Sows fighting?

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Petalnick

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Hello. I got two 8 month old sows about 2.5 weeks ago from the adopted section at pets at home. All seemed to be fine and was settling well together. Was checked by a vet at the weekend and all looking good. We thought Flo seemed to be the dominant one. They came out and get cuddles every day and get to wander around the room every evening.

Today there is a lot of squeaking which is quiet but unusual. It seems like Flo is trying to mount Sally and they are chasing each other around the cage. I don’t see any fighting as such and don’t think any teeth chattering. This did stop when I put in their fresh hay. As they ate this nicely together. They are currently cuddled up in their bed together.

Is this anything to be concerned about? Why would there be such a sudden change in behaviour? Thank you
 
MinnieZvonar said:
Are you 100% sure about the genders of the pigs? Pet stores often misgender piggies.
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The vet had a look at the weekend and didn’t mention anything. So assuming she would have noticed. They have been together since they were babies. Will have a good look next time I take them out.
 
Could be several reasons but being sows, being in season could well be the most likely cause. It can cause them to be a bit difficult for a few days but it’ll settle.
A new environment can cause them to reestablish the hierarchy and upset them a little, but that often calms down.
Is their cage definitely big enough for them?
 
Piggies&buns said:
Could be several reasons but being sows, being in season could well be the most likely cause. It can cause them to be a bit difficult for a few days but it’ll settle.
A new environment can cause them to reestablish the hierarchy and upset them a little, but that often calms down.
Is their cage definitely big enough for them?
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Thank you for your reply. Is it the ferplast 120 cage which I believed was big enough for two sows. We have talked about upgrading to a bigger cage soon. If this is the issue we will certainly get a bigger cage. They have seemed happy enough until today.

Should we do anything while they are chasing each other or just leave them to it? I do have oven gloves at the ready in case I need to separate them.

They are cuddled up nicely in their house at the moment.
 
If it’s because one is in season, there is no need to do anything and certainly don’t separate them (separating is stressful for them and should only be done in the event of complete relationship breakdown, which your situation is not). It will calm down. To add though, they are not fighting. This is just a normal behaviour.
A 120cm is fine but it is only the minimum sized cage piggies should be kept in. Bigger is always better though!
 
Piggies&buns said:
If it’s because one is in season, there is no need to do anything and certainly don’t separate them (separating is stressful for them and should only be done in the event of complete relationship breakdown, which your situation is not). It will calm down. To add though, they are not fighting. This is just a normal behaviour.
A 120cm is fine but it is only the minimum sized cage piggies should be kept in. Bigger is always better though!
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Thank you. Will just keep an eye on them.


We are going to upgrade their cage to something bigger very soon. Can’t belive the tiny cage that pets at home recommend! Will hopefully get a bigger cage organised by the weekend and get them settled with more space.
 
Ok they normally share a house.Flo has not been in the house in the last few hours. She is just sitting outside the hutch. Have checked her over and she looks well. We have a plastic house which we could put in for her. Should I do that? I’ve heard no more squeaking and they are both eating and drinking fine.
 
It’s always wise to make sure you have more houses than pigs so that no guarding can occur and that both pigs have somewhere where they can go if they don’t want to sit together.
 
Piggies&buns said:
It’s always wise to make sure you have more houses than pigs so that no guarding can occur and that both pigs have somewhere where they can go if they don’t want to sit together.[/QUOTE

We did have two houses but it made me the cage seem really small. We are ordering a bigger cage this evening which will hopefully come this weekend with express delivery and we can ensure that we have two homes for themselves Makes sense if they need space from each other. Thank you.
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Piggies&buns said:
It’s always wise to make sure you have more houses than pigs so that no guarding can occur and that both pigs have somewhere where they can go if they don’t want to sit together.
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What does guarding mean? My old boar used to do this
 
Piggies&buns said:
When one piggy claims a house/food bowl etc as his/her own and won’t let any other pig use it
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Selfish haha. When i once let my sow and boar out together on floor time.( i know it wasnt a good idea now) they were both claiming a hidey and then kicking each other out. More often it was my boar who won
 
Clover can claim and guard 3 food bowls and 2 houses at the same time thanks to her impressively chunky physique and tremendously large bottom... its a real skill, plus the way she just sits on anyone who tries take her stuff! Just plonks down a bum cheek then that piggy is squished... doesnt exert herself at all just sits down and all the other pigs run for cover :)
 
Does a one pig out of a pair of pigs, who is showing to be the blatent dominant pig of the two, Necessarily end up the dominant pig for life?
 
If you have no other pets a c&c cage would be ideal. Or check out the 160” cage on zooplus website.
 
Skypipdot said:
Does a one pig out of a pair of pigs, who is showing to be the blatent dominant pig of the two, Necessarily end up the dominant pig for life?
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I've found with my ladies it depends on who is in season plus who is favourite wife. Also who can be bothered contesting it. Clover is obviously the big boss pig when she can be bothered but she sleeps a lot and doesnt try be dominant unless its about dinner or somewhere she's trying to take a nap. Tiny Puggle is favourite wife and when she's in season or the mood takes her she struts her tiny ginger bottom around the place like she's the queen, and Theo lets her eat everyone's dinner and the other ladies back off. Mad Piggle is really hormonal and has a 48 hour reign of terror every 16 days when she bullies her way to the top and scares everyone- but she ranks bottom for about a week afterwards because the other piggies won't talk to her... very tricky with ladies!
 
My piggies do this. It is always the slightly bigger one that mounts the smaller. We have been told it is a dominance assertion thing. Mine go back to normal, sharing houses and everything, within minutes of this.
 
it could be dominance issues,the shreaking can mean submission.i have had to place a sow in with a group,as she lost her husboar.there has been lots of chasing,mounting,shoving piggies out of their hidies ,and submission.its nearing the end of two weeks and it is much quieter,and all are mingling together.i hope your sow settle down soon.
 
I have 5 sows (mom + 4 pups). Mom is roughly 8 months old, and pups around 2 months. All five when in heat and ready to be mounted, will do a bit of rumbling, and try to mount. Usually lasts a couple hours to maybe 6 hours i.e. it can happen in that window on and off, then everything settles. The female being mounted, will act/react the same as if a boar was in there trying to do the same thing, it's normal. You might see someone get urinated on, nipped at, run away, do some unique vocalizations, jump, jump and do a 180 spin to face the instigator, etc.. It's all part of what a boar + sow would do when getting ready to mate, though the sow ready to be mounted actually ACTS like a boar instead. The only real difference paired/settled boar/sow, the boar usually mounts the sow when she's in heat and ready. When the sow is ready and not being mounted, she'll assume the role, even if the sow she's trying to hump is NOT in season.

Big thing is being 100% certain you indeed have all females.
 
Thank you so much little Piglets for your detailed reply. This is exactly what seemed to have happened. It has all settled down now and only lasted a day. Is good to know that it is normal and what is going on.


A vet has looked and agreed that they are both females. We certainly don’t want any babies!
 
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