Please Help! very worried

  • Thread starter Thread starter thatsbec
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

thatsbec

Any help would be great! :)

Two of my sows Socks and Bows who are housed together having been fighting non stop for the past 2 days and they have never fought like this before - they sometimes have the odd 'chase and nip' but nothing like this.
They're making like a teeth chattering noise and running at each other and biting and whoever gets bitten squeals so loud and makes another noise which i can't really explain.. my nana and i keep running out there to see whats happening, and before this everytime we would approach the cage they would always run into their pigloos, but now they wont even flinch, and just keep fighting, which makes me think whatever they are fighting about is pretty big to them.

I haven't got a spare cage to seperate them, the only thing i could do is put a divider down the middle of the cage..

would anyone have any idea of why they would be fighting? my friend thinks it could be because one or both could be in heat, but i think its more than that..

thanks! :)
 
oh dear i have never had any problems with sows fighting before.They are both definitely girls?
I would give them both a bath together and hopefully this traumatic experience will bond them together.I find somethimes with boars that are iffy about each other that if they bond over something slightly scary (sounds terrible but say the dog or a loud noise) they believe that they NEED each other for survival and then their herd instinct kicks in and they bond over it.
 
cuddles said:
oh dear i have never had any problems with sows fighting before.They are both definitely girls?
I would give them both a bath together and hopefully this traumatic experience will bond them together.I find somethimes with boars that are iffy about each other that if they bond over something slightly scary (sounds terrible but say the dog or a loud noise) they believe that they NEED each other for survival and then their herd instinct kicks in and they bond over it.
Click to expand...


Same here jess - I got 6 sows together and they have never had a fight between them like the problem this ladie has ,lol
But i would also say Check that they are both girls ! as they could be boys which would give the reason why they are fighting
 
Do they fight if they are out of the cage on neutral ground? Could there be competition for food you could try adding an extra bowl and seperate hidey holes.

But be careful never seperate them with your hands - use a towel to throw over them when fighting - as my daughter found out, she still has no sensation in part of her finger after being bitten
 
I agree with the advise given above, particularly about using a towel to seperate them! Two of everything is also a good idea. What size cage do you have them in, do they get time out in a run/floor time? Sorry for all the questions, but hopefully the more info. we have the more advice people will be able to offer.

My initial thought was "are you sure you have two girls"? Whilst it is not unheard of to occasionally get a sow that doesn't like another sow, it is quite uncommon (thankfully NOT something we have experienced and we have five girls living together). Your friend is right that some sows can become more stroppy when they are in heat, but it's usually just a bit of a rumble and chase with some mounting thrown in for good measure.

Are you sure your piggies are girls? I have to say, their behaviour does sound more like adolescent boys trying to sort out who is boss. How old are you pigs thatsbec? Hope things settle down, keep us posted.
 
I completely sympathise with you! I had to separate my boys last night they were just getting to aggressive towards each other, however we aren't gonna give up we know boys tend to fight though. We have separated them for now they are still together in a sense one is in an normal cage and another is the bottom half of a old hamster cage with the pen round it to give the second one more room. We don't know what we are going to do if we can't give them to live together again as we have a room problem! They half of our spare room already but if they can't even play together I don't know what do to - but we have to do what is best for our piggies.
 
Yes they are definately both girls, I checked several times when I got them and my vet also checked. That's why i find this strange, because I have had two girls housed together before and they never fought, not like this anyway, maybe the occasional squabble, but nothing like this.

They both have their own food bowls, but Socks always trys to eat BOTH bowls of food before Bows gets a chance, so recently i've made a habbit of sitting with them at meal times to make sure they both get their fair share.

I tried bathing them together and they are still fighting, they even fought while in the tub, and i got bitten a few times - I will definately use a towel next time.

So yes they are both definately girls, and they have quite a large cage (i have no idea what it is called, *** they aren't labelled with anything like the "nero 4" etc over here where i got mine) I take them outside on the grass, but i do need to find something like a run, *** i feel that its not adequate (sorry for spelling) at the moment what they have.

I really don't know what else to do, i'm at a loss right now. I've had to put a divider down the middle of the cage and they're still trying to get to each other through the divider.

Thanks for all your advice.. i really appreciate it. I just wish i could work out what's wrong :(
 
awwwwww love sorry to hear they're still fighting :(:(
you may have to divide the cage for a bit .......and then hope that you can re bond again :)
Go give them both a real talking to mallethead
 
yeah i'm getting a bit frustrated now i'll admit...i've threatened them...lol i said i would bring the cat (that we are babysitting till it can be re-homed) inside if they didn't stop...didn't work...but it gave me a bit of chuckle (i would never do that btw! lol)

yeah i'll keep them divided and just see what happens.. *big sigh*
i just can't work out why they're being like this, i changed the cage i don't know how many times, to see if they helped, i washed and scrubbed it out several times just in case, i gave them a bath together like someone suggested and got bitten and i've tried sitting with them in the lounge room, but they fought then too.
 
oh dear they sound like two extreemly dominant little women!
I hope they get on together soon for your sake and their own.
 
How are the girls behaving now thatsbec? It does sound like you have two very dominant little madams on your hands. Hope things settle down for you.
 
Yeah i'm starting to think that might just be the problem - 2 very dominant little misses lol

They have actually settled down a bit, compared to what they were, yesterday arvo i noticed they were staying inside a pigloo each and just keeping to themselves (the divider is still up) but last night they were teeth chattering again and trying to bite each other through the divider, so i think i may keep it up for a while and just see how they go..i don't really know what else to do, hopefully it's just a phase

Bec xox
 
just wanted to let everyone know that my two sows that were fighting have settled down (thank goodness!) it took a while, but we got there in the end, i gave them a couple more baths together and then tried to re-introduce them again and have given them new scenery, etc so they seem to be quite happy. thanks for everyones help and suggestions, much appreciated :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top