Question About Dominance

[Celliott215]

I recently rescued a 1 year old sow. I already have 2 4 month old sows. I took them to neutral ground with lots of veggies and hay. I let them meet for the first time. They did normal dominance acts like rumble strut, sniffing, an nose raising. The one thing I am skeptical about is during all of this, the dominant pig out of the 2 I already(Popcorn) had would be doing these acts with the new pig(s'mores) but they would get into a standstill, and my new pig would jump at her and it looks like they're fighting in circles for about a second or 2 but there's no blood or hair/skin loss. After they do that popcorn would chatter her teeth rapidly and sometimes they'd do it again and sometimes they'd do something else. Should I let them keep doing that or is that a sign to throw. Towel over them and break it up?

 

[Dindypig]

It sounds like normal dominance behavior. Are they all together now? It can be disadvantageous to keep putting them together and taking them apart. Floor time would help too.

 

[Wiebke]

It sounds like they have a serious issue over who comes top pig. I would only leave them together when you are there to keep a good eye on them (they will still need some hours in one go to be able to work through the dominance issues). If the high aggressions signals don't die down (you may find that there is some heavy chasing once one girl has come out on top), I would rather consider finding your rescue sow a friend of her own.

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[Celliott215]

I have the the 2 in a seperate cage than the rescued pig which are right next each other. That was their first time meeting and am not sure if I should put her in their cage due to territory issues. I am definitely preparing just in case they do not get along

 

[Wiebke]

I have the the 2 in a seperate cage than the rescued pig which are right next each other. That was their first time meeting and am not sure if I should put her in their cage due to territory issues. I am definitely preparing just in case they do not get along

Hold any meetings on neutral ground until the dominance issue is settled, or you may end up with a real fight!