Girls tunnel accidentally put in with boys - now fighting

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mikikkin

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Sorry it's long ....

We think we might have accidentally put one of our girls tunnels into the boys paddock - it is a long story how it happened and we thought we had been soooo careful! The tunnel is plastic and might have smelled like girl wee/poo.

Anyway... now the boys are all chasing each other and mounting each other. One pig in particular - Humphrey- has lost his mind! He was flying through the air and attacked four other boys! He is normally very peaceful. The usual "King pig" who was the peaceful leader is even being picked on by crazy Humphrey. Most concerning of all, Humphrey is NON STOP chasing little 6 week old baby Cashew and trying to mount him, I've checked and double checked and there is NO doubt that Cashew is definitely a boy! Poor Cashew was crying and screaming and running into things and I was SO worried he was going to get seriously hurt so I grabbed crazy Humphrey and locked him in a hutch by himself which he is now obsessively biting the metal bars of - he is in a hutch in the middle of the boys paddock so he can still see and hear everyone).

Since I put Humphrey away on his own, all the other boys have settled down and gone back to the normal order of things mostly. A wee bit of humping but no fighting or squealing!

I don't understand why Humphrey was obsessing over baby Cashew - I would have thought that if it was because of the tunnel smelling like girls that Humphrey would be more interested in dominating the other adult boys not a baby.... will Humphrey be able to rejoin the boys once he settles down or has the peace been disturbed forever? I don't feel like the other boys are safe with him right now - will he get over this?

I don't know what to do and feel terrible. I know boys can fight but my 13 boys live in a huge 120 square metre paddock with a large hutch per pair of pigs so plenty of space to avoid fights. They were so peaceful and lovely before this!
 
I’m sorry to hear of this.
All you can do is wait until things calm and see is they will go back together.
You may have to prepare that he may not be able to back with them at all though. This is always a risk when dealing with a large (and teenage) boar herd. It doesn’t always work out long term, particularly as I know most of your piggies are around a year old (from your other posts).
But as you have so many boars, you should find a friend who can live with Humphrey so he is never alone. Those two would need to live separately from the others if Humphrey cannot be reintroduced to them, splitting off a part of the paddock also so they can have run time without physically being with the others.

He’s probably going for cashew because cashew is young - he is not likely to fight back (he’s an easy target as it were)

Large boar herds can work but within a large herd there are likely to be sub herds and things may not always work out between them.
However, if they are a herd, separating them into pairs and into separate hutches, then putting them back together every day could cause. Herds should ideally be together at all times and not split up into separate hutches
 
Thanks so much for your reply, to clarify the hutches are always left open and are a place to shelter not be locked up so the herd is always together everyday. This is the first time I've locked anyone away!

I think you are right about Humphrey going after little Cashew cause he doesn't fight back - all the other boys protested at Humphreys shenanigans!

Yes most of my boys are one year old, there are a few older ones now who have joined the herd and it was going soooo well which makes it so sad that it was messed up but I guess I did always have in the back of my mind that the dynamic could change especially as younger ones mature.

How long would you recommend I let Humphrey "cool down" before an attempt at a supervised reintroduction?
 
mikikkin said:
Thanks so much for your reply, to clarify the hutches are always left open and are a place to shelter not be locked up so the herd is always together everyday. This is the first time I've locked anyone away!

I think you are right about Humphrey going after little Cashew cause he doesn't fight back - all the other boys protested at Humphreys shenanigans!

Yes most of my boys are one year old, there are a few older ones now who have joined the herd and it was going soooo well which makes it so sad that it was messed up but I guess I did always have in the back of my mind that the dynamic could change especially as younger ones mature.

How long would you recommend I let Humphrey "cool down" before an attempt at a supervised reintroduction?
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Usually it’s to give him a day or two in a hutch to settle down and then the reintroduction (usually needs to be done in neutral territory). Not sure how practical that is going to be with 13 though and whether you have a space big enough elsewhere to reintroduce him. You may just have to release him back to the group and see what happens - there is going to be dominance but it will be for you to watch if it goes too far or if there is then any territorial disputes if you do have to just put him back in with the others.
introductions and reintroductions done inside the normal territory can be a risk factor for causing issues .
 
I hope you areable to get Humphrey backwith the others. You are right, the sow smell from the girl's tunnel will have got everyone very excited.
 
It may take a few attempts to get him back with the others. Neutral territory is not always an option for large herds. I have two large sow herds and whenever anyone new joins it has to be done in their enclosure as the only neutral space would be too small. I had a very tricky sow to bond recently who kept attacking everyone. It took six meetings but all is well now. It is a case of balancing between letting them sort things out themselves but stepping in before things get out of hand. Obviously things are different for boys but with careful reintroduction/s I hold out hope for your boys.
 
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