Sows in side by side cages?

[joalison]

Sorry if this all sounds crazy but I'm a big worry wart when it comes to my pets. I have 2 girls and just yesterday got 2 younger girls. Currently in separate rooms of course to quarantine in case of any contagious issues being brought in.

I dont really plan to introduce them all to live together soon, I'm just happy having backup in case one pig passes i can then introduce the remaining 3 girls so one wont be alone. So in the meantime would they all be ok living right beside eahc other? I dont want especially the first older pigs to get stressed with two new girls suddenly living beside them, or will they not really care? Is there a need to make sure they cant reach each other through the divider or will they be ok touching noses through it? Does anyone have setups of different herds of girls living beside the others and how did it go for you?
Thanks!

 

[Piggies&buns]

It is fine for them to live side by side. It won’t cause any issues for any of them.

I have two separate boar pairs. They live in a two storey hutch - older pair in the bottom half and the younger pair at the top half.
But the playpen is the shed floor so when the younger pair are having their playpen time, they go nose to nose through the hutch mesh with my older pair. The youngsters have been with me for almost four weeks and initially during playpen time the two pairs were very interested in each other - caused a slight increase in dominance in my older pair. Now though, they just like to say hello through the hutch mesh a few times and then go about their piggy business!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Sows and any combos with just a single boar can live next to each other without problems (no other boar to fight and fall out with). Boars can live next to boars.

What does not work is introducing sows into a boars-only environment and especially not right next to boars because of their strong reaction to sow pheromones.
Boars that are used to living in an environment with sows produce a calming compound, which means that they are less likely to overreact but you cannot count on it in every individual case.

 

[joalison]

It is fine for them to live side by side. It won’t cause any issues for any of them.

I have two separate boar pairs. They live in a two storey hutch - older pair in the bottom half and the younger pair at the top half.
But the playpen is the shed floor so when the younger pair are having their playpen time, they go nose to nose through the hutch mesh with my older pair. The youngsters have been with me for almost four weeks and initially during playpen time the two pairs were very interested in each other - caused a slight increase in dominance in my older pair. Now though, they just like to say hello through the hutch mesh a few times and then go about their piggy business!

Thats great to know thanks! Once their health is all cleared I will get them setup beside them in the piggy room then