Barbering

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Gemma

Hiya

Does anyone know what the reasons for piggies barbering fur may be? All of my long-haired pigs are chewed to some extent at the moment, one is even chewing his own :(. I read somewhere that it can happen if they run out of hay but even since I made sure they have lots it's still going on. Any ideas anyone?

Thanks
Gemma x
 
Tia's had her fur done by one of her crew and its been done since she had her babies weeks ago,no idea which ones doing it and also Fidget has had a lil done,they get hay etc so I dunno :-\
 
It might be stress, but i'm not sure why they would be stressed! I know in pigs, they chew the tail of there companions, and birds pull out feathers etc (I think that can also be a dietary problem, of eating too much fat & developing liver conditions!). It could be due to boredom also.

In mice it is apparently down to dominance (i think this might be in rabbits too). They can also learn the behaviour (copy each other)

How do you present their food? Where do you keep them? Are they near any other animals? Is it noisy where they are? Has there been any change lately? (like new animals or a change around).

I will try and help as much as i can, but i haven't had first hand experience! There are probably people on here that will tell you straight away =)
 
I think that my sow Sylvie is a barberer (first attempt I wrote Barbara!). She's fine with her huspig but when i tried to introduce Emily into the equasion she was straight at her hair. Could have been because it was slightly longer, i don;t know. Sylvie is def one independent pig (I hear "all the women..") & def the Boss, that why I removed her from the girls & got a big boy to keep her in line. Should have called them Beyonce & JayZ! So it could be a dominance thing...
 
Clover_kins said:
It might be stress, but i'm not sure why they would be stressed! I know in pigs, they chew the tail of there companions, and birds pull out feathers etc (I think that can also be a dietary problem, of eating too much fat & developing liver conditions!). It could be due to boredom also.

In mice it is apparently down to dominance (i think this might be in rabbits too). They can also learn the behaviour (copy each other)

How do you present their food? Where do you keep them? Are they near any other animals? Is it noisy where they are? Has there been any change lately? (like new animals or a change around).

I will try and help as much as i can, but i haven't had first hand experience! There are probably people on here that will tell you straight away =)
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Thanks for the replies. They have a big pile of hay placed in their hutch (apart from the Alpacas who have it in a hayrack). Their pellets and readigrass are in a bowl, their veg in a larger bowl. Some are in a large cabin outside and I have two hutches in a (non-car) garage. They are in a mixture of hutches and cube pens. All of this is temporary, I have a shed my husband has built me but I'm waiting for him to build the new hutches for in it. Having said that it's not a new arrangement, just a temporary one that has gone on & on! The dog lives next door to the shed, but that isn't a new arrangement so I can't see any reason for that suddenly upsetting them now.

I guess it could be boredom, I'm 14 weeks pregnant and have only just started feeling well again, for several weeks i was just having to go and do the bare minimum with them as I felt so ill so they haven't had all that many cuddles :(. I will up the attention and see if that makes a difference.

Gemma x
 
I've had many barbaring pigs in my shed mostly girls for some reason, my most recent was Jovi, I got her as a baby and she was frightened of veggies yes frightened I had to gradually encourage her with tiny bits of cucumber , but while so never ate the veggies she did barber the girls quite a bit, she now eats a full range of veggies often first in the queue, she no longer barbers, and my girls have longer coats, I personally think its just think its a quirk of nature and as mine always have hay l the run is full of hay its not that, probably boredom plays a part as well, I find they stop after a while and my vet assure me their guts cope well with hair its not a worry, apart for the poor barbered pig whos lost her wonderful long coat lol
 
lol i can imagine them coughing up mini pig hairballs ? :o
 
I'd say that there are lot's of possible reasons, as mentioned, but I've seen some of my own well cared for piggies turn "demon barber" when I have introduced a long hair piggy to them. Some times there is simply no rhyme or reason ::)

It's such a shame though, I love long-hairs and I could cry when I see them "strimmed" to an inch of their lives within hours...thankfully it doesn't seem to bother them? I find it is generally the fringe that goes first!

Barbara
 
cavykind said:
It's such a shame though, I love long-hairs and I could cry when I see them "strimmed" to an inch of their lives within hours...thankfully it doesn't seem to bother them? I find it is generally the fringe that goes first!
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In mice they start with trimming their whiskers/face too (i don't know if there's not much else to trim on a mouse!)

It is strange it seems to relate to longer hair! Maybe it makes them look bigger? (or prettier? :P) Either way it definitley sounds a dominance thing.

If the piggies have had no new animals introduced or no changes to their food or anything like that.. maybe they miss you, since you've not been feeling well.

I hope you feel a lot better soon! :)
 
They're all long-haired except one, perhaps they don't want to risk being outdone ;D!
 
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