Mum Pulling Out Babies Hair?

[Dilly's Piggies]

My girl had 2 lovely baby girls, that are now 8 weeks old. Both of them are staying with me. Mum however has been pulling out the youngest babies hair in clumps around her bum/back legs, for no apparent reason. She is not doing this to the eldest baby, only the youngest one. The baby is squealing so loud every time as it is quite obviously painful for her, but they are not fighting. It doesn't look like Mum is attacking the baby, she's sharing food, water and hideys with the babies no problem, and has always been a fantastic Mum to these pups, this hair pulling only started about 2 weeks ago. The baby has become really difficult to handle, she used to be very calm and love her cuddles, but now she's very agitated, fidgety, and is biting me very hard, I'm wondering if it's because of the Mum pulling her hair and she has sore spots as a result.

This baby is a Mummy's girl and I'm wondering if Mum is doing this because the baby is too attached to her, and Mum wants her space now, with them being 8 weeks old. Would this be a correct assumption?

I do also have 5 other sows that live together, I could integrate the baby with them, maybe she will do better with them, but I don't want to split Mum and the 2 pups up so lightly, I would much prefer if they could all stay together. If it seems for the best that she should move families, I'm quite happy to do that, for her own comfort.

 

[Keiko The Pig]

Maybe it's time to try a trial separation. Take the poor girl away from mum and see if this perks her up and see if her aggressive/bad behaviour tones down. If so then it's pretty clear the little one is no longer happy what with mums rough treatment. However if she pines to be back with her mum and sister then you may have to wait it out and see if this hair pulling behaviour stops, but of course be ready to step in at any time if it goes too far and blood is drawn. I've heard of mummy piggies grooming too roughly before but never really heard of how to put a stop to it. It's also confusing that she's targeting this one pig. Is this girl the runt per say? I'm not an expert on piggies or any animals but I do know some animals will attack the runt as they see him/her as a sign of weakness or a weak link in their family

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Maybe it's time to try a trial separation. Take the poor girl away from mum and see if this perks her up and see if her aggressive/bad behaviour tones down. If so then it's pretty clear the little one is no longer happy what with mums rough treatment. However if she pines to be back with her mum and sister then you may have to wait it out and see if this hair pulling behaviour stops, but of course be ready to step in at any time if it goes too far and blood is drawn. I've heard of mummy piggies grooming too roughly before but never really heard of how to put a stop to it. It's also confusing that she's targeting this one pig. Is this girl the runt per say? I'm not an expert on piggies or any animals but I do know some animals will attack the runt as they see him/her as a sign of weakness or a weak link in their family

Baby is always squealing for her Mum whenever I hold her, so I know already that when they're separated she will pine for them. She is the smallest out of the 2, she's about 30g behind her big sister, and big sister has not squealed for Mum since she was 5 weeks old, she is a really laid back and people loving piggy, as the smaller one used to be, but everything changed when Mum started pulling her hair. So out of the 2 yeah this baby is the runt. I just hope Mum will not do this odd behaviour for much longer. The two babies love each other, it would be a real shame to separate them. Or I will have to keep Mum alone, which I don't want to do either, agh, it's so hard!

 

[Keiko The Pig]

That is a tough situation who was mum caged with before having babies? If the babies get along fine I imagine it's probably easier to keep them together then to try and integrate one into a group immediately following separation from her mum and sister

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! Have you checked the pup for mange mites or fungal? Especially mange mites cause the skin to be painful, which means that a piggy doesn't enjoy being held. This change in behaviour can be one of the early sign of a piggy coming down with them.

Barbering can have many reasons, and it can not be easy to get to the bottom of what is going on.
Barbering ( Eating Hair)

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I got Mum already pregnant from a breeder, I'm not clear about her background but she supposedly lived with another sow in her previous home. I'm not sure if this is true however, because she has been very aggressive towards my other sows, even after living here for 4 months now. My original plan was to integrate Mum in with my 5 sows, but it didn't go according to plan as she turned out aggressive, so I pinned my hopes on at least 1 baby girl from her that she could live with, so she wouldn't be lonely. I hit the jackpot with 2 girls, they seem to enjoy being together but the random hair pulling makes me worry that Mum will have to live alone for life.

I read the post Weibke posted about barbering, very interesting stuff, I see it's more common in long haired pigs? Mum and both babies are shelties with lovely long hair, so maybe this is a contributing factor. However it's strange, because Mum is not grooming the baby at the time, she will just approach the baby, or baby will approach her, and Mum will just go straight for the pull. I have had them checked for mites and fungal, they have just finished a 4 week course of ivermectin and have been bathed in lice n easy (all 10 of my piggies had the same treatment also, all cages and items were disinfected etc) as we did have a bout of lice and possible mites. They seem to have cleared now, my pigs don't scratch like they did and I've seen nothing in the fur, whereas before I could see the lice running. Mum has been to the vet 3 times since I've had her, for thorough check ups during pregnancy and post birth, and she got a clean bill of health every time, (besides the parasite issue), so I'm really not sure.

Are sore spots possible? Maybe Mum was pulling the hair in an attempt to remove the parasites, but now it's a habit? Or maybe she's trying to tell me there's still something there... I don't think she is being nasty on purpose to her babies, she is also a first time Mum, maybe she's being too enthusiastic, but she has never been rough before, always gentle, perfect mother, it's only since they got older this started happening. Maybe it's time for a 4th vet visit with her and the pups. Any suggestions on what I should mention to the vet to look for?