Welcome to the forum
Please don’t worry, nobody is going to be mean to you here. We are a friendly a supportive group who will do what we can to help you.
First a few questions:
1. What are the measurements of their cage?
Two boys need a 180x60cm.
2. Is there multiple of everything in the cage?
Two of everything means they don’t have to battle for resources. Make sure there are two hay piles (we don’t recommend the use of hay racks) and two water bottles.
We do not recommend food bowls are used. They can mean that one pig can try to hog both bowls; but also using a bowl makes eating a mindless activity. We recommend veg and their one tablespoon of pellets each is scattered around the cage or in loose hay piles. This encourages natural foraging abilities and makes meal times
Mentally stimulating, encourages natural behaviours and means one pig cannot food hog.
3. Hides - make sure you only use hide houses which have two doors in them. Single exit hides and pigloos mean there is a risk of a fight occurring inside. If they both try to go into the same hide which only has one door then one pig is blocking the door meaning the other can’t get out. That is a common flashpoint for a piggy to get defensive and then injuries can occur inside.
You are right, your piggies are teenagers and will be considered so until they are 14 months of age. However that doesn’t mean that at that age they suddenly stop being hormonal. It will settle at around that age but you will still see dominance displays throughout life and adults still get hormone spikes. It does ease off once they get to 4+ years and they become more about companionship than hierarchy and dominance.
Hormonal displays and dominance behaviours are very normal
At 9-10 months of age, there is another hormone spike. It isn’t quite as big as the one at 6 months and the 9 month spike doesn’t typically break a bond unless there have always been underlying problems.
The behaviours you are seeing are normal. When you have two boys the same age then the hormones are exacerbated and it can just make things a bit more intense as they are both going through it at the same time.
What you should not do is step in for normal dominance because that can actually make things worse. If you separate unnecessarily then when they go back together it will cause a new round of dominance and consequently increase what you are seeing.
There are only two occasions upon which you step in and separate permanently - if you see an actual fight which causes injury or if you determine it is actual bullying. Both these are bond breaking and mean the separation must be permanent and you can’t ever reunite them once this type of separation has occurred.
An actual fight unmistakable.
Bullying is a sustained set of what appear to be dominance behaviours but the behaviour has actually gone beyond dominance.
If the behaviour becomes so relentless that the piggy being chased is never allowed to rest. As soon as the piggy tries to settle, the bully is after them. The bullied pig may be constantly chased out of hides (although you do need to remember that the dominant gets their pick of the best hide (best is everything) so being chased out is a hide on occasion isn’t necessarily a sign of bullying).
The bullied pig may also be chased away from food. So you may well see weight loss at the routine weekly weight checks.
If you are worried about their bond and you do feel the chasing and mounting has gone beyond normal, then you can carry out a one time trial separation.
You separate them for a few days (but their cages need to be side by side) so they can settle.
After those few days you put both pigs into a neutral territory bonding pen (you cannot just reunite them back in their normal cage as it’ll by then become the territory of just one of them), with just water and hay piles (do not add any hides at this point).
Reuniting them in neutral territory will allow them to make their decision as to whether they want to be together. They will either reeestablish their bond with normal dominance behaviours; or they will reject each other (possibly fight).
If they want to be together and all goes well, then after a few hours in neutral territory you can clean out their normal cage, remove dividers and put them back in to it. You don’t then separate them again.
If it doesn’t go well on neutral, then that is them giving their answer about their bond. If that occurs then sadly they will need to go back and remain in separate cages permanently.
The guides below explain more about boars in general but also the bonds in trouble guide explains how to determine a dysfunctional bond.
I hope that helps
1 Causes for bonds to fall apart
2 Bonds in Crisis
- What are the signs of a dysfunctional bond?
- Bullying
- How can I test whether a bond is no longer working?
3 Failed bonds and what next?
- What to do if my piggies have had a major fight?
- When rebonding doesn't work out
1 Causes for bonds to fall apart
Every fall-out has of course its own...
1 Common myths and misconceptions
2 The different ages (including teenage)
- Important biological facts
- The formative 'School Weeks' (3 weeks - ca. 4 months)
- The Teenage Months (ca. 4-14 months)
- The Adult Years (ca. 15 months - ca. 4-5 years)
- The Golden Age (ca. 4-5 years until end of life)
3 What do boars need? (List of boar dos and don'ts)
- Space, space and more space!
- Respecting the hierarchy
- The 'one for each...
1 The hormonal teenage months
- What are the most difficult times?
- What are your boars' chances of making it together?
- What can help to boost your boys' chances?
- What does NOT work?
2 Fighting, bullying and when to separate
- What are the signs of a dysfunctional bond?
- How can I test whether a bond is no longer working?
- What to do if your boars had a bloody fight?
3 Life after...
