Temporary company, okay or not?

Qualcast&Flymo

Qualcast&Flymo

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About 6 weeks ago I posted a thread in the pregnancy section about a pregnant sow which a friend was pig-sitting; the sow duly had 3 pups, though one was dead. One of the remaining two is a boar, he was separated from the sows at 3 weeks, and now he is 6 weeks old the owner has asked if I could look after him and find him a forever home as I had offered.
I'm going to put him in my spare cage near Squeaks and his wife pigs, so he wont be totally alone, but I was wondering, if he is really desperate for company, bar biting etc, would it be possible to put Squeaks in with him for a while? I have read here that boars who have lived with sows won't accept being downgraded to living with another boar, but is that still the case when the other boar is a baby?
I'm hoping to find him a new home quickly, but I guess he will be with us for a few weeks at least.
Any advice appreciated!
 
Well done for taking him in! I have no experience of this at all but I would worry about disrupting your own herd bonds for a piggy who isnt moving in with them? Maybe finding a foster boar friend might be better in the long run?
I know when Tallulah lived next door to my main herd, despite her being female and a baby, it changed the herd dynamic a fair bit and made the others nervous... then when she left to live in another room they were even more unsettled, even though they didnt like her at all and she had failed to bond with them (quite spectacularly with blood and casualties and an abscess from a bite wound!) until they saw she had got an adjacent territory and her own boar friend!
Its very tricky and I have no experience with boars, but after what happened with Tallulah personally I wouldn't risk a good bond by introducing a stranger who will be going away and mixing up your own piggies...
 
I am not an expert (I am sure one will be along soon) but to be honest he will be desperate for company.
He is young to be alone, and probably will bar bite and wheek and carry on.
But if it were me I personally wouldn't risk a stable group by separating them, even for a baby boar.
Keep him nearby, but I think he best solution is to find him his own friend as soon as possible.

Bless you for helping - I hope he gets a friend very soon.
 
Hi!

I agree - please do not rip apart an established group.
 
Ah ok, that's a pity, I hope I can find him somewhere to go quickly then, so he's not on his own for long, poor little lad. @Wiebke , do you think it's ok for him to be in the same room as Squeaks and his sows, or might that upset them like Tallulah did with PigglePuggle's herd?
I should say, the owner would have kept Pirate if he'd been a sow, but she doesn't have room for a cage of boars in addition to her now three sows. I said I would find him a home, or else he'd probably end up at p@h :(
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
Ah ok, that's a pity, I hope I can find him somewhere to go quickly then, so he's not on his own for long, poor little lad. @Wiebke , do you think it's ok for him to be in the same room as Squeaks and his sows, or might that upset them like Tallulah did with PigglePuggle's herd?
I should say, the owner would have kept Pirate if he'd been a sow, but she doesn't have room for a cage of boars in addition to her now three sows. I said I would find him a home, or else he'd probably end up at p@h :(
Click to expand...

He can live right next to the group with interaction through the bars as he hasn't got any other boar to fall out with. Just make sure that he cannot wiggle, climb or jump out.
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
Ah ok, that's a pity, I hope I can find him somewhere to go quickly then, so he's not on his own for long, poor little lad. @Wiebke , do you think it's ok for him to be in the same room as Squeaks and his sows, or might that upset them like Tallulah did with PigglePuggle's herd?
I should say, the owner would have kept Pirate if he'd been a sow, but she doesn't have room for a cage of boars in addition to her now three sows. I said I would find him a home, or else he'd probably end up at p@h :(
Click to expand...
Just to pick up on the bit I've highlighted above... If she doesn't have the space then so be it, but has she considered keeping him until he's big enough to neuter and then having Pirate in with the girls? I might be reading it wrong, but I get the impression she doesn't has no boars at all so far - she might not be able to manage a separate pig for the months needed until he could go visit the Plum Fairy (and post-op wait), but I figured it was worth just going round the loop and making sure this was an option that had been thought about and ruled out rather than overlooked.

Well done for helping her find a solution, whatever it may be :)
 
Oh good for you taking on a itty bitty baby boy. Hope everything goes well. Love the name! can we have pigtures please?
 
Thanks, @Tangle . I have mentioned to her the possibility of having him neutered in 4 months, but she hasn't got back to me yet. It may be possible, she did say that she hadn't yet broken it to her children that Pirate would be leaving, I think they are rather attached to him ...
 
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