Neutered Boar With A Herd Of Females?

[Dilly's Piggies]

I'm fishing for opinions with this. I have 8 females living upstairs and my sister has 2 males living downstairs, in the same house. The 2 males used to live together but had to be separated because they drew blood on each other. Now there's grids splitting the cage and they can see each other, but they seem very bored, lonely and unhappy.

We're considering neutering the 2 boars, and adding them to my 2 herds of females, I have 3 living together, and then 5 living together, so it would be nice to have 1 boar per herd to make it 4 and 6.

I've read lots of piggy owners have had great success with adding neutered boars to a herd of females, apparently it even neutralizes arguments and dominance between the girls with a male around.

The males are now 2 years old so I'm not sure if this is actually a good idea, it would be a huge risk to put them through the surgery, when there's even a chance they will not get on well in the herds I've planned. It would be nice if I could trial the boys with the girls, to see if they will get along, but I just cannot risk my girls getting pregnant.

It seems like the logical thing to do, but it's risky. What do you guys think?

 

[Tiamolly123]

I'm afraid they would have your sows pregnant in a blink of an eye, personally I wouldn't try it.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I'm afraid they would have your sows pregnant in a blink of an eye, personally I wouldn't try it.

I know, I'm not going to, I would just like them to get along after going through the surgery, it would suck if they went through it for no reason.

 

[Tiamolly123]

I have 10 sows in 2 two different herds & 2 lads separated I've heard that neutered boys & girls are a good mix, but you have to weigh up the will it won't it question .Good luck

 

[Swissgreys]

I have one boy in with 3 girls and he is definitely a very calming influence on them!
When all their girly drama kicks off he will calmly wander through the middle of the group, slowly rumble strutting, which seems to settle everyone.
Plus the girls all adore him, and whilst the girls rarely choose to sleep together, one is often found laying next to Eddi.

But Eddi was castrated before we bought him, so I never had to deal with the decision to put him through surgery.
Good luck - it's a really difficult decision.

 

[ayemee]

Putting a neutured boy with my herd of girls was a great choice. He really calmed down the dynamics and he loved it

 

[Wiebke]

I'm fishing for opinions with this. I have 8 females living upstairs and my sister has 2 males living downstairs, in the same house. The 2 males used to live together but had to be separated because they drew blood on each other. Now there's grids splitting the cage and they can see each other, but they seem very bored, lonely and unhappy.

We're considering neutering the 2 boars, and adding them to my 2 herds of females, I have 3 living together, and then 5 living together, so it would be nice to have 1 boar per herd to make it 4 and 6.

I've read lots of piggy owners have had great success with adding neutered boars to a herd of females, apparently it even neutralizes arguments and dominance between the girls with a male around.

The males are now 2 years old so I'm not sure if this is actually a good idea, it would be a huge risk to put them through the surgery, when there's even a chance they will not get on well in the herds I've planned. It would be nice if I could trial the boys with the girls, to see if they will get along, but I just cannot risk my girls getting pregnant.

It seems like the logical thing to do, but it's risky. What do you guys think?

Hi - unfortunately, there is no safe way of trialling boars and sows together - it literally only takes seconds to impregnate a sow and happens too quickly for you to prevent.

In principle, the idea of pairing up each neutered boar with a group is a valid one, and it would certainly worth a try.
These are the things you may want to consider:
- it is vital to find a good vet for neutering, as that can make all the difference in terms of bad reactions to GA and post-op complications. In the case of lincolnshire, that is not necessarily very local. You could enquire from Cavy Corner in Doncaster who they would recommend if that is halfway within reach. Boars can be nuetered safely at any age. I know of some that have been neutered successfully as old as 4-5 years of age. At 2-3 years old, a guinea pig is usually at the peak of its life.
- you need to factor in a full 6 weeks post-op wait, as now practised by all good rescues with a neutering policy. My own Tegan is living proof that it can still happen as late as over 5 weeks post-op (dad was not one of my own neutered boars).
However, you can have the boys live alongside their group of girls with interaction through the bars, so by the time you introduce them, they know each other well and acceptance is more likely. How old are your girls? Younger sows are usually much more welcoming to a husboar than especially older, very dominant top sows.
- please pair the more submissive boar with your most dominant top sow, and try that pairing first, as it is likely the trickier one.
- If things don't go to plan, the boys can still live next to a sow cage for interaction (which shoudl keep them from being depressed), but you have the option to pair them with one or two undersows if necessary.

 

[JenniferG]

They should get on with the sows and may even get on better together once neutered. Being healthy before surgery is a bigger factor than age.