, and I have already decided I will go for spaying, one sow has just turned 2 and the other is 14 months old so they will hopefully be good candidates for the surgery!

It's a pretty messed up situation because just a few months ago I had to spay my sow Harriet who also lives in this herd (4 in this herd) as she was diagnosed with ovarian cysts and displayed exactly the same symptoms and behaviour. These 3 sows are actually family, one is Mum and the other two are her daughters and all 3 have hormonal issues within 3-4 months of each other, Dolly isn't related to them.

Harriet is doing fantastic since her spay, with all this going on Harriet is staying out of it and just a delight to have around now, a few months ago she would be the one causing this trouble! With the quality of life Harriet has now I am going to try and give that to the other two sows also, I think it'll do wonders for them as they all do get along, it's purely hormones causing issues, bless their little hearts.

 

[piggieminder]

I hope all goes well for your lovely guineas, it sounds like you have a god plan. Hormones are a pain.