Should I put these two boars together?

[Alicia]

I have 3 boars and 2 sows, the sows live happily but the 2 boars (Roy, Billy & Barry) all live seperately. Roy used to live with a boar named Charlie who died last November so he's been alone ever since. With Roy being alone I've noticed he's more friendly towards me and spends more time in his run now. Billy and Barry used to live together but they kept fighting and Billy kind of refuses company from any boar I've put him with so far. But I think Barry would quite like some company and I was considering putting him with Roy. Roy is 6 and Barry is about 3 (I think) would this be a bad idea? Neither of them are too dominant, they both got a bit bullied by Billy. I hate to think of them sitting alone all day while I'm at school but I'm worried they'll fight when I'm not around to stop them. What do you think, should I put them together? I can give them a bath together and clean out the hutch thoroughly, what else can I do?

 

[Piggiewinkles]

Hi,

I've only introduced young boars so i'm not sure if yours being older will make it harder. However when you introduce they have to be on neutral ground where neither of them has been (I chose the bathroom floor), and I put down a bit plate of veg and hay for them to bond over. There's a good thread on here about boar behaviour that I found very useful as what you think could be aggressive behaviour is just them working out who is the more dominant. Have a read through that because it's best to leave them to it and not interfere (unless they really do start fighting and there is blood). Make sure if you do introduce them you have plenty of time to monitor them, also 2 of everything helps (bowls, water bottles, hidey holes etc). When I introduced my 2 they were constantly mounting and chasing each other and I was considering pulling them apart, but when you do that and attempt to re-introduce it's like them meeting for the first time again so you have to go through the whole process. Hope that helps

 

[Wiebke]

I would start slowly with keeping them next to each other, where they can interact through the mesh and do that for a few weeks. You will get a good idea whether they have a chance at getting on; taking it VERY slowly often works better with adults.

If you have a lawn, you could then start by putting them together in the run and take it from there. They may be happy to share run time, but still prefer to have their own home territory.

 

[Alicia]

Thank you, they've already met through mesh because their hutches are opposite each other and when one of them goes in the run they go up to the other one and wheek through the mesh.