Odd Or Even Numbers?

[Dilly's Piggies]

I'm just curious, does it matter if groups of Guinea Pigs live in odd or even numbers? I have a group of 5 and a group of 3, they all get along great but due to the odd number I always find one not really having a 'best buddy' whereas the others do.

 

[eileen]

In my experience it depends on the personalities and dynamics of the group.ive two herds of one neutered male and 4 females,and the females in the group tend to all be close,male piggie just keeps lead of the herd,not getting involved with the domestic politics of the sows,ive a group of 3 boars,one is 5 yrs,one is a year,and one is 3 months.the oldest boar is the boss,and both help the young boar.so it really is a matter of personalities i find.Every situation has to be taken on an individual basis.

 

[Wiebke]

I'm just curious, does it matter if groups of Guinea Pigs live in odd or even numbers? I have a group of 5 and a group of 3, they all get along great but due to the odd number I always find one not really having a 'best buddy' whereas the others do.

It doesn't matter much with larger groups, but the smaller the group the more important the individual character combination gets.

Generally it is safer to go from a sow couple to a quartet and to introduce two already bonded couples where one pair is ideally still sub-adult and cannot upset the hierarchy to prevent outsider situations unless you can make sure that you only adopt submissive sows and/or those that are used to living in a group.
Trios are the most vulnerable to outsider situations, including a two sows-neutered boar constellation unless your two sows are already great friends. Trios that work out whatever the gender/gender combination are great (I've had several of them) - but I have also had some epic fails. Balancing three personalities is admittedly more tricky than balancing just two.

From four to five piggies you have small group dynamics; there it still depends on the personalities, but not quite as much as in pairs or trios.

You get natural loners that keep themselves to themselves, troublemakers and need to come out on top piggies in all kinds of groups, as well as piggies that can happily live in whatever constellation.

PS: Boars work either as pairs or in large bachelor groups with LOTS of space, so they can get out of each others' way and don't have to fight. Boar trios and quartets have the highest rate of failure.