Do They Dislike Each Other?

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Sild

Sild

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Hello, just read through the sow behavior thread to look for some answers, but I still got a couple left.
So I've had my two sows for quite a while now. A little over a year. But they don't really seem to get along much?

At floortime they're all about taking walks together and finding eachother etc. Everything is normal here.

When they're in their cage it's like a constant argument or something. (They've got a really big cage with lots of huts) The whole dominance dilemma should have been settled by now I guess, but it doesn't look like it. I can't remember an entire day passing without the two of them rumblestrutting and whining at eachother less than 20 times, and trying to steal the waterbottle and all that stuff. It's not that big of a deal, no blood drawn, no real big fight, they just act like two teenagers on a constant period really. And also, I believe it's not just mine who does this, but guinea pigs pee at each other sometimes right? Just hitting them straight in the face haha. Well mine usually just shakes off while I freak out about getting pee everywhere. So this one day I was sitting next to the cage and I watched them shake like a dog would do after a bath. MANY times. Back and forth. They had not peed at eachother, just stood there and did this back and forth, and rumblestrutting on and off. What is that, and why do they do it? It's really weird, I've never seen it before with the two piggies I had when I was younger.

Is it possible that some piggies just won't ever bond with eachother? The last pair I had were best friend and couldn't do anything without the other one. These just... act really pissy towards one another. Is it just a matter of dominance being unsettled or do they genuinely dislike each other?
Oh and one more thing, the dominant one is pretty much the boss at everything in her opinion, and the other one pretty much gets along with everything so I don't see why they wouldn't at least come to an agreement or something? I wish i could understand piggylanguage :P
 
They've got a really big cage with lots of huts. I am beginning to wonder whether it might be worth reducing the number of huts and making sure that they are closer together. If they are spending a lot of time apart then they may forget each other somewhat and start fighting. Probably wont make much of a difference, but worth trying.
 
Maybe you're right. Haven't looked at it that way before. I've always been careful with making sure there's enough space. There's no lack of interaction though, that's for sure. I only wish it was cuddling and playing instead of purring and chasing.
My last resort is to feed them so many treats they turn fat and lazy, and maybe they won't bother picking at one another anymore :P
 
You could also have introducing a neutered male to break them up a bit. He would either sort them out, or they would end up hating him, but getting on much better themselves
 
How old are your sows? Some are more dominant and possessive than others. My most squabbly pairs or sow trios have been litter sisters or in one case a mum/daughter pair.

Middle aged and older sows can also suffer from ovarian cysts. It is especially the smaller, growing ones that cause dominance and aggressive behaviour changes.

A neutered boar with two sows does only work out if the two sows are good friends, otherwise one will end up an outsider sow in my experience. The boar will usually stick with the top sow, as he is there on her sufferance.
 
That's so strange! My vet told me that one of them had a tiny ovarian cyst, but didn't want to put her under a knife for something that's not a threat to her. So if that's the case, does it affect them forever or wear off eventually?
Both of them are aprx the same age 2 years old :)
Also, one of them, the less dominant one had a litter about one and a half year ago, could that have any effect on their personalities? Although they seemed to sort it all out with the new ones. It was only until after we found new homes for the babies this started to happen. But we hadn't had the two of them together very long before the babies came either :)
 
Sild said:
That's so strange! My vet told me that one of them had a tiny ovarian cyst, but didn't want to put her under a knife for something that's not a threat to her. So if that's the case, does it affect them forever or wear off eventually?
Both of them are aprx the same age 2 years old :)
Also, one of them, the less dominant one had a litter about one and a half year ago, could that have any effect on their personalities? Although they seemed to sort it all out with the new ones. It was only until after we found new homes for the babies this started to happen. But we hadn't had the two of them together very long before the babies came either :)
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it is likely that the pregnancy and everything has covered up a lot in the beginning. Nursing sows enjoy a protected status outside the normal hierarchy, but mummies are generally not very keen going back to being the underpig once the little ones are weaned and they've had their own little family. In a group, they would normally have climbed in the hierarchy.

I don't think that a lot is going to change. if things get worse between them, I would consider a course hormonal treatment for the dominant girl.
 
Thank you for all the answers :) I guess I'll better get used to it as long as it doesn't escalate :P
 
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