New Female Dominating Old Male?

[Tinman]

My wife and I have had gp's for 3 yrs now (my wife having had some previously). I however am now their main owner i seems....
Anyway, originally we rescued 2 boys, they were a little bit skittish but very lovely. Unfortunately early on one was diagnosed with a uri. We kept it under control with meds but about 6 weeks ago he stopped eating. The vets found a tumour on his stomach and we made the heartbreaking decision to put our little Del to sleep (I dont think the vet had ever seen a 6ft man cry like a child over a gp before!)
Anyway, 2 weeks ago we decided to get Rodney some company and rescued a young female (about a year old). With Rodney being alot bigger and a male we were a little worried about him bullying her, however the oppposite has happened! She is extremely scittish of us but bullies Rodders something chronic. They both rumblestrut, but she will chase him round with her nose on his rear, occasionally nipping him, he just wants to be left alone.
We dont want to give up on her but as he was here first and is part of the family now we are thinking of taking her back to the rescue as we wold rather he is happy and alone than being bullied.
Hoping someone has a solution to help him become the dominant one but cant find anything on this situation as the males naturally should be. All write ups seem to either be on male/male or female/female situations as its assumed in the male/female situation the male is dominant.

 

[Wiebke]

There is no natural male domination in a cross gender bond; it goes to who is the stronger personality. Of my four current "husboars", two are group leaders, but in the other two groups, it is the sows that run the show. All groups are working well.

In nature, it is the boars who have to be accepted by the core group of sows, it is not the other way around. He can attract the sows, but he cannot force them and he can only mate with their consent and willingness.

Your young sow is clearly trying to dominate him, but it doesn't sound like it is out of bounds. The dominance phase can last a few weeks until it is settling down. It will get worse again when the lady is coming into season, especially the first few times, which usually are a bonding opportunity.

If you are really worried, you can try a trial short separation with interaction through bars. If your boy is becoming a lot more perky when apart, you know that he isn't happy. If they are desparate to be back together, then you will have to grin and bear it!

 

[maxinedawn]

I had the same problem. My 1yr old male was bullied be 2 small 5 month old girls. In the end I have to seperate. He now lives with a little 8wk old girl. He was afraid of her at first but now they cuddle up together. My boy has not done any of the normal male dominant stuff, ever. I don't think he knows he's male. Hope things settle down and work out.

 

[VickiA]

Hello and To the forum. So sorry for your loss. I think on here we can all sympathise and understand how you feel. My vets are very sympathetic, and I have wept there many times.
Can I just check please that your Rodders is neutered? Otherwise you may have a little surprise. I have a placid , timid, neutered boar who lives with a really dominant sow. There is no doubt who's in charge in their run most of the time. Rumble strutting, sniffing, mounting and little nips are all part of the getting to know you and establishing hierarchy. It is awful for humans to watch, but unless there is a major fight or blood drawn I would leave them to sort it out. Please ensure there are no places where one can be cornered and trapped. All hideys should have 2 exits and ideally there should be one hidey each and one spare if you have space. 2 separate bowls, bottles, piles of hay are also a good idea to ensure that your little madam can't dominate everything at once. In time things will settle down but these things do take time. My 2 now rub along well and although they don't sleep snuggled up together they are definitely well bonded. I hope this helps you a little. I, too, agonised over whether I'd done the right thing introducing Mr Ted to Fudge but they are both quite happy now.

 

[Tinman]

Yes Rodney is neutered, is standard practice for the rescue centre. Unfortunately I have just rushed him unnanounced to the vets (closed). He made a funny sqauwk, and then just keeled over and from what I could tell gasping for breath. I held him for a minute thinking it was his last moments but iot just went on, so I sped down the vets and rang the bell till the nurse answered. He perked up a bit whilst I waited for them to answer and he is now is an oxygen tank but they dont know what the problem is.
Really hoping we dont lose him so soon after Del. Just go to wait now for an update in a few hrs. Poor little fella was basically lifeless on his back, I even tried to blow some extra air through his nose to keep him going. Really not a good time :-(
Thanks for your answers though, I hope I only get the chance to put them to good use.

 

[Wiebke]

HUGS!

I am ever so sorry for your emergency. I hope that Rodney will recover. He may need some quiet recovery time next door to his new wife at first if he comes back home. I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed for him!

 

[Tinman]

Me too. Just waiting for a phone call. No news is good news so they say but waiting is horrible. I really hope he just had something lodged in his throat and makes a full recovery. The vet however hasnt seen him being a bank holiday, they charge £100 just for the callout and I'm afraid with a 6mnth old baby, the wife not earning on maternity its money I cant afford so its just the nurse keeping an eye on him. I feel bad I cant give him the best care and I know if the worst should happen I will regret it deeply.
Here is Rodney, keep him in your thoughts tonight please

 

[piggyfan]

Good luck Rodney. I have my fingers crossed.

 

[maxinedawn]

What a horrible shock for you both. Hope he gets well soon. Be strong little man

 

[Tinman]

Got the update just now, he is moving about albeit only a little, and he isnt eating anything they give him but his vitals all seem ok at the moment. I've asked to have him kept in overnight and the vet check him out in the morning (assuming he makes it). If all is well then my wife will pick him up and bring him home once the vet has checked him out. Dont think I will sleep much tonight and tomorrow will be a long day at work!

 

[theoretikos]

Sorry to hear this @Tinman Hope Rodney gets better x

 

[Wiebke]

You may need to hand feed if he is not eating. Ask your vet for recovery food when you go to pick him up or use pellets that have been mushed with boiled cooled water. Ideally, you use a 1 ml syringe (also from your vets) whose narrow tip you cut off just before it widens. Feed about half the syringe in one go (which is about a mouthful) to prevent asphyxiation. Wait until her has swallowed before feeding more. VEry weak piggies can struggle to swallow. Syringe 1 ml of water (or more) for every 3-5 ml of feed to prevent dehydration. Feed little but often, as much as he will take.

I am very sorry that this is happening at such a bad time!

 

[Tinman]

We have some recovery food from when Del was ill. Thanks for the info Weibke, hopefully wont need to but also hope I need to as it means he will be home. Poor little soul, hate seeing any animal suffer but gp's are such gentle little things its even more heartbreaking to see them in a bad way.

 

[Wiebke]

I know how you are feeling; those of us who have had piggies in their lives for some time have been there, too, with our own piggies. Always such a heart-breaking and gutting time! They can really take over your heart!

 

[helen105281]

Poor Rodney, I really hope he's ok.

 

[Tinman]

Well Rodney is home. Good and not so good news to go with that. He seems pretty chirpy so that is good and he is eating ok, which is the confusing thing really. We noticed a few weeks ago he had lost weight (pretty boney round the back end) so I have been keeping an eye and he was eating well so didnt worry too much (until last night!). I though it was to do with his abnormal tooth which gets ground down every so often so had that done a few weeks back and thought as he was eating that was that.
The vet weighed him and when last in he was about 1.2kg whereas he is now a worryingly 0.88. I dont understand why this is as he isnt off his food because I have watched him eat many times since we realised he was skinny. We have to book him in again soon so they can put him under and investigate further but they wanted him to recover from whatever it was last night (they dont know what happened) before putting him under a general. I am hoping it isnt related to anything Del had before he died as he lost alot of weight too although he noticiably stopped eating.
We have put Cass (the new pig) in the smaller cage to give Rodders space, and the wife thinks maybe we should think about re-homing her incase she is stressing him out. I have put them side by side though incase we do keep her so they have some sort of contact.
Anyway, sorry for the long rambling, gona go research if there is anything I can give him to fatten him up a bit!

 

[maxdawn]

I hope he gets better soon. I think its a good idea putting the piggys in differant cages, put the cages side by side so they can see each other. I know they weren't getting on but he will be happyer seeing her, you know can't live with her but can't live without her. It might be a good idea to start a new post under health. As forum members with more knowledge on health will see it.

 

[Wiebke]

I am glad that he is eating again! Weight loss while eating can have a variety of reasons, kidney problems and diabetes being amongst the most likely reasons, but a growth can also be behind it, as can other things.

Any weight loss of 50g short term or 100g long term needs to be investigated by a vet; it is often the first sign of a developing health problem. We recommend to weigh any healthy piggy once weekly, any piggy you are worried about daily, ideally at the same time in the feeding cycle.

Fingers firmly crossed!

 

[Tinman]

Thanks Wiebke. Doesnt look good does it. As suggested I have started a new thread in the illness category. At least he is happy at the moment thats all I can ask really. Its just such a shock that both our boys look like going within weeks of eachother. I assume if its something like kidney problems or similar then there isnt anything they can do?

 

[Wiebke]

Depending upon what you are up against, your options can be limited. it always comes as such a shock when your piggies pass close to each other. If they have been very tightly bonded, their immune system will be lowered from the shock of losing their mate, so illness or even loss is sadly not quite rare.