What am i doing wrong

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sue 1974

sue 1974

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I have had another 2 boars who were bonded now start to fight, they have drawn blood and i have had to seperate. I also have 2 sows at it as well. This is the second pair of boars in 2 days i have had to seperate. I now have 7 boars on their own. I do have a baby boar and have tried to bond him with an adult but the adult won't accept him. The pairs all came into the rescue bonded and had been for a long time, they had females around them as well, tho not the amount i have.

It's getting stupid now, i have one pair of boars left and fingers crossed they will stay ok.

What am i doing wrong? I am now refusing to take in anymore pigs at the rescue as i am full to bursting and need to sort this problem out.

What is the best way to bond piggies?
 
Hi Sue,

I don't know what else to say about from what I posted before - that you need to be careful about the boys being able to smell the girls, either on the grass, the runs, even on your clothes / hands. I'm lucky as most of mine aren't bothered, and I've only ever had one bonded pair who fell out and they both bonded ok with new friends.

Some boars will even react to the dustpan and brush being used to clean their cage after you've cleaned the girls!

How are they housed? Are the boys housed above or below the girls? Do they use the same runs?

Sophie
x
 
could be that the boars are very "sensitive" to the sows smells as shopie has pointed out so that would be my first thought but my seconded would be have they got spooked/scared in anyway.
Ive only had this happen twice all near bonfire works and the boars got spooked bumped into each other and dew blood but after all the fireworks had settled down they went back togther fine.

Also what ages are the pairs? as sometimes another thing ive noticed is that when boars/sows reach about 6-9 months and they really start looking at been more dominate to their cage mate etc sometimes another pair in the shed seem to pick up on this and it sets them off sometimes, sows I havent had problems with bar 1 or 2 but after a few months they were fine and live happily within sow groups.

other than that I dont know, other than maybe they wernt that bonded at their previous home and never "settled" together maybe
 
Thankyou both for your replies any idea's is much appreciated.

The first boars that fell out were in a block of 4 hutches, they had females above them but there is no way they could have seen them, they also had 2 sows next to the but a lot hight than htem , so once again they couldn't see them. These boars actually came in wth 3 females(not been together, but from same home)these are the females housed above them.
I don't put them on the same grass but the females could be about 6-8 feet away.

The second pair that fell out were from the 13 i got from preloved last week. they were housed in a 4 foot hutch with 2 other boars(1 being a baby), they are about 4-5 months.

I do pick up a girl and then a little later in the same clothes i will pick up a boar and they will nibble at my clothes and get excited.
Does that mean i have to change my clothes before handling the boars!

I am going to change the whole garden at the weekend and have the sows well away from boars, i won't even walk past the boars when i have been near a sow, i will get new dust pans etc as well.

Feel free to add any more advice anyone:)):))
 
sue 1974 said:
The second pair that fell out were from the 13 i got from preloved last week. they were housed in a 4 foot hutch with 2 other boars(1 being a baby), they are about 4-5 months.
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these ones sound as if they are just descovering "puperty" as I call it lol and are just benning to realises they can both challange for domanace which sounds like they might have been doing and also now theyve got space they might just not like each other as been in a 4 footer with 2 other boars doesnt really give them much choice of having their own space, i wont be to worried about having to spit this pair mianly as they are at the begining of "that age" where they are just taking it all in and havent an older boar there to really trun around and say "oi I'm the boss so you to stop!" sort of thing
 
i am having problems with my 2 bonded boars too they have been together nearly a year now and the older boar squeak is bullying the younger boar bubble so i have had to seperate them i aso have 12 sows that live beside and above them there must be something in the air but it does make life difficult when they dont get on
 
Kirstycc said:
these ones sound as if they are just descovering "puperty" as I call it lol and are just benning to realises they can both challange for domanace which sounds like they might have been doing and also now theyve got space they might just not like each other as been in a 4 footer with 2 other boars doesnt really give them much choice of having their own space, i wont be to worried about having to spit this pair mianly as they are at the begining of "that age" where they are just taking it all in and havent an older boar there to really trun around and say "oi I'm the boss so you to stop!" sort of thing
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The problem is one has drawn blood quite bad n the other, he bit right by they eye and has ripped it(not the eye), i have split them up already. Do you think i shoud just put them back together tomorrow then?
 
tinso said:
i am having problems with my 2 bonded boars too they have been together nearly a year now and the older boar squeak is bullying the younger boar bubble so i have had to seperate them i aso have 12 sows that live beside and above them there must be something in the air but it does make life difficult when they dont get on
Click to expand...
It does make it very hard, will you put them back together at any point?


Does anyone have any bonding tips?
 
i have tried in the run outside today and no joy bubble seems terrified of squeak if i cant rebond them them i will have to get another hutch as bubble is only in a temporary indoor cage at the moment he is a big boar so it isent really big enough i allready have 7 hutches with piggies in 6 and a rabbit in another the only other option is to rehome as i have too many piggies really but i dont really want to do that
 
Bonding tip: try them and see, no more, no less
I have pairs of boars and pairs of sows all within sight, sound and smell of each other. I put pairs together and see what happens, like human beings, they either get on or they don't. I do not bath them beforehand, no disinfecting of cages, no Vick on the nose. At feeding/cleaning out time I just get on and do the jobs. Certainly no separate dust-pans and brushes!
 
I keep my boys in pairs above a big pen full of girls and have never had any problems, so not sure what is sparking yours off. If new pairs come in I do keep them away from mine initially, first in quarantine but then in a separate block.

If they're teenagers then they will be more prone to scraps, sadly.

Mine have always just got on with it - but sounds like you're not so lucky, so all you can do is minimise the 'risks'. Good luck

Sophie
x
 
I have a rule that if any pigs in a group start to fight and draw blood I separate them, the risk of serious injury seems to increase dramatically if they get to that stage.
 
i have boars together and they are fine but saying that ive got my females in a total different area, they are not near each other at all. id move your females to one area and males to another and see how you get on other than that i dont know I'm afraid. good luck
 
We have a match up hutch which we use in circumstances like this. It is a large hutch with a wire separation in the middle so they can see and talk to each other. If there is constant teeth chattering then it is a no go. At least they cant hurt each other.
 
Meant to add - it's not the sight of the girls that will set them off, it's the smell - so if they're above or below the girls hutches and even if they can't see them - they can still smell the girly smell!

Sophie
x
 
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