whats best, castrate a boar or spey a sow

[sue 1974]

i have a boar who when i got him was seriously under weight, i have built him up and is now over 800g, the vets are happy to castrate him, however he seem to have a sensitive tummy and had had very loose poo's lately. I have a feeling that he won't take the operation well, so do i chance it or shall i get a female sepyed so she can then go with him?
What age can a female get speyed?
Thanks

 

[MemberX]

Spaying a female is far more dangerous then neutering a male. Its a toughie, perhaps tell your vet of your concerns.

The only time a spay should be done is for medical reasons. Sorry I'm not much help, not had to face this one before.

Hope things go ok.

 

[stargrrlclaire]

i've heard the same as lou,but both are so dangerous! cant you have a same sex pairing?

 

[sue 1974]

i just took him to the vet about his diarrhea, the vet said she didn't think he should do castrated as he was a sickly pig, she said speying a sow would be better and would be happy to do it at 5 months old(i have a 5 month old).

I am still unsure especially after your responses. i have had 2 males before but as i have lot's of females they could always smell them even though they were not close and in the end i had to split them as they were fighting.

The problem is if i got a boar and they didn't get on i then had another boar on his own and really don't want any more hutches.

 

[MemberX]

I have six boars and they live next to my females. They are all in pairs and I have no problems with them. Now he is older maybe try a younger boar. I did this when Twinkle when he was 10 months and his little was 6 weeks at the time.

You can take a boar to rescue to find a friend and also you have the back up that if it doesn't work out then the pig can be returned to rescue in most causes, providing they have space.

I really would try that first before spaying.

 

[Zofia]

Hi. p

With regards to your pig's diarrhea, have you had a look at this link? - http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/diarrhoea.htm

 

[starla]

It might be a bit of a worry for him to go under anesthetic if he's a bit sickly but i would rather let him get better then have him neutered than ever have a sow spayed.

With boars they are not under anesthetic very long, but sows spay can mean under anesthetic a long time and it is just generally more invasive

 

[Goldie]

Why don't you wait until he is better and stronger, then have a think about neutering him?

Spaying a sow is a very invasive operation - I personally won't use that option.
Neutering a boar is also invasive but not as much so. Obviously it carries a risk because of the general anaesthetic but the operation is more common, so therefore vets are more experienced in this procedure.

 

[sue 1974]

after all your great advice i am going to leave him until he is stronger. He does seem to hate being on his own, i had thought of getting a baby boar for him but was worried if it didn't work out i would be left with another boar! There are no babies in any rescue's near me at the moment.

thanks again​

 

[Niki]

Could you have him living next to piggies with a mesh divider between him & them? My piggies are all singles for one reason or another. I have an intact boar who lives next door to an intact female because i daren't have him neutered & would never spay a sow.

 

[JayneG]

I bought a large hutch from PAH and put a divide in - part of an old cage so good strong mesh that they can still see and chat to each other through. My two boars don't get on in the same hutch, but side by side, they adore each other. Strange!

 

[sue 1974]

emm worth a thought, though hw would i seperate the hutch as they are normal hutches with sleeping area and house area, i wouldn't want one to be stuck it the dark bedroom bit

 

[Niki]

emm worth a thought, though hw would i seperate the hutch as they are normal hutches with sleeping area and house area, i wouldn't want one to be stuck it the dark bedroom bit

Could you take out the bed divider making it all one?

 

[Tracyxx]

I've only ever took one boar to be neutered and he sadly passed away as a result of the operation, so I'm afraid I'm very biased on this one. I don't like getting pets neutered/spayed at all, although we've just had to take our female dog to be spayed to prevent unwanted pregnancies as we have a male too. I also wouldn't go for the idea of keeping him next door to a female, especially if he can smell her - it will drive him crazy! Perhaps you could try pairing him up with a boar, or perhaps dividing a cage into two and having the boars live side by side?

 

[starla]

if he isn't feeling very well it's probably best he doesn't have a friend just yet (even a baby boar!) I would either put them in an indoor cage with divider, or take the divider between the day area & bed area out of the hutch & re divide in the middle with perhaps strong chicken wire.