I've recently had to seperate one of my pigs from the other two due to a uti which she is still on medication for but the bleeding has stopped. The vet recommended to continue the medication for the next few days to make sure it's definitely gone.
The piggy seperated from my other two has always been lowest on the chain, she will only eat vegetables in her house away from the others and doesn't interact with alpha much. She adores my other pig though. I've had them for two and a half years now but I'm worried she is being bullied by the alpha rather than dominance behaviour. She has made it clear to alpha she is not a threat. They've been together since alpha and other were 4 weeks old and she is a week younger. (Got them from a breeder as no rescues in my area had any pigs at the time)
Vet said it's okay to reintroduce piggy again as they had been seperated for five days and her uti has cleared up. My other piggy welcomed her back with open arms but the alpha doesn't seem too happy about it. She keeps chasing her out of the hut, not letting her near the water bottle and she won't come out to eat veggies so I put some in her house for her. I know chasing is dominance behaviour but she chases her quite a lot. I'm worried it's bullying not just dominance.
When she was seperated she appeared happier, eating her veggies in the open and generally happier to come out the cage and her house. She spent more time outside her hut than usual. She was brilliant at taking her medication she opens her mouth and takes it no fuss!
The chasing is a lot worse now I've reintroduced them as they have a 8ft x 2ft cage with four houses and the alpha will chase her out of every house she goes into. Even if the alpha is in her hut she goes out and checks she isn't in a house and if she is, she chases her out.
Basically I'm worried that my alpha piggy bullies her rather than just dominance. I'm wondering should I seperate them as she appeared much happier on her own in quarantine than she appears with the alpha. She gets along no problems with my other piggy. She is smaller than my other two as they eat what they want and leave the rest to her. I try and put a portion in her house for her to eat but a lot of the time she will let the other two eat part of it too.
Seeing the difference when she was on her own to now being with the others again and knowing her behaviour from before; I'm not sure if having them together is the right thing if she just appears withdrawn.
The piggy seperated from my other two has always been lowest on the chain, she will only eat vegetables in her house away from the others and doesn't interact with alpha much. She adores my other pig though. I've had them for two and a half years now but I'm worried she is being bullied by the alpha rather than dominance behaviour. She has made it clear to alpha she is not a threat. They've been together since alpha and other were 4 weeks old and she is a week younger. (Got them from a breeder as no rescues in my area had any pigs at the time)
Vet said it's okay to reintroduce piggy again as they had been seperated for five days and her uti has cleared up. My other piggy welcomed her back with open arms but the alpha doesn't seem too happy about it. She keeps chasing her out of the hut, not letting her near the water bottle and she won't come out to eat veggies so I put some in her house for her. I know chasing is dominance behaviour but she chases her quite a lot. I'm worried it's bullying not just dominance.
When she was seperated she appeared happier, eating her veggies in the open and generally happier to come out the cage and her house. She spent more time outside her hut than usual. She was brilliant at taking her medication she opens her mouth and takes it no fuss!
The chasing is a lot worse now I've reintroduced them as they have a 8ft x 2ft cage with four houses and the alpha will chase her out of every house she goes into. Even if the alpha is in her hut she goes out and checks she isn't in a house and if she is, she chases her out.
Basically I'm worried that my alpha piggy bullies her rather than just dominance. I'm wondering should I seperate them as she appeared much happier on her own in quarantine than she appears with the alpha. She gets along no problems with my other piggy. She is smaller than my other two as they eat what they want and leave the rest to her. I try and put a portion in her house for her to eat but a lot of the time she will let the other two eat part of it too.
Seeing the difference when she was on her own to now being with the others again and knowing her behaviour from before; I'm not sure if having them together is the right thing if she just appears withdrawn.
