Grooming

[Namida]

I have a pair of boars who are both currently 4 months old. They have been getting on very well since Day 1 as they have totally different personalities. The dominant one is pretty aggressive and rumblestrutting all the time. The subordinate one is very quite and has never tried to challenge the dominant pig. I have never seen them fighting (I am almost with them 24/7 because of WFH) and they always do everything together.

I noticed that the dominant pig often grooms the subordinate pig but I have never seen the other way round. I am curious because I thought it is more common for a subordinate pig to groom a dominant pig. Anyone could share your experience and thoughts?

 

[Siikibam]

I have a pair of sows where the underpig groomed the top pig. But I never saw it the other way round. I’m not sure why they’re doing it that way. Maybe top pig is just reassuring her that she’s part of her group.

The behaviour of your top pig isn’t aggressive, it’s normal. As long as they have the space they need, they should be okay.

 

[Namida]

I have a pair of sows where the underpig groomed the top pig. But I never saw it the other way round. I’m not sure why they’re doing it that way. Maybe top pig is just reassuring her that she’s part of her group.

The behaviour of your top pig isn’t aggressive, it’s normal. As long as they have the space they need, they should be okay.

Yeah they have plenty of space in the cage and hours of floor time every day.

 

[Piggies&buns]

When my boars were young I saw very mild dominance behaviours from them both but as they got older they settled into their hierarchy and now it’s clear which one is dominant.
As long as your two aren’t fighting then, it all sounds good.

Two boars need a 180cm x 60cm cage.

 

[Free Ranger]

Maybe he just tastes nice! If he's not complaining and looks like he's enjoying it maybe it's just reinforcing the bond.

I've seen my dominant girl wash her own face and the other girl came up and pressed her cheek in until she got her face washed too... it was very sweet. I was watching carefully because I was worried about ear-biting but it turned out that underpiggy (who has long hair, even in her ears) had a clag of earwax dangling out like a grim sort of earring and dominant pig was having a go at it!

 

[KaiKai]

I haven’t noticed this with my boars, but my top sow grooms the under sows sometimes- it almost seems like aggressive grooming because the subordinate sow will often give a little squeak and lie down when it happens. Usually the alpha is cleaning the subordinates ears and face- I think I read somewhere that this is a normal dominance behavior?