Help! 4 baby pigs but 1 with odd behaviour!

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jenny_h

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I have 4 baby piglets - lilly, blossom, poppy and daffodil - daffy for short!
they are from 3 different litters, but all get on fine.
I originally had 2 if them but then for various reason, pets shop's stupidity i ended up with 2 others! In the last day and a half, blossom has been acting really strange. She has been attacking the other 3, especially the smallest piggy - she has drawn blood. That in itself is odd as out of all my piglets she was one of the friendliest - both with humans and other piggies, from a young age they mixed with older pigs too. As a result we split them into pairs for the night. Poppy and Daffy get on very well so got put together. Lilly and blossom where left together but she proceeded to "stalk" lilly whilst making rumbling noises at her then sort of pounce on her - trying to fight her. She has also been trying to mount all 3 of them before they where split up.
Does anyone know what could have caused her to be like this? We thought she may be in season but even then its quite extreme behaviour, or that poppy is pregnant - someone suggested if she is she would be releasing ferromones which mite cause her to act like this?
If anyone has similar behaviour of knows why it would be great!
 
How old are all the pigs? One could be pregnant, it could be extreme dominance are you sure they are all female? If blood has been drawn I would be inclined to keep them seperated until you get to the bottom of the problem and then try to re-introduce them slowly.
 
They are all around 9 weeks old, lilly and blossom are sisters - but getting another pig calmed lilly down as she was a bit bossy! Lilly is now lovely, infact they all where until yesterday! Am 100% sure they are all girlies, that was my first concern! however i was told that a boy (neutared could sort them all out as he would be in charge so if blossom was fighting for dominance she would be put back in her place! but i cant risk another pig at the moment!)
The reason i got poppy is *** the pet shop was only getting males in, when one female came along they put her in with and older boy which they where having problems selling - he was approx 5 months old, it generally didnt dawn on me that she could be i just felt sorry for her being bullied and thought she was adorable!
But i am not sure if she is yet, in a way i hope she is to explain why blossom has suddenly changed.
They have just got a new cage, but now i am not sure what to do! whether to mix them back in on new teratory or to wait longer.
If blossom was on heat would she behave oddly? Also what is the easiest sign to tell if she would be pregnant?
 
I had a neutered boar Nutty in with my two older girls Maggie and Bupu and it didn't work out he was shunned by them, however with younger girls it may just work. Nutty now lives with Fleur, Amber and Kitty and they love him. If they are all girls then a neutered boar can restore harmony, but again it depends on personality.

If Poppy has been put with a 5 month old boar there is every chance she is pregnant as boars can get sows pregnant from 3 weeks. If Poppy had a season (every 14-17 days) then there is every chance she is pregnant.

I've two girls in at the moment that were rescued from a free ads and sold as a breeding pair. They live next to Maggie and Bupu at the mo but I've noticed a change in Maggie she seems very dominant all of a sudden and she is 5 years old so usually quite laid back and doesn't bother much with all that. But these girls could be pregnant so I did wonder if Maggie could sense that and felt threatened by Ellie and Glynis (2 new girls).

If Blossom was in heat then she would behave dominant, wiggling her hips and rumbling and some agression (sometimes). If Poppy is pregnant then she would drink more, eat lots and from 4 weeks she would gain weight, from 7 weeks you would notice babies but if she is only carrying 1 or 2 you may not notice at all.

Calculate from the day you got her and that is the minimum she could be pregnant. So we got Ellie and Glynis on the 8th June so they are a minimum of 2 weeks pregnant with 8 to go. They are pregnant for 10 weeks. It really is just a waiting game. :)
 
Hi!
Welcome to here!

Blossom could have come into season with a surge of hormones? If it gets better wihtin a day or so, that may be the reason.

Though I must admit I haven't heard or seen a girl drawing blood with the others. Rumbling and humping and generally being grumpy can be part of being in season when a girl has it badly.

She'd be a bit young for ovarian cysts, I think?

PS: A neutered boar isn't the top pig with a group of girls (sometimes quite the opposite!), but as he has to woo all of them, he cuts down on the bickering quite a bit.

PS2: I love the names; I've played with Daffodil before I decided to go for Welsh names with my new girls.
 
Thanks, i always have a nightmare choosing names for them, they end up being called at least 3 different ones until finally one sticks! my latest pig was going to be called buttercup, then lavender, then jasmine but finally daffy stuck! I will up load a picture of her and you will see she suits her name!
i have just been to see blossom again and she is still in her strop, i have never seen a piggie act the way she is! I feel really mean on lilly being stuck with her, as she likes the other piggies too. But i really dont know the best thing to do as they cant stay in seperate cages!
Daffy definatley has cuts on her back, which is where blossom always goes for when she has a pop at her - she is fine though, the cuts are clean and she is still quite happy.
Do you think a boy pig could sort her bickering out with the other 3? Also what sort of ages boy pig presumably and older one that is neutured, or one the same age that is next to them - i have a CC cage so can put a grid up to prevent him being near them until he is done.
Are there any other signs of ovarian cysts - although she is young she is a big pig compared to the others?
 
How sharp are Blossom's claws? If she has razor sharp baby claws like my Nia, she can have inadvertedly caused the scratches by trying to mount Daffy or just swiping at her.

But I agree that Blossom's behavour is on the extreme side.
 
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