new baby sow is bully!

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Hi all,

I have two baby sows aged 8 weeks, we have had them for nearly two weeks with no probs, but one has started to bully the other, chasing her away from the food, out from under the hidey shelf etc. I have put it down to establishing dominance but I do hope that it does not escalate. There are no full scale fights, the little timid one just runs a mile squeeking at the top of her voice!They are currently in an adapted nero 3 and I will be getting them a nero 4 which I will also adapt when they are a little bigger.

Would appreciate advice as have only had older ones until now.
 
i would give them 2 of everything, houses, food bowls, water etc and see how they go, providing they don't draw blood they should settle, my 2 boys arent the best of friends but do live together quite well.
 
Thanks for the advice, the sleeping quarters seem to be the problem, my husband has adapted our nero3 to provide them with an upper shelf which gives them heaps more room, only thing is there is not enough height to place igloos underneath! just looked at them and Phoebe is at one side and Monica the other.....about as far away from each other as they can get! Phoebe loves Monica but every time she cuddles up to her she gets told to off in no uncertain terms LOL! Hopefully they will settle in the coming weeks. If not i will get the nero 4 and section it down the middle!
 
My piggies, Disney and Paris are about 13 weeks old and we have had them for 5 weeks, Paris is definatley the boss and Disney is always getting told off! They have settled down now but they sit at other ends of the hutch, we put a big cardboard tube in the living side and Disney sits in there rather than the sleeping quarters, but they do still love each other ...... I'm sure they will settle down soon :)
 
In all my Nero 3's I take the plastic house that comes with it out. Two pigs - one entrance/exit - not always a good recipe. Instead I put in Logs, hammocks, boxes etc. so they have lots of hidey holes and secret places to snuggle up together, or glare at each other depending what mood they are in! I was concerned about my little girls at first cos there always seemed to be one eating more, and bigger than the other, I didn't put two dishes etc in, due to space but always put the dish where they both had easy access to it, otherwise the more dominant of the two used to park her bum across whichever hidey hole the other was in, and block her in whilst she ate all the goodies. They're mostly fine now, so hopefully yours will sort themselves out quite soon. x
 
I took out the plastic house too as you say not idea as one piggy guards the entrance and doesn't let the other in! I have just made two hidey holes out of a shoe box and hope that improves things, I will put it in next time I get them out. I have to take off the whole of the top section as they hide under shelf hubby made and it attached to the sides of the cage!
 
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This is Molly and Bridget in the adapted nero 3 before they sadly passed away....god bless them, they never gave me any trouble!
 
My guinea pig Maisy started bullying her sister Missy by kicking her out of the shelter they 'shared'. I bought Missy her own little house and put it in the cage (nero 3). Missy used it a lot and when Maisy tried to go in, Missy kicked her out. It worked so well. They both had their own space but were still living together. After about a week and a half, Maisy let Missy go into her house and then they shared both shelters :).

Hope this helps x
 
I like the way a shelf is added to the Nero 3 to geive extra floor space. To be honest, I have stopped buying 'houses' now they all just seem to love different boxes each time they get cleaned out. There is an endless supply free at the supermarkets, they love to chew them, and they have great adventures exploring their new homes each time they are cleaned. If you are using plastic bottomed houses, you need to put in newspaper? or something to absorb any wee, otherwise the piggies just sit in it and get wet/smelly tummies. xx
 
LOL Nutmeg,

Since putting in the hideaways I made out of cutting a shoebox in half I have happy guineas one in each, however they are chewing them!
 
I guess the dominance thing is kicking in already. If the other one is agreeable to being the recessive one, then everything should work out ok.

Sows can be funny sometimes as well as boars. I had a sow who would not live with either a boar or sow and spent a happy 6 years living alone.

I hope everything sorts itself out ... I am sure it will, given time and lots of space!

Keep us posted.
 
Hi Goldie,

Yes the other one is being totally ok about being bullied, god bless her. Yesterday just when I thought things had settled down Phoebe was just sitting eating hay and minding her own business when Monica charged out from under the shelf head butted poor phoebe making her scream and then monica ran back under the shelf as if to say " just to remind you who is boss in here" the little madam I could strangle her!

They are named after the friends characters and boy do they suit their names Phoebe is totally ditzy and Monica sure is bossy!
 
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