3 sows one boar!

[MunchMummy]

Hi all.

We have had a tough week! 6 days ago my father in law passed away very suddenly. We are devastated. In the midst of trying to come to terms with this, our beloved boar Howie passed away too. He was almost 6 and went peacefully but it has been such a blow...especially just before Christmas.

However, Howie leaves his young cagemate Bruno alone. Bruno is a neutered rescue boar...we think between 1yr and 18 months old.

I am currently in the middle of bonding him with my 3 sows...all rescues so age is a rough guide...Amy aged about 2.5/3, Jolene and Dolly aged around 18 months-2 years.

It all went smoothly in the first hour...they happily munched the pile of hay together, had a little sniff etc. Jolene seems especially keen on Bruno and Bruno seems to be very happy with her. Amy gave him a little telling off when he got a bit frisky but they are ok now. My concern is Dolly who was initially like the others. But now there is teeth chattering between them and getting a little cross with eachother. I think perhaps Bruno got a little over excited when he realised he had 3 girls around him and maybe it was too much for Dolly.

Do you think they will all settle down eventually or is this leading to a failed bonding? Amy advice?

The bonding area is the size of a double duvet cover, empty, other than the hay (which was in the middle but had been strewn around by Jolene who loves a burrow).

 

[Abisquartet]

I’m sure someone with more experience will be along to give you more advice shortly, but I’d leave them all in there at least for the rest of the day to see how relationships develop.

Definitely have a look at some of the guides on the forum like Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics to see how normal their behaviours are on the scale!

Wishing you the best

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all.

We have had a tough week! 6 days ago my father in law passed away very suddenly. We are devastated. In the midst of trying to come to terms with this, our beloved boar Howie passed away too. He was almost 6 and went peacefully but it has been such a blow...especially just before Christmas.

However, Howie leaves his young cagemate Bruno alone. Bruno is a neutered rescue boar...we think between 1yr and 18 months old.

I am currently in the middle of bonding him with my 3 sows...all rescues so age is a rough guide...Amy aged about 2.5/3, Jolene and Dolly aged around 18 months-2 years.

It all went smoothly in the first hour...they happily munched the pile of hay together, had a little sniff etc. Jolene seems especially keen on Bruno and Bruno seems to be very happy with her. Amy gave him a little telling off when he got a bit frisky but they are ok now. My concern is Dolly who was initially like the others. But now there is teeth chattering between them and getting a little cross with eachother. I think perhaps Bruno got a little over excited when he realised he had 3 girls around him and maybe it was too much for Dolly.

Do you think they will all settle down eventually or is this leading to a failed bonding? Amy advice?

The bonding area is the size of a double duvet cover, empty, other than the hay (which was in the middle but had been strewn around by Jolene who loves a burrow).

Hi

If tension builds up and stay high and the bonding process is not going anywhere meaningful, please interrupt the bonding and restart on another day to allow them to calm down in the meantime. Unlike with boars-only bonds you can do that with cross gender bondings once they have made it past acceptance into the dominance phase. Yours are likely currently working out the new hierarchy and Dolly may not behappy with punching below Bruno.

You will soon see on the next meet on neutral ground whether it was just down to tensions or whether the other sows will close ranks behind Dolly against Bruno, in which case you have unfortunately had it. Sow bondings are more likely to fail later in the bonding process if there are unresolved acceptance or hierarchy issues within the group. Boars tend to bust up sooner if there are issues between them.

Here is our detailed bonding guide: Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Fingers crossed.

PS: I am ever so sorry about your loss. It is always so much harder at this time of year.

 

[weepweeps]

I’m so sorry you’ve lost your father in law. Such a shock for you and your family. Take care

 

[MunchMummy]

Thank you! They seem much better now the teeth chattering has stopped and they seem to be more settled. Bruno even had a little wash next to Dolly just now and Dolly laid down whilst still giving him a bit of side eye!

The plan is for them to be in a really large L shaped c&c with a hayloft at either end (covers 2 walls of the room) so it will be easy to put a divider in if needed.

I dearly hope this works out though!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you! They seem much better now the teeth chattering has stopped and they seem to be more settled. Bruno even had a little wash next to Dolly just now and Dolly laid down whilst still giving him a bit of side eye!

The plan is for them to be in a really large L shaped c&c with a hayloft at either end (covers 2 walls of the room) so it will be easy to put a divider in if needed.

I dearly hope this works out though!

If needed, give them overnight in the bonding pen; it pays not to transfer into the cage too quickly so they can get the rough bit of the bonding out of the way and settling as a group into the cage will be much calmer.

Avoid any cosies and corners with just one exit for the next two weeks until the group has fully established in their territory. Today is just the intro; the full bonding process takes much longer.

All the best!

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

I have several times had to interrupt group bondings and resart on other day, with very good outcomes. I think for some piggies it can all be a bit too overwhelming. The second meetings are usually surprisingly calm, I think during the first encounter they have taken in a lot of information about each other and the separation has given them chance to process it.

 

[Merab]

So very sorry for the loss of your father in law.
Holding you all in my heart

I bonded a neutered boar with 3 sows.
Micah had lived next to them for 6 weeks so they had time to get to know each other before he joined them.
He went into overdrive with excitement and got told off, pee sprayed and generally told that his place was the bottom of the herd.
We had a few weeks of excitement before they settled down into their new relationship.

Hope all goes well for you.