What would you do?

[ghostbusterbunny]

I posted a few weeks back about my old lady pig barbering everyone and I mentioned that I thought Tess was looking rather miserable. Over the last couple of weeks she had lost a little weight - about 40 or 50g. She's never been the biggest piggy so the weight loss was showing; though it's made worse by her severe (for her) haircut - my mum thinks she looks like a baby now because of her small stature and short 'do!

She's definitely healthy, no signs of illness, she's eating for England just as normal when I feed her - I'm thinking maybe the competition in the shed is a bit too much so now I'm separating her off for mealtimes and for veggies and that's helping her put those few grams back on. I'm starting to think she's going to be better off in the long run if we find her a buddy she can live the quiet life with away from the rabble in the herd.

She is very close to our herd boar, Einstein. If I could do anything I wanted I'd be looking at finding her a husboar of her own to live the quiet life with. However, I'd find it really difficult to get to a rescue now so even if my parents would let me go down this route if I can't get anywhere then it's not an option.

My other option is finding the perfect piggy from the herd to pair her up with. However, my herd has been together for over a year now and I'm finding it very difficult to find a piggy that could go with her that wouldn't impact another piggy... I've got a very quiet mother-daughter pair that even now are still quite close but this would give a trio and Tess might end up being the odd piggy out. Tess is bottom of the pile and is gets on well with everyone but there's not one piggy, aside from Einstein or Munchie (who is my top sow) that she is particularly close to.

I'm not really sure what I'm asking here as obviously you guys don't know my piggies and what they're like. But if you were in my shoes, what would you do?

 

[Sarah from Chucklebunnies]

I have had a few grow old alongside youngsters, all running round together free range and in competition for food etc. I think your current approach is the right one, extra feeding separately so that she can take her time over the good food and really fill up before it's eaten by others. I also feed oldsters a bit of critical care made up into a thick porridge every now and then, it has a lot of very good nutrients in it and is supportive to the digestion too. That's particularly relevant if you have an oldster with a long term illness such as cancer.

I have found that older piggies don't like being separated from the herd, even with just a wire screen between them and the herd, because they are currently still part of the dynamic. Provided no one is bullying them then I feel it is best to leave them in with the others, even when they move more slowly (bless them - you can almost hear them grumbling about their old bones sometimes) they like to be near the youngsters and part of it all. Even the ones with cancer preferred to be part of the herd. I have had an oldster, really moving towards the end of days with cancer at the time, make a prodigious leap over the wire screen simply to be with the herd. I wouldn't have believed she could do it. It was incredible and showed beyond doubt that she needed the company of the other piggies a lot more than she needed rest and space from them.

I have never tried retirement with another older piggy just as a pair. I have absolutely no idea how that would work out after being in with a bigger group.

I wish you all the best with your oldster, they are the most marvellous piggys to look after and incredibly affectionate at that age.

 

[ghostbusterbunny]

Oh, sorry I worded my initial post a bit iffy. She's not an older piggy, she's only about 2. It's the oldest member of the herd that's doing the barbering which is what I think is starting to get to Tess who's her main "victim".

 

[Sarah from Chucklebunnies]

Whoops! That'll teach me to read more carefully!

That's bullying then, if it's showing in your younger girl's behaviour. I still think the extra food away from the others is good, but you won't stop the bullying until you change the dynamic in the herd. Tess is your bottom piggy and will remain so if you simply remove a piggy or two...

I would personally remove the top piggy who is doing the bullying for a while, perhaps a day or two, then reintroduce. You could simply separate her from the rest with a wire screen or something similar, rather than remove her from the living area altogether. Tess's position will not change, her relationship with the top pig will not change, but the top piggy will then be a lot more interested in maintaining her position with the rest of the herd and will ignore the bottom piggy for a while. This will alter the herd dynamic for you. You should see different behaviour from the others in fact, and you may well see your little bullied piggy strutting her stuff a bit while the top piggy is away.

If that didn't work and the bullying resumed I would then have to remove the bottom piggy for her own health. Bullying does happen in groups, it just does. My piggies are helped by having a lot of space, which reduces friction. I have removed a piggy for a while in the past - or given a small piggy a hiding place which the other bigger piggies simply cannot get into. Their own personal space as it were.

I wish you all the best anyhow, I hope you can work out something for the best for all your piggies. I hope this is useful to you, please remember I'm not an expert - just going by what I know of my own piggies.