Skip is a bully

[clowny]

Advice please. I have 4 boars. Eldest 4.5, one 2.5 and two 1.5 years. Skip, the youngest has bullied all the others and caused Clowny (eldest) nasty wound that had to be glued back together at vets. Was advised to remove him from the others. I did so by blocking the stairs in my two storey hutch. Clowny lives upstairs and Toffee and Ginger downstairs. I had to remove Skip (who also now lives alone) as he continued to attack Tofeef and Ginger (who live together perfectly). It was as though he had to bully someone and once Clowny was removed, he turned on the other two. Do I find them friends? Thats the question. Clowny is a lovely friendly chap who loves company. Skip is very lively and a wriggly little thing. When it was summer and the hutches were out, I felt they had lots of company from the kids and the rabbits etc. I used to line all of the runs together so they could see each other. I could not put Clowny and Skips runs side by side as Skip taunted Clowny through the wire and Clowny would hide. Now the weather has changed they are now in the shed. Whilst we visit them and handle them as much as possible, should I get friends? If so, male/fem, neutered etc, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Karen

 

[Niki]

Hi Karen
I had this dilemma with 2 of mine.
If you get them a baby boar & they accept it you will not know the personality of the baby until it starts to mature & you may end up with this baby also bullying Clowny & Skip sounds like he doesn't like other boys.

Could you split your hutch so that Clowny & Skip can live side by side with a mesh divider between them, they can see each other & interact but Skip wouldn't be able to cause further injury to Clowny. 
This is how my once paired boars now live. At first Hamish dived for cover when he copped for Huxley thru' the mesh but he soon realised he could do as he pleased & that Huxley couldn't get to him

The only other solution is to have each neutered & add a sow but i don't know if this is guaranteed harmony or not

 

[clowny]

Hi thanks for the reply. i have already had to split the main hutch in order that Clowny had somewhere to live and cannot do it again. Having spent a lot of the night awake wondering what to do, I had a brainwave. When i separated Clowny, the other 3 were still living together. Skip, due to continued bulling of the other two after I had removed Clowny, now also lives alone. Can I reintroduce Clowny and the other two again? They all know each other and will smell the same - it must be worth trying before I start introducing another guinea pig that might also not get on with Clowny. I will have a think and let you know how I get on. Thanks, Karen