Your views on creating a herd...Suzy and Wiebke please look! (Sorry!)

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Doeylicious

Doeylicious

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I am a bit of a rubbish piggy mummy today...doing the clean outs, had in my big run the four girls (Whiskey, Noodles, Honey and Tulip) on one side of the divider, and my married pair JoJo (boar) and Bounty (sow) the other side.

Went in to get a cuppa, came back, and one of the little monkeys had managed to flip the divider and let everyone in together! ARGH! Thankfully every boar here of my own is neutered (and boarders NEVER go in this set up, they get their own runs) so I knew there were no accidental pregnancies likely, but I was very worried about JoJo bothering Noodles who is 5, grumpy, dominant and has huge ovarian cysts making her even more stroppy...but hang on...everyone was quite happy....bit of sniffing, bit of exploring, hang on again, POPCORNING?!?!

As they all seemed so ok, Mum and I left them to it casually observing for about an hour. JoJo made a half hearted attempt to hump the younger girls (Honey and Tulip), sniffed Noodles bum then humped her...and she let him :o then it all quietened down again. Bounty is an incredibly submissive sow anyway, there was a brief chin up with Tulip but the two of them soon got over this and decided it was more fun to run around the run like nutters...

They were all together for about two hours I guess, and there was literally zero teeth chattering or anything nasty at all. By the end JoJo was dozing, and Bounty was nomming the same piece of hay as Honey. Bounty has never really settled in that well but tonight it was like she'd been with the girls for years...

My brain is now ticking, and Mum's DIY fingers are itching, and we were wondering....would letting them all become a herd and making a giant hutch be a good idea?!

I have always wanted a big herd but didn't think any of my boar/sow pairings would lend themselves to it, but JoJo has basically sailed past the hormonal stage and is so laid back, and Bounty so submissive she is unlikely to upset the apple cart with the other girls. Our plan would be to link two 4' x 2' hutches using large drainpipes (two, so no blockages likely) and also leave in and extend the mezzanine so it would be 3' x 2', meaning overall there would be 22 square foot of space minus the bottom of the run, so call it 21 square foot.

So...am I mad?! We would obviously have to start the bonding again and leave them for longer to be sure there were no issues - I'm thinking of setting up the run in my garage for a good six hours with no grass to see what happens...but the initial signs were so good, especially for Bounty who really came alive, I really want to try...

Wiebke and Suzy, I would especially value your opinions here! Thank you to anyone who reads all this though!
 
it sounds like they are quite happy to be bonded together. so it might be worth a try, it sounds fab, i wish i had room for a proper herd :) x
 
I would definitely give it a go. Would it be possible to set up a large area for a few days, as I find that if pigs lose sight of each other during the bonding process they can fall out when they come face to face to someone they've not seen for a bit. The longer you leave it before they can occupy different areas the better.

I don't allow hideys in the bonding area, large covered spaces that they can gather under but not hide in. I follow the same routine no matter the sex of the bonding pigs, you've seen most of how I do it in the boar dating thread.

Once they are bonded I find it quite easy to add females to a group and I did end up with a group of 15 at one point. My neutered male lost a lot of weight though (so many ladies to love) so I pensioned him off with a couple of his favourite girls.

How exciting! Good luck - give me a ring if you need more detailed advice.

Suzy x
 
awwww. i think you should go for it, sounds like it went well even without you meaning to.

i hope you do get a herd :) x
 
Doey, this should work out fine, I run all my sows together, my own and any rescue sows that come in once they've passed quarantine. How many neutered boars would there be in the group?
 
It is lovely to have piggies in a herd if you have plenty of space. My 26 piggies 5 neutered boars included all live happily together,outdoors in summer indoors in winter. I have never had any trouble between them BUT----- my worst nightmare came true a few weeks ago when the piggies developed URI infection -bordatella probably from a wild rabbit as I had laid some new turf in the run.,which had probably had wild rabbits on it,but that is only a guess. However because they all live together the infection spread and despite all pigs being on Baytril for 2 weeks , I had the awful reality of losing 6 piggies. I thought I was going to lose them all,but thanks to a lot of tlc and help from the vet all piggies are now recovered. Out of a herd of 32 ,17 picked up the infection ,6 died and the others were not affected ..... so be aware of the risks, I now know how farmers felt in the foot and mouth epidemic ....heartbreaking!
 
Thank you so much guys, your responses have been really helpful!

Suzygpr said:
I would definitely give it a go. Would it be possible to set up a large area for a few days, as I find that if pigs lose sight of each other during the bonding process they can fall out when they come face to face to someone they've not seen for a bit. The longer you leave it before they can occupy different areas the better.
Click to expand...

Hmm yes sort of...I could easily leave the run as is in the shed/garage (it's the size of a garage but idiot father never got the right planning to use it as such, hence used as a shed!) it's definitely watertight and as warm if not warmer than outside, but we had mice in there earlier this year and we are never 100% sure if we managed to shift them :{ the plan with the hutch would be to give them several hours to see how they got on, then complete the build so they could all move in immediately from the bonding area. Do you think that might work?

The only other option is to wait til July when mother and allergy ridden sister go to Malta for a week and they could take residence of the lounge...

Suzygpr said:
I don't allow hideys in the bonding area, large covered spaces that they can gather under but not hide in. I follow the same routine no matter the sex of the bonding pigs, you've seen most of how I do it in the boar dating thread.

Once they are bonded I find it quite easy to add females to a group and I did end up with a group of 15 at one point. My neutered male lost a lot of weight though (so many ladies to love) so I pensioned him off with a couple of his favourite girls.

How exciting! Good luck - give me a ring if you need more detailed advice.

Suzy x
Click to expand...

I will be referring to the thread (but hoping the humping is less enthusiastic as JoJo is HUGE!), I have always used kids stools when bonding a male/female pair as they have four exits - never ever used anything with one exit - but I think from your advice I may set up some sort of fleece canopies instead. Bonding the four girls (Whisks and Noodles met Honey and Tulip) was so easy I wondered when the fuss would start! So hoping it goes that smoothly...

All0about0the0animals said:
Doey, this should work out fine, I run all my sows together, my own and any rescue sows that come in once they've passed quarantine. How many neutered boars would there be in the group?
Click to expand...

It would only be the one boar, JoJo earned his nickname ASBO pig from his attitude towards other boars in the past so unless I end up with a truly ginormous space, it will just be him. He has calmed down fantastically since going past the hormonal age (he must be around 18 months old now) but I still wouldn't be able to trust him completely. He seemed quite overwhelmed by 5 girlies and found the best course of action was to have a nap after a while...I am hoping that having so many wives will reduce his stonking 1.3kg weight!

christine said:
It is lovely to have piggies in a herd if you have plenty of space. My 26 piggies 5 neutered boars included all live happily together,outdoors in summer indoors in winter. I have never had any trouble between them BUT----- my worst nightmare came true a few weeks ago when the piggies developed URI infection -bordatella probably from a wild rabbit as I had laid some new turf in the run.,which had probably had wild rabbits on it,but that is only a guess. However because they all live together the infection spread and despite all pigs being on Baytril for 2 weeks , I had the awful reality of losing 6 piggies. I thought I was going to lose them all,but thanks to a lot of tlc and help from the vet all piggies are now recovered. Out of a herd of 32 ,17 picked up the infection ,6 died and the others were not affected ..... so be aware of the risks, I now know how farmers felt in the foot and mouth epidemic ....heartbreaking!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the words of warning Christine. Altogether I have 14 pigs in various living situations (one living with another forum member at the moment!) so herd health is always something I try to be quite hot on. Well done for containing the infection, I am always terrified we will get something easily spreadable here.

Also very interesting what you say about the turf as we want to returf the lawn in autumn, but now I'm a bit concerned about the source. I will have to look into that and consider seeds if necessary.
 
I think if you allow a reasonable amount of time after returfing you should be okay, I had extended the grass area and intended to keep the piggies off it for a while but it looked so tempting and they kept peeping through the fence to see what was going on they certainly remember the layout from last summer and knew there was something different to explore,so I gave in and removed the fence much to their delight! We are all gifted with hindsight but I still feel so sad.
By the way the vet said that if an infection gets into a wild herd you can expect to lose about 20 %. 30% will probably be immune and the rest will be affected but recover. However they will become carriers.
 
I have a herd of 6.. so If they all seem happy living together why not have them all together? rolleyes

My outside enclosure consists of a double hucth with a run attached AND another single hutch with a run attached also.. so I have joined them together.. and there are loads of hidey ho's for them if they feel they need their "own space" One of mine in paticular (Juliet) she eats with the other but at bed times she sometimes likes to sleep on her own in the other hutch.. either on her own or with her husband
 
Big THUMBS UP from me!

Piggies are always good for surprises, aren't they? I have found that my hormonal girls are actually happier with a boar around and that most piggies love being part of a herd - that is what they are actually wired for, so you have all the instincts working for you.

I would continue with shared run time very day (as m,uch as you can afford and if neceaasry indoors on some wipeable surface) until they can live together, so the bonding doesn't fade.
 
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I totally agreee. I do love herds/tribes/groups of piggies. They are so much fun to watch and as Wiebke says it is the way they should be. I have 2 herds one indoor with 5 members (avatar picture) and one outdoor of 9 members. I have never had a problem with introducing any of the members into the group and my pigs are really happy, good luck with it and have great fun watching them xx
 
Go for it. I love watching my little herd together. They work well. Sounds like they are all very happy together. I'm getting my boar neutered soon so i shall have a boy running the herd. I cant wait.

x.
 
Well we have decided to give it a go! I have spent half of my first day back at work planning how best to join the hutches as am slightly worried the pipes will be a bit small and make the two hutches too separate.

Thank you all for the advice and encouragement :)
 
No progress as such, other than they have all been out together a couple more times, once in a slightly smaller space, and there was a slight scuffle between Bounty and Honey - Honey is younger but bigger, Bounty decided it was age over size, to be honest I think neither won the chin up as Noodles waddled over and basically told them to stop being stupid!

I have been lazy and bought a new hutch instead of joining two, going to make some modifications though and they should hopefully all be living in it about 7pm tonight...watch this space...!

I love your video Suzy, must find the camera battery so I can photograph/video proceedings...!
 
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