3 Girls And A Boy (i Think ...)

[MimiMatilda]

I have two guinea girls, both gentle souls, one cheery and friendly, the other quiet and shy. Sadly, the cheery one has kidney issues and has lost weight, but she is eating and active and seems cheery still.
We have adopted a neutered boar and a sow, and after a right old kerfuffle yesterday (and following your guidelines, thank you), my girls and the boar are getting on fine, but the new sow is charging round jumping on my girls still. No nipping. If she is indeed a girl, would she be mounting ...?

Thanks for your help

 

[MimiMatilda]

Apologies for serial post. A thorough up-ending and check of bits and pieces and yes, we do have 3 sows and one boar. My girls and the boar seem to be getting on okay. It's the new sow who has not yet settled. It is early days so I suppose it is watch and wait ...

 

[Stewybus]

She's probably not getting all the attention that she was used to now but if there's no biting or fur flying they should settle nicely.

 

[Wiebke]

Mounting is female dominance behaviour as well. Your new girl has suddenly got competition for the spot as top sow. it usually takes a few days to about two weeks to sort through the hierarchy and esptablish very rank in the ladder in a group. You haven reported any bonding behaviour that surpasses the mild stage, so I wouldn;t worry if I were you. The dominance phase look always a bit rough for people who have never seen it. Unlike you, the piggies understand what is going on and are not taling it personally.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sow-behaviour.38561/

 

[MimiMatilda]

Ah yes, Stewybus, that would make sense, thank you

 

[MimiMatilda]

Thanks so much, Weibke. It's so reassuring to know quite how long to sit it out. My two seem quite happy for her to be top sow. They are quite patient with all her shenanigans. You can almost see them rolling their eyes!

 

[MimiMatilda]

Update ... It is fascinating to watch! Anna, our new girl, seems to have concluded her issues with Mimi. She still attempts to mount but much less often, and Mimi has tired of it and administers the occasional nip. What is terribly sweet is that Nigel, our new boar, is protective of Mimi and intervenes, gently, when he sees Anna up to her tricks. At the moment, Anna is resolving things with Matilda, our other existing girl, who is very shy and quiet. No violence, just lots of chasing and mounting. We shall see how it goes ...

If I hadn't had all your help and advice and understood what was happening, I would have sent Anna and Nigel back to their previous owners by now. They belonged to a neighbour's son who had lost interest, and his mother felt they were not getting the attention they deserved.

All are going to the vet tomorrow for a check over. Should be fun!

Thank you again