Pleeeease help, will my boar fight his mate if he accidentally got close to a female 😪

[doosnska]

BACKSTORY/ FYI. I rescue piggies, once you pop you can't stop
We are fortunate enough to have plenty of space for them all.

So my herd of females lives in
the front garden, each night they walk to their shed maybe 5 metres from their day area (they cannot access this shed during the day) And sleep safely in there. And each morning they make their way back!

Then our house is there, followed by the dogs garden.
Lucky for us we have another shed and a back pen, this is where the herd of boys are. They also come into their shed at night (different sheds)

Unfortunately someone did not realise my male Chip was in the shed, and they left the door open. This person also left our driveway gate open
Hazel, one of my females had been spending a lot of time as close to the boys as possible (8 metres was as close as she couldget ) so she was more than likely in heat.
I came home to find them snoozing together in the middle section of the garden. I didn't want babies but the care and finding homes etc should not be an issue for me she's not pregnant though.. but we all know it doesn't take long

*******
So my QUESTION is...
How do I go about putting Chip, my male.. back with the males.? Or is on his own now with cage interactions

 

[Cara-milk]

It should be ok to put him back with the boys, if he wasn't with the girl too long. I would isolate him for maybe a week or so, so he might forget the girl a bit and won't try and fight the other boys.

Your girl will need to go on pregnancy watch for 10 weeks, even if they weren't together for long, it can happen very quickly...

I recently rescued a group of pigs, told they were all girls and it ended up being 2 girls 1 boy. After isolating the boy for a little bit I was able to bond him with another male. Only 1 of the girls was pregannt and the other wasn't. So it depends on the girl and the boy. Your girl might not be but she quite possibly is so she will need to be on pregnancy watch.
Hope that helps

 

[doosnska]

Pregnancy watch and potential dates are already on the calendar
I just didn't want him to end up on his own! Great advice, thank you so much!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Keeping him isolated for any length of time could put the chances of a reintroduction failing higher given the boys in this case do already have a hierarchy which could break because of it - the same reasons why medical separations (particularly in bonded boars) are not recommended.

In a case of missexing where a boar had unknowingly been kept with sows, while there is always a risk a boar who has been with sows won’t accept living with a boar in the future, there also an existing boar bond to break.
In a boar herd it might be a slightly better chance of him being reintroduced if there are enough boars in the herd but you should still have a back up living plan (in the case of a boar herd a plan should always be present given their instability).

Reintroduction needs to be done on neutral territory so as to not cause a territorial based fight, particularly if he has been apart from them for 24 hours or more

 

[doosnska]

Keeping him isolated for any length of time could put the chances of a reintroduction failing higher given the boys in this case do already have a hierarchy which could break because of it - the same reasons why medical separations (particularly in bonded boars) are not recommended.

In a case of missexing where a boar had unknowingly been kept with sows, while there is always a risk a boar who has been with sows won’t accept living with a boar in the future, there also an existing boar bond to break.
In a boar herd it might be a slightly better chance of him being reintroduced if there are enough boars in the herd but you should still have a back up living plan (in the case of a boar herd a plan should always be present given their instability).

Reintroduction needs to be done on neutral territory so as to not cause a territorial based fight, particularly if he has been apart from them for 24 hours or more

Yes I don't want to isolate for too long, I plan cleaning all my fences and putting then in neutral ground with a fence between then as you said etc. His the second youngest and pretty mellow so
As I somehow kept accumulating pigs I redid my shed and pig has his own iso section, I stayed positive but knew there was a risk with a herd so ive always got back up plans not to mention all my friends love them and always offer to take them. It would be hard but you always do what's best for the animal!

Great advice, thank you and thanks for your time!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes I don't want to isolate for too long, I plan cleaning all my fences and putting then in neutral ground with a fence between then as you said etc. His the second youngest and pretty mellow so
As I somehow kept accumulating pigs I redid my shed and pig has his own iso section, I stayed positive but knew there was a risk with a herd so ive always got back up plans not to mention all my friends love them and always offer to take them. It would be hard but you always do what's best for the animal!

Great advice, thank you and thanks for your time!

You don’t want to isolate at all if he is part of the herd.
When in neutral territory for rebonding as a herd you don’t put a fence between them. If you do that they aren’t rebonding at all.

If you are saying (regarding the comment about how you redid the shed and he had his own isolation section) he has never actually lived in with them as a herd and had always lived in his own separate section with only through bar interaction then there is no rebonding to take place - nothing needs to be done, he simply goes back into his own cage as if none of this ever happened. He doesn’t have a hierarchy with them at all so can’t fight as he never is with them anyway.

Fences between them is only for if bonding between them failed and they can’t share space.

 

[doosnska]

You don’t want to isolate at all if he is part of the herd.
When in neutral territory for rebonding as a herd you don’t put a fence between them. If you do that they aren’t rebonding at all.

If you are saying (regarding the comment about how you redid the shed and he had his own isolation section) he has never actually lived in with them as a herd and had always lived in his own separate section with only through bar interaction then there is no rebonding to take place - nothing needs to be done, he simply goes back into his own cage as if none of this ever happened. He doesn’t have a hierarchy with them at all so can’t fight as he never is with them anyway.

Fences between them is only for if bonding between them failed and they can’t share space.

I see your point also! Makes sense the fence could make it worse. The iso sections aren't always available. They each have their own carry cage for cuddle times/ treats/ vets/ illness etc. Which I used when slowing Introducing the heard and it worked really well and when I pull them down they only go in their own box. They free range a 9m by 8m secure garden with loads of hides during the day and come in the shed all together. Sorry i didnt word that well, my apologies. The shed they sleep in has multiple levels, no where they can get trapped together and they've all found they're spots. My partners tools etc got moved to the small shed so the boys could have as much room as possible over winter! Lucky he loves how much I love my pigs

I had most of thse ideas, it's so good discussing the pros and cons with people! Thank you!

 

[Piggies&buns]

So, as they all live together in one herd it means you need to take every pig out and put them somewhere which is not part of their normal space (ie not in the secure garden and not in the shed) and let them all reintroduce and see if they accept him back/he wants to go back.
If they do then all is fine and they remain together as a herd.
If they don’t then you need to split him away from the herd permanently (ideally taking one other pig with him if there is one he still wanted to be with) in his/their own cage and his/their own garden space (no more free roaming as a whole group).

Slow introducing with boars cuts across their societal needs - it’s all or nothing, a one time event, in neutral territory to either be able to form a hierarchy or not.

 

[doosnska]

So, as they all live together in one herd it means you need to take every pig out and put them somewhere which is not part of their normal space (ie not in the secure garden and not in the shed) and let them all reintroduce and see if they accept him back/he wants to go back.
If they do then all is fine and they remain together as a herd.
If they don’t then you need to split him away from the herd permanently (ideally taking one other pig with him if there is one he still wanted to be with) in his/their own cage and his/their own garden space (no more free roaming as a whole group).

Slow introducing with boars cuts across their societal needs - it’s all or nothing, a one time event, in neutral territory to either be able to form a hierarchy or not.

Yeah I intended to do neutral ground as it doesn't take long for hiarchy to change