MirabelMaud
New Born Pup
advice please pig community!
I had a happy herd of 4 ladies, lost one Dec 2022 (old age) a second in March (elongated tooth root, had xrays/treatment and she died 10 days later) and April the last of my old girls passed away. That left me with one traumatised and very lonely girl who is nearly 5 and was spayed last October due to massive ovarian cysts. She shut down very quickly so within three days I adopted a rescue pig, Rosa, 6 years old (hutch mate died and surrendered to a rescue) so before they met I did a full hutch clean (vinegar and sodium bicarb in hot water scrubbed every inch and left to dry), every bowl/blanket water bottle laundered/washed, rearranged all the 'furniture' put them in together and with minimal shennanigans they bonded (there was bum sniffing/ circling, teeth chattering, rumble strutting/ hackles up all instigated by the newcomer!) but within a few hours a truce was formed and now they are best buds. On wednesday I got home from work to find my neighbour on the doorstep in tears to tell me one of his pigs was found dead in the hutch that morning and would I take the other one as he didn't want her to be alone. I immediately collected Willow and brought her home, put her in her own hutch with fleecy bed option, big box of hay, pellets and water and left her to decompress for a few hours. She is in the same room with my two girls and can hear and see them. She has never been handled and while her previous owners are very well intentioned and loved their pigs they dont really know pigs. She had been neglected, ie no hay, left out in run all day with no shade in the heat, very frightened of humans. She was very scared of being picked up but I gave her the once over to find what looked like ulcerated cornea and very long twisted nails on back legs. I managed to cut her nails, clean her eye and put in viscotears until vet could see her on Friday. She was happy to eat from my hands and took metacam readily from syrings and some CC just to be on the safe side. She was pooping so clearly eating but not moving around much. Saw vet Friday who confirmed eye issue and started her on topical anti b and said to continue pain relief. It was a stressful day for her as my exotics vet is 40 min drive each way. he confirmed her sex (female) have her an MOT and said apart from the eye she was in remarkably good shape for her age and recommended I get introductions started asap.
So today (saturday) I set up a brand new ENORMOUS run in the garden (3m x 2m) put in hay, cardboard boxes with many escape holes cut out water bottles and fresh food. then put all three of them in, then armed with a towel and some oven gloves...watched. For the first half hour they didnt notice each other then there was some bum sniffing and circling, a bit of chasing squealing and mounting, but in between they were all eating the grass and seemed quite relaxed. About two hours in I saw Meredith and Willow yawning which I understand is a sign of aggression. There had been no nose to nose or snorting or getting up on hind legs, the all of a sudden Willow made a beeline for Meredith and they were locked together in a screaming tumbling ball of fur and teeth. I threw a towel over and separated them and ended the session. Meredith was bleeding from bite wounds on her nose cheek and chin. I carefully examined Rosa and Willow and found no wounds. I returned Willow to her own hutch, cleaned Merediths wounds with saline and returned her and Rosa to their own hutch. They live indoors in modified hutches with large extensions accessed by shallow ramps (carpeted with sides on). They are all eating, drinking pooping etc...but I am reluctant to repeat the experiment as someone did get hurt. never seen anything like it and I have bonded 12 pigs over the years and noone has ever drawn blood. So what do I do now? help/advice please.
I had a happy herd of 4 ladies, lost one Dec 2022 (old age) a second in March (elongated tooth root, had xrays/treatment and she died 10 days later) and April the last of my old girls passed away. That left me with one traumatised and very lonely girl who is nearly 5 and was spayed last October due to massive ovarian cysts. She shut down very quickly so within three days I adopted a rescue pig, Rosa, 6 years old (hutch mate died and surrendered to a rescue) so before they met I did a full hutch clean (vinegar and sodium bicarb in hot water scrubbed every inch and left to dry), every bowl/blanket water bottle laundered/washed, rearranged all the 'furniture' put them in together and with minimal shennanigans they bonded (there was bum sniffing/ circling, teeth chattering, rumble strutting/ hackles up all instigated by the newcomer!) but within a few hours a truce was formed and now they are best buds. On wednesday I got home from work to find my neighbour on the doorstep in tears to tell me one of his pigs was found dead in the hutch that morning and would I take the other one as he didn't want her to be alone. I immediately collected Willow and brought her home, put her in her own hutch with fleecy bed option, big box of hay, pellets and water and left her to decompress for a few hours. She is in the same room with my two girls and can hear and see them. She has never been handled and while her previous owners are very well intentioned and loved their pigs they dont really know pigs. She had been neglected, ie no hay, left out in run all day with no shade in the heat, very frightened of humans. She was very scared of being picked up but I gave her the once over to find what looked like ulcerated cornea and very long twisted nails on back legs. I managed to cut her nails, clean her eye and put in viscotears until vet could see her on Friday. She was happy to eat from my hands and took metacam readily from syrings and some CC just to be on the safe side. She was pooping so clearly eating but not moving around much. Saw vet Friday who confirmed eye issue and started her on topical anti b and said to continue pain relief. It was a stressful day for her as my exotics vet is 40 min drive each way. he confirmed her sex (female) have her an MOT and said apart from the eye she was in remarkably good shape for her age and recommended I get introductions started asap.
So today (saturday) I set up a brand new ENORMOUS run in the garden (3m x 2m) put in hay, cardboard boxes with many escape holes cut out water bottles and fresh food. then put all three of them in, then armed with a towel and some oven gloves...watched. For the first half hour they didnt notice each other then there was some bum sniffing and circling, a bit of chasing squealing and mounting, but in between they were all eating the grass and seemed quite relaxed. About two hours in I saw Meredith and Willow yawning which I understand is a sign of aggression. There had been no nose to nose or snorting or getting up on hind legs, the all of a sudden Willow made a beeline for Meredith and they were locked together in a screaming tumbling ball of fur and teeth. I threw a towel over and separated them and ended the session. Meredith was bleeding from bite wounds on her nose cheek and chin. I carefully examined Rosa and Willow and found no wounds. I returned Willow to her own hutch, cleaned Merediths wounds with saline and returned her and Rosa to their own hutch. They live indoors in modified hutches with large extensions accessed by shallow ramps (carpeted with sides on). They are all eating, drinking pooping etc...but I am reluctant to repeat the experiment as someone did get hurt. never seen anything like it and I have bonded 12 pigs over the years and noone has ever drawn blood. So what do I do now? help/advice please.
