Ex Breeding Pair Now Cohabiting And Fighting

[Ruby Carr]

I volunteer at a pet shop and I adopted a pair of pigs from a couple who could "no longer look after them" because "they had a baby" as the shop could not re-home them. They did not seem sad when handing them over, didn't even tell us their names or say good bye to them - and both pigs looked over-weight (they arrived with a double dish dog bowl with both sides full of cheap looking food). Apparently they are around 2 years old and she stressed that they are the best of friends. Today I found out that they had let the pigs have 6 litters together before bothering to get the boy done, I believe the words were something like "we thought after 6 we best get him done". The shop owner who is a pig expert and used to breed them is also willing to bet that they let them breed before the age of 6 months.

Since day one the pigs are constantly on edge whenever one comes near the other. We thought it might just be because they needed to settle into a new home. After about two weeks nothing had changed, so we decided to semi-split the cage using the bed and tube and we also sprinkle the veg around for them. It seems that they make each other very anxious and have several face offs a day. Luckily we have seen no evidence of them biting each other yet, but things seem to be constantly escalating.

Is there anything we can do to make them more comfortable? Or has she been psychologically damaged by having 6 litters in 2 years by her constant cage mate?

 

[Wiebke]

Poor, poor piggies! Good that you are finally giving them a good home.

Unfortunately, it looks rather like you are dealing with trauma damage, especially of the boy was constantly at close quarters with her and any babies, most likely in a far too small cage/hutch. Your girl's behaviour is sadly not quite uncommon in ex-breed*ng sows when they come into rescue. If I were you, I'd separate and let them stay next to each other until you get a better idea what is going on and whether she will want any interaction with him at all.