Bonding single pig into a group?

[Shadowchaser]

This thread is almost hypothetical as I’ve already said no but I wondered if I had done the right thing and feel a little guilty.

I rehomed 4 female piggies. Learnt a lot of the care provided previously has been terrible. I’m now in the process of converting a new 4ft by 6ft shed into a new home for them (fully heated, secured and insulated) complete with access to a 7ft run in summer.

Anyway while chatting to a school mum who asked if I had been busy (yes…she’s building ) she asked if I wanted hers to go with mine. She has two females, both separate (one in each child’s room!) They have never had company nor lived with another. She tried to put them online but didn’t manage to rehome them. I did briefly consider taking just one as I may have the space once the shed is done but I did decline in the end but it’s made me think would I want to increase numbers at any point. Finances are not an issue particularly but the happiness of the ones I have is.

If a pig has been alone all its life (4 years potentially) is this something that would be very hard to integrate into a group? Is it like a dog that may struggle to interact socially? After 4 years would it be much harder than a younger pig?
I also read that even numbers are better. If I have 4 then presumably a pair would be better to introduce than a single pig? Or do I just not rock the boat and stick with the 4 I have that get on well?
I already have 4, is there anything to be gained to have a bigger herd?

Disclaimer I’m not a random Guinea pig rescuer or trying to be one but I do work with animals hence speak to a lot of ‘animal’ people and have taken a fair few waifs and strays.

 

[Piggies&buns]

It all comes down to character compatibility. Any on spec comes with risks of failure and of course you won’t know until you try.
Generally speaking, when adding piggies to an existing herd, you need to add in a way that will not upset the existing hierarchy - so a piggy younger than yours. Your dominant sow will not take kindly to be dethroned by a dominant sow.
If you try and it fails, they would need to be kept side by side but in separate enclosures.

Also, pigs who have never had any social interaction with another guinea pig may no longer even see themselves as guinea pigs so bonding them may never work.

There is nothing to be gained from a bigger herd as such - it all comes down (if money isn’t an issue) to whether you have the ability to split your shed and keep piggies separate if bonding fails.
And actually in a 6x4 shed, I would consider it to be honest - they have a lovely sized space for the four of them. You are better off to under fill an enclosure than meet sizing where possible.

 

[Shadowchaser]

Thanks Piggies. I guess I always want to ‘help’ animals and seeing how well mine interact I feel sad for the lone pig(s)

So in a 6x4 shed would 4 be the most sensible limit? During the summer they are going to have a much bigger space but I am conscious of winter when they will be shut in. Mine seem happy and don’t fight or squabble. They all are happy together. There’s a definite boss, a confident loner one, a middle of the road one and then a very shy nervous one.

I have no idea how old mine are, I believe around a year. The previous owner got them from p@h as babies (or so they say) and didn’t have them long before they were forgotten at the bottom of the garden. The potential sow/s are 2 and 4 years and have always been alone, not even in the same room as eachother so I have no idea of their personalities. I have a spare bluebell but being alone in that is probably no better off for them if not worse because they will be outside alone.

It sounds I made the right call, sad for the piggies though.

 

[Shadowchaser]

Just to add- I presumed that last bit was meant to say you wouldn’t consider it?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thanks Piggies. I guess I always want to ‘help’ animals and seeing how well mine interact I feel sad for the lone pig(s)

So in a 6x4 shed would 4 be the most sensible limit? During the summer they are going to have a much bigger space but I am conscious of winter when they will be shut in. Mine seem happy and don’t fight or squabble. They all are happy together. There’s a definite boss, a confident loner one, a middle of the road one and then a very shy nervous one.

I have no idea how old mine are, I believe around a year. The previous owner got them from p@h as babies (or so they say) and didn’t have them long before they were forgotten at the bottom of the garden. The potential sow/s are 2 and 4 years and have always been alone, not even in the same room as eachother so I have no idea of their personalities. I have a spare bluebell but being alone in that is probably no better off for them if not worse because they will be outside alone.

It sounds I made the right call, sad for the piggies though.

Yes it is a sad situation for those two girls.

Technically you could fit more - 6-8 as a herd would fit. The run doesn’t count.

You can of course try it, but any on spec bonding has its risks particularly if the piggies have been single all that time and never learnt how to communicate with other piggies. So the issue is always then how you’d house them if the bonding failed.

You would not be able to leave a single piggy in a hutch outside - singles need to be side by side with others (it’s a shame they haven’t had that so far).
Even if you took them both, you would need to buy another hutch (so they had one each) but the issue still is that side by side living is very hard to achieve in a hutch given they have solid sides.

If you took one of them and the bonding failed, You would have to split your shed into two enclosures - one 4x4ft (for the quartet, to provide them with enough room) and another 4x2ft for the single (which is minimum for a single piggy).

If you took them both, then splitting the shed into three enclosures and still providing enough room for everybody will not work - the shed isn’t big enough.

I have boys so they don’t live as a herd. I have four piggies in a 6x8 shed. I do have three enclosures in my shed.

Just to add- I presumed that last bit was meant to say you wouldn’t consider it?

Yes, sorry!
As I say though, I wouldn’t consider it but it doesn’t mean you can’t provided you can manage things if bonding doesn’t work.

 

[Shadowchaser]

Thanks Piggies. It sounds beyond my skill set at the moment so I think it was the right call!

I wanted them to have as much space as possible to be ‘free’ so would rather not seperate bits off long term. Maybe if a pair/trio came up in rescue that could work but that’s a way in the future, I’ll see how this set up works first.