Please help - Re bonding after a fight

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Claire K

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Hi, a couple of weeks back i placed a post when my 2 girls had a fight.

They are sisters and have lived together since birth and are now 14 months old.

A couple of weeks ago, i placed them into their carry box when i cleaned them out and one of them started chattering her teeth and all of a sudden launched herself at the the other and took a bite out of her cheek.

I have no idea why this happened although the only thing that may have upset her is that I put them in the carry box which had only a few minutes before, had another set of pigs in (wondered if the smell of them upset her ?).

Anyway, I have been away for the past week and did not want to put them back together whilst i was not here to watch them. I had a friend coming in twice a week to see to them but did not feel happy leaving them alone with no-one to keep an eye on them so soon after their fight.

While i was away, i left them in their c&c cage with a grid divider between them so that they could still smell each other but would not be able to fight. I spoke to Wiebke before i went away who said that generally it is not advised to put pigs back together when they have drawn blood but beacause they seemed so friendly through the bars, it could be worth one more try at re-bonding them.

I have today returned from holiday, removed the divider and let them mix again.

The question that i have is, if they have genuinely fallen out, would they have started being aggressive again already or could this happen at anytime.

They have been happily eating next to each other, having a sniff and generally wandering around with out any problems for the last couple of hours.

They have had a couple of chin ups and the one who attacked last time, has given a couple of warning nips but apart from that they have been fine.

Is this them re-establishing their dominance or could this be them getting ready for round 2!!??

I also wanted to know when it would be safe to leave them alone together after putting them back together again - is it wise to leave them together tonight or should i put the divide back in again and remove when I'm around again tomorrow?

Advice really would be appreciated.

Many Thanks

Claire xx
 
Hi Claire,

I'm not sure about Sows but generally I think if they hated each other it would be very apparent.

When I bonded my male and sow all was well when I put them in the cage my sow felt cornered and they lunged, balls of fury. I separated them before any wounds were inflicted. I think generally speaking if you didn't like someone you would make it known.

I would say something clearly upset her last time, but if blood is drawn again, I would leave them separated purely an opinion!
 
Did violent guinea actually draw blood from quiet guinea?

My girls occasionally have these spats - often when I put them in a small space to clean out in winter. I think that while girls are happy to snuggle together when they are in the hutch, this is because they have the option to move - in a small space they have nowhere to go and can just be a bit too in each other's faces (kinda like when you spend a week sharing a room with your best mate/sister - you end up wanting to slap them!). The longer you leave them apart though the harder it will be to get them back together.

I am afraid I am a bit worried that your friend only came in twice a week - who was feeding them every day?!
 
Hi Doeylicious, Thanks for your post

Firstly, i would like to clarify that it was an error in my post when i stated that my friend only came in twice a week - i actually meant twice a day. She came in morning and evening to clean them, feed them and change water, give fresh hay etc (please dont worry - i would not have left my girls to be attended to only twice a week !)

Secondly, yes there was blood when one of my girls was launched at. The one who attacked, left an open wound on the cheek of the other one. I was given antibiotics and anti inflammatorys for her. The wound has now healed although she is still off her food which the vet said is due to the antibiotics and that her appetite should return in the next few days.

Both girls still seem fine, they have had the odd chin up but nothing further - is this good news or could it all go pear shaped ?

Claire x
 
It looks like they are back together and getting on. The behaviour is absolutely normal for establishing/re-establishing dominance.

Fights can easily happen in confined places, when one sow feels crowded/on edge and overreacts; you hadn't mentioned the circumstances of their fall out when we spoke - I had assumed that it had happened in their normal environment.

What I would do in the future is put them in two different crates while you clean out their cage. A cardboard box will do for a short time.
 
Ah I did wonder if you meant twice a day, phew, I was imagining your neighbours complaining about the wheeking noise lol.

Aw poor piggy :-( antibiotics put me off my food and I am 8 stone of chocolate addicted girl, so understandable that a little piggy wouldn't be keen, I ~touches wood~ have never had mine on ab's.

I do what Wiebke said, pop both my girls in separate boxes, or stick them in the hamster's indoor run as it is really quite huge (we lost the hamster in it once it was so big and had so many toys in!).

I am on the lookout for a sandpit for them to play in this winter (I obviously won't put sand in lol)
 
Thanks Doeylicious - 2 crates for clean out time it is then from now on.

They have been together all night (i even slept downstairs so i could listen out for them) and all seems fine.

Truffles is definately re-asserting her dominance with the odd nip telling Trixie to get out of her face but they did that originally anyway so its nothing new. They both seem very happy so I'm not stressing quite so much this morning.

They have been eating hay all night so hopefully things will get back to normal now and it was just the issue of the confined space in the carry box that caused the problem.

Many Thanks to you all for your advice

xx
 
Ah I'm glad the girls sorted out their differences :-)

I think we should see some photos of them :-D I love their names by the way!
 
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