4 Boars Now 3

[Jesse's pigs]

This is another thread about my friend(whom I have mentioned a couple of times) who seems to be magic when it comes to bonding boars. So she purchased two bonded boars but they started fighting so she split them up and put Russell with her two rescued sows and Howard with her newest sow Quinn who hadn't been accepted by the others. Eventually it became apparent that the two rescued sows were pregnant when she got them so she isolated the sow who was growing bigger and left Russell with Oti. (Both boars are neutered so they didn't father the pups). The pregnant sow had 3 boars which when they were old enough she put with Russell and placed the sow back with Oti. They never fought once!! Then Oti had her 3 pups but sadly a bout of pheunomia took both Oti,2 of the newest pups and two from the other sows litter. Now she has Russell with the boar from sow 1s litter and now the surviving boar from Otis litter.

 

[Flutterby]

Aww, sounds like she's been on a hell of a journey with her piggies. So sad that she lost some. I hope all settles down for her.

 

[Wiebke]

What a steep learning curve!

I am very sorry that your friend has lost so many. URI can kill and transmit quickly, especially those with a weakened or not yet fully developed immune system. Pregnant/nursing mums and pups fall under that category and are especially vulnerable. Another vector that people are often not aware of is bordetellosis, which can be transmitted by rabbits (carry bordetella without being affected) or dog (via kennel cough or kennel cough vaccination).

I wish her three boars all the best! At least by the time there may be problems with the boar trio, the two youngsters should be old enough for neutering themselves and the odd one out can go an live with the surviving sow after a 6 weeks' safety wait.

 

[Jesse's pigs]

Yes I was shocked by how many she sadly lost and she thanks you for your kind words. Here is a pic of Russell and the youngest pup christened Denis who looks like a mini version of his late mum Oti.