How old is the baby?
I’d try the baby with the dominant but the reality is bonding comes down to character compatibility and you won’t know until you try which pairing works.
Do be prepared that with any on spec bonding there is a risk of failure which could mean you don’t get two pairs out of it and instead you still have some single pigs remaining.
How old are all the pigs?
First, you need to decide if you are going to quarantine. We recommend any pig who is over four months of age who do not come from a reputable rescue centre is quarantined in a separate room for two weeks.
You cannot quarantine a baby who is under four months old. Their social needs come first so you need to bond them straight away.
Quarantine obviously helps to ensure you don’t expose all pigs to a transmissible illness (except the baby - you have to accept that you may end up passing something on between a baby and the adult you need to bond it with).
After quarantine if you do it, or straight away if you aren’t going to quarantine - the first thing is to put all pigs in separate but side by side cages (again, except a baby under four months old who needs to be bonded much sooner), for at least a few days/week but could be as long as a few weeks before you try to bond. This allows them all settle and calm down. Trying to bond anyone when they are scared and unsure of surroundings is likely to result in an overreaction and territorial behaviour and this may lead to hostility in bonding.
1 Introduction
2 Pre-bonding
- Quarantine and sexing
- The need for a plan B
- The rule-breaker: Youngsters under 4 months (sub-teenage)
3 Setting up an introduction
- Getting to know each other
- ‘Buddy baths’ – why not
- Scent swapping - why not
- Setting up a neutral bonding area
- How to start the bonding
4 Acceptance phase: Do we like...
