adding a fourth pig?

[rachelsharp]

i've just recently got a pretty huge hutch - with my three piggies living in there at the moment. i have first of all two sows, poppy and meg who are around 5 years old now. in july i then introduced a neutered boar, rufus who is probably around 10 months now. i'm thinking of adding a fourth piggie to the mix, now that i have plenty of space to offer a rescue piggy a home.

i am thinking of adding a younger female as company for rufus, as my two older ladies are so close, and i know trio's can often mean there is one left out.

do people think this is a good idea? in terms of introductions, how would this go? would i introduce them all at the same time? is introducing a younger sow problematic for my older girls? is it best to get a lady similar in age to rufus? xx

 

[Abi_nurse]

A younger sow would probably be your best bet, and i cant see it being a problem with your older ladies. What set up do you have? If you have a C&C you can always take on a sow and house her seperated off for a few days to get her to 'settle in' to the house, the routine etc. Then if all goes ok through the bars, ie. no one is showing extreme agression through the dividers then pop them all together on neutral territory and see how you go. I would then leave them to it for a few hours, and so long as no bloody flights start then you shouldnt have any problems from there. I would then thoughly clean out the cage and settle them all back in it as a group.

x.

 

[rachelsharp]

thanks, i've got my three pigs in a 6ft x 2 1/2ft three tier hutch, but i do have cubes i use for indoor run time which i could change around to introduce them side by side, that sounds like the best idea definitely xx