Do I owe them a bonding trial?

[Scooter Pie]

I had 2 separate sow pairs, and one sadly passed about 6 weeks ago. Cinnamon, the bereaved, is 5-6 years old, and we moved her side by side with our other pair Peggy (3 years old) and Mandy (1-2).

Things are going well but I can't help but imagine the 3 of them together. I'm scared
of harming Peggy and Mandy's bond if a trial didn't work. I'm maybe even more scared I'm denying Cinnamon friendship if it could work and we don't try!

4 years ago we brought Cinnamon home as a single and attempted to bond her with another pair. From the time we had them
side by side, she displayed fear-aggressive behavior (snorting and yawning, lots of teeth chattering, and the other pair began chattering at each other). The bonding did not work - Cinnamon and one of the others did the posturing where they locked eyes and both raised one paw before someone launched and fur flew! It was terrifying and something I never want to see again!

She was a short time later bonded with a friend she had been with at the shelter initially and they lived happily together for almost 4 years till her friend passed at the end of June.

I want to take it as a good sign that Cinnamon is happy next to Peggy and Mandy. I stuff hay between their cages and they enjoy eating together.

Cinnamon is also a very sleepy pig! She has been known to need to be woken up for vegetables while everyone else is begging! Maybe she is ok in her peaceful enclosure.

Thanks for reading if you got this far!

 

[Wiebke]

I had 2 separate sow pairs, and one sadly passed about 6 weeks ago. Cinnamon, the bereaved, is 5-6 years old, and we moved her side by side with our other pair Peggy (3 years old) and Mandy (1-2).

Things are going well but I can't help but imagine the 3 of them together. I'm scared
of harming Peggy and Mandy's bond if a trial didn't work. I'm maybe even more scared I'm denying Cinnamon friendship if it could work and we don't try!

4 years ago we brought Cinnamon home as a single and attempted to bond her with another pair. From the time we had them
side by side, she displayed fear-aggressive behavior (snorting and yawning, lots of teeth chattering, and the other pair began chattering at each other). The bonding did not work - Cinnamon and one of the others did the posturing where they locked eyes and both raised one paw before someone launched and fur flew! It was terrifying and something I never want to see again!

She was a short time later bonded with a friend she had been with at the shelter initially and they lived happily together for almost 4 years till her friend passed at the end of June.

I want to take it as a good sign that Cinnamon is happy next to Peggy and Mandy. I stuff hay between their cages and they enjoy eating together.

Cinnamon is also a very sleepy pig! She has been known to need to be woken up for vegetables while everyone else is begging! Maybe she is ok in her peaceful enclosure.

Thanks for reading if you got this far! View attachment 254877

Hi

You can do a formal intro. Abort the bonding as soon as you notice the stress coming down between your bonded pir. If you do that promptly, the bond should not be broken. Also abort if the bonding is not heading in the right direction. At least then you know.

Thread 'Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics'

Jan 23, 2019

1 Introduction
2 Pre-bonding
- Quarantine and sexing
- The need for a plan B
- The rule-breaker: Youngsters under 4 months (sub-teenage)
3 Setting up an introduction
- Getting to know each other
- ‘Buddy baths’ – why not
- Scent swapping - why not
- Setting up a neutral bonding area
- How to start the bonding
4 Acceptance phase: Do we like...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 7
• Forum: Behaviour, Bonds and Species Understanding

• 

 

[Betsy]

I attempted a bonding between Lexi , Thea and a little neutered boy called George over a year ago. Lexi liked him but Thea didn't. It all looked good and then half an hour in Thea and George were a rolling ball of angry piggy and then Lexi joined in. Luckily I had the oven gloves to hand and managed to separate them. George went straight back in his cage (regrettably then back to the Rescue) and I put Thea and Lexi back in the hutch. Thea had a go at Lexi a few times but then remembered that Lexi was her best friend and after that they carried on happily until Lexi toddled off to the Rainbow Bridge. So it if the bonding fails, it shouldn't ruin the bond between Peggy and Mandy.

 

[Scooter Pie]

Thank you both! A little more info...Peggy is quite dominant over Mandy, who happily submits (and is younger and quite fast!). Peggy has strong seasons, but they have been less frequent in the past 6 months or so.

Cinnamon was I think, the underpig when Sugar was alive. She rarely showed it when she was in season, and hardly makes
a sound when she wheeks...just whispers! And like I mentoned above...she actually seems to prefer sleeping over eating!

If it worked, Id be able to create a pretty big enclosure for them...like 3x5 C&C!

I will report back if we go through with it. Ive studied all the bonding guides and would be prepared to keep them all together permanently if it worked.