Passive Aggressive Lying Down!

[katiepig]

Any idea what this means?

My "middle pig" in the hierarchy (of 3) does not get along great with the newish baby pig, they squabble a bit.

I've noticed she tends to lie down in a very dominant manner, if that makes sense! She'll just lie down in a very purposeful way and looks a bit superior whilst she does it. She'll get up a few seconds later and carry on with her day until she feels compelled to do it again. Has anyone else witnessed this? Can anyone translate it into a human behaviour I can understand? It's funny to see but I'm surprised she'd still doing it since they have been cage mates for over a month now. Funny little things

 

[Tiny]

Marble 'strategically' plonks herself down near the hay or water sometimes, almost in an assertion of 'top dog' status, but I don't think she's confident/a bully enough (thankfully) for this to be consistent or heavily asserted!

Your middle pig does sound like she has a dominance thing, maybe it's asserting status over the baby because she can't dominate the higher up pig.

 

[katiepig]

Your middle pig does sound like she has a dominance thing, maybe it's asserting status over the baby because she can't dominate the higher up pig.

Mmm definitely, and the baby piggy is surprisingly bossy!

 

[Swissgreys]

Most of mine will lay out in the open on occasion, but mostly Ruby (my most dominant pig) who does it a lot.
Oddly enough I never saw it as a sign of dominance, but rather extreme confidence in herself and her surroundings (which technically would send a message of 'I am more confident than you' to lower ranked piggies I guess).