Bonding Query

[Midge&Panda]

After the sudden loss of Paprika it meant that Rosie her cage mate was left on her own. A solution to the problem came in the shape of Finnie. We rescued him to be a huspig to Maggie but unfortunately she hated him on site so he has been on his own for about a year. You still with me? So now I have 2 pairs and a single sow. They all live indoors within close proximity to each other. In about 2 weeks time they're going on holiday to a rescue and I've said to the owner that if Maggie were to come back with a friend it wouldn't be a bad thing. At the time I mentioned another sow but having a look at her website she has taken in an adorable young boar. In your vast experiences is it possible to have 2 boars in the same room with 4 females even if they are split into pairs. Many Thanks Caroline.

 

[Wiebke]

Can you please clarify - are your boars living together or are they neutered and living with a sow each?

Cross gender pairs are no problem whatsoever; some of my neutered boys are living next to each other without any problem, each with his own group of sows and one group next to a bonded pair of ASBO sows.

if your boys are living as a bonded pair, then you best keep them out of sight/reach of pheromones, but as you already have three girls in the same room, I don't see how a #4 should be a problem. ideally a bit away or otherwise above any sows.

 

[Midge&Panda]

At the moment I have 5 pigs (4 sows and 1 neutered boar), living arrangements are
Rosie (s) & Finnie (b)
Eva (s) & Pixel (s)
Maggie (s)
They all live indoors in my daughter's bedroom. Rosie & Finnie are in a hutch the others are in 2 c&c cages.
Maggie has been on her own since Albert her cagemate died. We tried bonding her with the others but she hates them all. When she is on holiday the owner of the rescue is going to try and bond her with another sow. Knowing how she is I didn't know if a neutered boar would be a better option but because we already have one (Finnie) in the room I didn't know if an additional boar would unsettle the balance.

 

[Wiebke]

Nope! I have four neutered boars living here, a couple just divided by plain grids, no correx, and they all time share the living room for roaming. I get some "boar baiting" through the bars from the roaming boars, but no accidental meetings have ever gone past some teeth chattering and stand-offs.

Some very dominant, usually older sows struggle to accept a mate of any kind, but at least you know that you have tried everything and that Maggie is living alongside other piggies by their own choice!

 

[Midge&Panda]

Thanks for that. Hopefully when they come back from their holiday I might be introducing a new piggy. Fingers crossed