Nanimorgan
New Born Pup
Hi guys,
So I rescued a new piggie sow (Montana Morgan) this weekend to introduce to my 3 girls. Retrospectively, I know I made a HUGE mistake by ignoring all the research I had done on bonding and introduction and following the advise of the rescue owner who said it is fine to just plop a new girl into a herds cage. The first time I adopted from her I followed the same advise and it worked out fine - my third girl, Benedita, got immediately accepted by the other two - so I thought she was maybe onto something, but BOY did it go wrong this time around…
The girls were initially fine with Montanna until Geneva (the second one in the hierarchy rank) started teeth chattering and eventually lunged at her, followed by overall cage mayhem. I then separated the group and just did what you are actually SUPPOSED to do - set up a HUGE neutral area, big pile of hay, 2 exit hideys, etc. Since no blood was drawn and Montanna didn’t really seem interested in fighting back, I thought it could maybe still work - and in many ways it did?
The girls interacted and got used to her, no more jumping or aggression, just the usual rumblestrutting, grooming, small chasing and very mild humping, and so forth. A few days have gone by and I’ve been working from home and paying close attention to the group dynamics in the cage to make sure nothing escalates.
I guess I’m writing here because from a technical perspective it seems that the bonding “worked” after all - but I’m overall just concerned about Montana and her happiness. She is a lot more withdrawn that the other piggies and spends significantly more time in the hideys (the others in comparison sleep out in the open etc). She still walks around and comes out to eat, and the others don’t mind sharing bowls or hay trays with her, but I noticed she is significantly more scared at the little dominance gestures that I see the girls throwing at each other. As in, instead of brushing it off like the other girls do, she is more likely to run away, hide or do that loud little shriek I have seen pigs do. I don’t think she is being bullied but I feel she has been scared by the whole bad first introduction…
In your experience is this normal?
do you think she can grow confident within the herd? Would really love to hear from others. I know being shy and dominance games are all part of gpig world, but it’s just sad to see a withdrawn piggie that seems stressed / on edge.
Also I forgot to mention, but when the owner brought her she was in the middle of treatment for a fungal infection. She was already on her way to mine by the time I found out so I just took her in and am carrying out treatment. The rescue owner said there wouldn’t be a problem as far as getting other piggies infected, but then again, retrospectively I don’t think I should have taken any of her advise…anyway…
I’m saying this because I sadly need to take her out of the cage twice a day which just adds to her stress… but it’s also good as I can check for bites and wounds, and I am also going to start weighing her.
Anyway, just want to make sure she can grow into herself and relax!
So I rescued a new piggie sow (Montana Morgan) this weekend to introduce to my 3 girls. Retrospectively, I know I made a HUGE mistake by ignoring all the research I had done on bonding and introduction and following the advise of the rescue owner who said it is fine to just plop a new girl into a herds cage. The first time I adopted from her I followed the same advise and it worked out fine - my third girl, Benedita, got immediately accepted by the other two - so I thought she was maybe onto something, but BOY did it go wrong this time around…
The girls were initially fine with Montanna until Geneva (the second one in the hierarchy rank) started teeth chattering and eventually lunged at her, followed by overall cage mayhem. I then separated the group and just did what you are actually SUPPOSED to do - set up a HUGE neutral area, big pile of hay, 2 exit hideys, etc. Since no blood was drawn and Montanna didn’t really seem interested in fighting back, I thought it could maybe still work - and in many ways it did?
The girls interacted and got used to her, no more jumping or aggression, just the usual rumblestrutting, grooming, small chasing and very mild humping, and so forth. A few days have gone by and I’ve been working from home and paying close attention to the group dynamics in the cage to make sure nothing escalates.
I guess I’m writing here because from a technical perspective it seems that the bonding “worked” after all - but I’m overall just concerned about Montana and her happiness. She is a lot more withdrawn that the other piggies and spends significantly more time in the hideys (the others in comparison sleep out in the open etc). She still walks around and comes out to eat, and the others don’t mind sharing bowls or hay trays with her, but I noticed she is significantly more scared at the little dominance gestures that I see the girls throwing at each other. As in, instead of brushing it off like the other girls do, she is more likely to run away, hide or do that loud little shriek I have seen pigs do. I don’t think she is being bullied but I feel she has been scared by the whole bad first introduction…
In your experience is this normal?
do you think she can grow confident within the herd? Would really love to hear from others. I know being shy and dominance games are all part of gpig world, but it’s just sad to see a withdrawn piggie that seems stressed / on edge.
Also I forgot to mention, but when the owner brought her she was in the middle of treatment for a fungal infection. She was already on her way to mine by the time I found out so I just took her in and am carrying out treatment. The rescue owner said there wouldn’t be a problem as far as getting other piggies infected, but then again, retrospectively I don’t think I should have taken any of her advise…anyway…
I’m saying this because I sadly need to take her out of the cage twice a day which just adds to her stress… but it’s also good as I can check for bites and wounds, and I am also going to start weighing her.
Anyway, just want to make sure she can grow into herself and relax!
