Please Help!

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Hanfleur

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So, I adopted two new pals, Fudge (a neutered boar) and Flora at the weekend as companions for our recently bereaved Dotty. I tried an introduction on Sunday, but after a lot of excitement and humping(!) Dotty got a bit peeved and started aggressively nipping at the other two so I separated them.

Unfortunately, my daughter's been sick since then and so I've just tried introducing them again this afternoon and I don't think it's going well! I put the three of them in a fabric indoor run together and within about 5 minutes there was a lot of teeth chattering going on again and Dotty was snapping at the others again so I took her back out and put her in a large pet carrier but with the mesh window up to the mesh window of the run. They've now been like that for about 20-30 mins, but during that time Flora and Fudge who have been sharing a cage have been a bit aggressive towards each other too and they all keep squaring up against the window! What do I do?! Please help!
 
OK, so it's mainly just nose-offs going on through the window now, but Fudge and Flora are doing some serious rumble strutting interspersed with teeth chattering. Arrrgghh!
 
I had a similar problem last year & at the moment I'm trying to bond a bonded pair of sows with a bonded trio of 2 sows & a neutered boar. What I did last year & I'm going to do now is get the boar bonded with the other sow(s) then re-introduce the sow(s) that were originally bonded to the boar. It worked last year so keeping fingers crossed it will work again.
 
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Thanks folks! Well Fudge and Flora have now gone to separate corners and look like they're going to sleep lol and Dotty is doing the same in the pet carrier. Good sign or have they just exhausted themselves?! What's the next step?
 
Also, I have a new 2-story hutch for them to go into which can either be free-flow or separated. At what point is it safe to put them in there? Or would it be better to put Fudge and Flora in there and Dotty back in her old hutch and have them within eye sight of each other?

Sorry for all the questions - just feeling very out of my depth despite all the reading up I thought had me well-prepared!
 
OK, update is I thought it might be safe to put Dotty back in with Fudge and Flora but Flora pretty much went straight for Dotty who wheeked loudly so I took her back out. Is this just not going to work? I thought it was mainly a Fudge/Dotty problem as Flora and Dotty had been doing a lot of non-aggressive nosing up through the mesh. Now Fudge and Flora are back to being grumpy with each other but have been distracted with a plate of salad leaves for now. Just at a loss of what to do - do I put F and F in the new hutch together and Dotty back in her old one? Or put them all in the new hutch but on different levels with no access to each other? Or do I put them all separately?! This is becoming such a headache! F and F have been sharing an indoor cage since their arrival on Saturday as the hutch I ordered was delayed and didn't arrive until yesterday evening. Arrgghh!
 
Could you have them side by side but with interaction through mesh/bars for a while so they can get used to each other? It may take days or even weeks. Single sows can often be somewhat fear-agressive when faced with new company. Sometimes, it works out with patience, but sometimes not.

The tension will transmit to all piggies, so they often end up teeth chattering at each other even if they are best of friends. if the hositilities will stay constantly high, I would call a bonding off and consider other solutions.

Which country are you in? Could you please add it your details, as it will inform your options and our recommendations.
 
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