a third piggy for ches and maisie - advice again!

third piggy?

  • yes - it could work out well

    Votes: 5 62.5%

  • no - it isn't worth the risk

    Votes: 3 37.5%
  • Total voters
    8
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biscandmatt

biscandmatt

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so sorry to post about this again! i have already asked twice over the years! :red


i have been confused about this for years!

right, we have ches who is a neutered male, 5 years old and maisie who is a sow 4 years old.

we were told by the 'rescue' we adopted maisie from that she didn't get on with other sows. we were told she had been tried with some and hated them. however, we then found out that this rescue is also a breeder, and they breed any females and then adopt them out. for the reason that they will then be ok if anyone who adopts them breeds from them when they aren't supposed to. bizarre but an excuse for breeding i suppose.

anyway, so now i doubt whether maisie was tried with any other sows and if she was, i have a feeling she would have been just put with them without any proper bonding.

when maisie arrived with us she was terrified. it took months for her to even accept food from me. now she has been here since 2009 and she is very settled and happy, and super friendly. she is a very sweet girl. she does get quite stressy when in season though. and she tells ches off quite alot, but she adores him, nuzzles him, licks his face and ears and they even sleep side by side.

ches is laid back, bonded with me the day he arrived and adores attention and cuddles.

we have always wanted to add a third piggy to the pair but we have always been unsure whether it would be too much of a risk. however, we have fallen head over heels for a little 5 month old girl from walsall rspca. she is also sweet natured although a little nervous at present.

now that maisie is settled and has been since 2009, do you think it would be worth trying to add a new piggy, or not worth trying?

we are really unsure. any advice appreciated. i will add a poll aswell.

eta: i have the same feeling towards this new piggy as i did when i saw ches and maisie. but i want to make sure what i do is best for ches and maisie, not for me.
 
From what i've seen and heard before sometimes having a trio can mean that one piggy is slightly more left out than the others and that it's best to keep to an even number. (:
 
Often a well bonded, happy pair will not take to an intruder. As both piggies are older now, you could wait until one of them has passed away and then date the other at a rescue for a new friend of their choice to minimise the pining.

If you want to go for more piggies, I'd rather consider piggy dating a couple of already bonded sows at a rescue that allows you to bring Ches and Maisie, so they can decide whether they want company or not. That was the route I went down when five year old Dizzy started showing signs that she would not be around forever. Nerys and Nia joined her and Llewelyn, and so the Tribe was born... By rehoming two piggies you can usually avoid an outsider problem as the two youngsters will have each other to fall back on. By dating to can "test drive" without ending up with piggies not getting on at home.
 
I introduced Erin to Eleanor and Eliza after the two of them had been bonded for a year.

Although Erin was accepted, I felt that she was often left out. Ellie and Eliza would cuddle up in a dome for example and Erin left by herself.

I then made the decision to add a fourth pig to thegroup so along came baby Ena. Erin and Ena immediately clicked (there is only three months between them) and they now get on well as two pairs and one group. Before I brought a travel cage, I used two cat carriers when we travelled. Ellie and Eliza would go in one and Erin and Ena in another.

Eliza rules the roost but I sometimes think it is nice for the younger two that they have each other as a playmate as Ellie and Eliza tend to just relax these days.

I have heard of trios getting along before though and I think my trio would have done if I'd have left it a while longer but it was a great excuse to have another piggy :))
 
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me and o/h have been talking and the thing worrying us most is that ches and the new piggy get on, and maisie is the one kind of left out.

although the new one sounds a very good personality match for them. she is sweet natured and bottom of the pile of a group of seven at the moment, and the most likely to accept a bossy female, as she tolerates that well now.

she also likes to popcorn and maisie loves to popcorn and sprint. ches tends to sit around more or walk around rumbling. :))

we really don't know what to do. :{

we can only take one more piggy if we did. we have a 5x2 c+c now but could extend it to a 6x2 but no more after that as there isn't room.

i don't know what to do! :{
 
I have several happy trios and as one of yours is a neutered boar there is every chance they will be fine - but as above, there is no guarantee it will work so you need to have a back-up plan in place in case of fall outs - do you have the space, finances etc. to have another cage if required, for example... if so then worth a try. The rescue should help you piggy date, so you could take your two for the initial introductions on neutral territory hopefully.

Sophie
x
 
sophiew said:
I have several happy trios and as one of yours is a neutered boar there is every chance they will be fine - but as above, there is no guarantee it will work so you need to have a back-up plan in place in case of fall outs - do you have the space, finances etc. to have another cage if required, for example... if so then worth a try. The rescue should help you piggy date, so you could take your two for the initial introductions on neutral territory hopefully.

Sophie
x
Click to expand...

we have a spare cage now (a trixie 150) but this would be used to separate them if anything went wrong. we would not beable to keep the new piggy if the bonding didn't work as we don't have the space.

the rescue is in the west midlands and we are in manchester so i don't think we would beable to travel there to see if bonding works.

we did decide to leave things as they are, but i just have a feeling about this new piggy, i don't know why. we had hoped that maisie would like a friend who is energetic like her, but we are concerned she would get jealous.
 
A 6 x 2 is fine for 4 piggies :) Having three myself there are some awkward moments between them, the top pig is the mum of the youngest who has been usurped in mum's affections by the unrelated slighter older youngster. The youngest two really don't like each other & I don't think they will ever be friends. They put up with each other that's all, so Daisy (in my avatar) is the odd piggy out really. She seems happy enough, eats well, sleeps etc but sometimes I feel sorry for her. I would like to take them to a rescue to find a fourth they all like but I don't have a reputable Rescue nearby sadly. There is no way I would consider just walking into a shop to get one either. Daisy has lots of human interaction, she seems to love human company so at the moment I hope it's enough. I don't want to split her from her mum to pair her up either that seems mean :( the whole point was to keep her & her mum together for the rest of their days. Rescues don't often re-home single pigs either, they obviously like to pair them up themselves & rehome as a pair.

So as yours are very loved up I would be cautious about adding a single one.
 
what do people think of the new piggy being taken to a local rescue near us and us taking ches and maisie to meet her? that way we could see if a bond is likely?

would this be unfair though on the new piggy, being taken from her current group at the rescue, travelling to here and then possibly having to be taken back again.
 
also, i don't know if this helps, but we were told that maisie was a very good mother to her little boy and adored him and groomed him all the time.
 
oh my goodness, we have asked to reserve the piggy! it's esme from rspca walsall. :(|)
 
Wiebke said:
Are you taking Ches and Maisie to date her?
Click to expand...

no, she will be coming here. she will have her own cage in the bedroom to settle for a few days and then we will attempt the bonding in a bonding pen in a neutral area. alternatively we can go to my nans house to attempt the bonding. :...
 
just had a thought. my youngest brother might beable to take us to meet esme, either in walsall or somewhere in the middle.

do you think this would be ok for ches and maisie, travelling all that way? it's about an hour and a half.
 
Mine have travelled further than that and were fine. They just slept the whole way. I think it would be a good idea to take them along if you can.
 
thanks for the help. because esme has had interest in her already, we have decided to step back and let her go with some of the girlies she is currently with. it seems a bit unfair to send her here when there is a chance maisie won't take to her.
 
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