Adding new sows to sow/boar pair

[ah615]

Hi,
Just looking for advice on the likely (as I know nothing is guaranteed!) best situation to add more sows to my neutered boar/sow pair. He is a year old and she is around 5 months. I currently have a 6x2 c&c cage (with the potential to expand) and would love to have a small group of pigs.
I read on the forum that it is best not to introduce a single sow as she might always be seen as an outsider so I am looking to add a pair, of potentially a trio of sows to my pair. Also, I'm thinking that babies might (might being the key word!) be the best option? Ultimately the best scenario would be from a rescue where they could 'date' but realistically that is very unlikely as I really struggled to get a sow in the first place, I ended up 'adopting' one from the pets at home adoption area. All the rescues in the area I spoke to while undergoing the adoption process with my boar said they very, very rarely get sows in so, whilst I will keep looking and contacting rescues to ideally piggie date, I'm also exploring other options.
My question is, am I better getting some girls now, while my sow is young and open to others but potentially might threaten to overtake her in terms of dominance or wait until she is older (how much?) so that when I introduce babies they are no threat to her but she might be a little less accepting of new pigs with her being older.
Any experience of adding new sows to a mixed gender pair, including details, would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

I am very sorry that sows are so rare within your reach. The majority of piggies being sold are boars; and it is unmatched boars in too small cages that cause the more obvious problems and are therefore dumped more quickly.

You can either wait a few months towards early summer when all the unplanned Easter pregnancies fetch up in rescue or go for pet shop baby sows if you'd rather not wait.
In the second case, please read these guides here and make sure that you quarantine the two girls together unless you are prepared to treat all four piggies and that you double-check the gender. You can prevent unplanned babies in sows that come already pregnant due to a mistake that has happened pre-sale but you can make sure that it doesn't happen on your patch.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics (has lots of group info re. dynamics and specifics of baby and group bondings)

 

[ah615]

Thanks for your reply! That's exactly why they said they only really ever get boars, once teenage hormones kick in and they fall out. Is that when there is an influx of piggies then? Have been looking for around 4/5 months and no girls in rescue have come up in that time but if there's a particular time they're most likely that would explain it.
With those 2 options, would you say there is one that is more likely to be successful in terms of bonding or not?
I'd alreadt read the first thread, that's where I read about adding a single being a bad idea. But I hadn't seen the second so thank you. If I got them anywhere other than from a rescue I'd sex them on collection (I did with Lucy, just in case!), get them checked and quarantine them. Plus pregnancy watch, of course!
Thanks again for your reply.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for your reply! That's exactly why they said they only really ever get boars, once teenage hormones kick in and they fall out. Is that when there is an influx of piggies then? Have been looking for around 4/5 months and no girls in rescue have come up in that time but if there's a particular time they're most likely that would explain it.
With those 2 options, would you say there is one that is more likely to be successful in terms of bonding or not?
I'd alreadt read the first thread, that's where I read about adding a single being a bad idea. But I hadn't seen the second so thank you. If I got them anywhere other than from a rescue I'd sex them on collection (I did with Lucy, just in case!), get them checked and quarantine them. Plus pregnancy watch, of course!
Thanks again for your reply.

Successful piggy bonds very much depend on the inidividual personality combination, and that is not something you can predict.

When you buy from a shop, I would recommend that you look for which two girls are hanging out together most as they are likely to be friends. As much as it pains me, but your customer rights are more easily to uphold than with a for-sale breeder.

Sows are generally much rarer in rescue... unless there is a larger hoarder situation with an intake of pregnant sows and then you usually have a flood of babies and mothers looking for homes!

You may find our extensive new owners guide collection very helpful as it covers a quite a wide range of topics and likely contains some information that may be new to you: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

You can always access our full range of guides via the shortcut on the top bar where they are laid out thematically. It makes a very useful resource; both are worth bookmarking.