We have three boars living together (all around 3-4 years old), a fourth recently died. Two of them are very close and spend a lot of time together, both are quite submissive. The third has been the leader of the pack across a few different boar group compositions. It seems to us that this is not the result of a particularly dominant personality, but a strong urge to just be left in peace by other boars. He never established close relationships with other boars the way all of our others have. We don't think he's really thriving in a boar group, especially with increasing health issues making it harder for him to manage the group. We now have the opportunity to adopt three bonded females (around 6 months old) and would really like to do so, transitioning our grumpy boy into a harem structure and leaving the other two as a boar pair. We have lots of space but unfortunately only one room, so we obviously worry about smells. The setup is a large table and the area below it, which could easily be split into two generous cages by removing the ramp.
Currently, we are thinking of the following steps to mitigate problems:
- harem below, boar pair on top of the table
- plenty of fresh air
- avoid changing the boar bedding (only removing pissy spots) around the time the girls move in and around the time of the harem introduction after quarantine
- maybe temporarily moving the boar pair to the kitchen during the pheromone spike around the harem introduction
Thoughts? Ideas? Any advice on how to make the transition as easy as possible and experiences with similar setups would be much appreciated!
Currently, we are thinking of the following steps to mitigate problems:
- harem below, boar pair on top of the table
- plenty of fresh air
- avoid changing the boar bedding (only removing pissy spots) around the time the girls move in and around the time of the harem introduction after quarantine
- maybe temporarily moving the boar pair to the kitchen during the pheromone spike around the harem introduction
Thoughts? Ideas? Any advice on how to make the transition as easy as possible and experiences with similar setups would be much appreciated!