Should I Separate My Pigs For A Bit?

[Skunks_n.bees]

Hi, so I have 2 sows (they’re sisters of the same age— they both turned 1 today). They’ve been fighting more often recently, and I’m trying to figure out if I should separate them for a few days (maybe a week if necessary).

Details:
I often hear them just having verbal arguments, but for the past week or 2 I’ve been hearing more physical fights. They don’t have any injuries except one of them having a very shallow scratch on her ear. Sometimes I’ll hear and/or see one of them getting cornered & hitting the side of the cage a lot. They’ll also chase each other around or boot each other out of hiding spaces. They also have standoffs rather often where they stare at each other real close and make noises until one of them backs off or makes a move. And then they tend to make weird noises after or during a fight. Ones I can’t really describe but also don’t know the meaning of. Recently one of them was whining (without any visible wounds) so I assumed she just got pushed a little too hard or something.

I have noticed that the typically more submissive pig has been trying to be more dominant lately, so I would assume that’s the issue. Even right now they’re chasing each other & making noises

I was just wondering if I should let them sort it out or if I should separate them for a bit. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Skunks_n.bees]

Btw, whenever I take the more submissive piggie out of the cage, the dominant one starts popcorning and gets the zoomies. I don’t know if that helps at all lol

 

[Piggies&buns]

How big is their cage?
Do all hides have two exits?

A temporary separation is the way to determine whether a bond is functioning or not.
Separate them (keeping them in separate cages but side by side) a few days and then reintroduce on neutral territory. Their opinions should become clear quite quickly upon reintroduction.

Bonds In Trouble

I should note that any physical fights are never good and are usually grounds for confirming a bond is over without the need to temporarily separate ie go straight to permanent separation. However, many people use the word fight but mean a disagreement rather than an actual rolling around physical .

 

[Skunks_n.bees]

How big is their cage?
Do all hides have two exits?

A temporary separation is the way to determine whether a bond is functioning or not.
Separate them (keeping them in separate cages but side by side) a few days and then reintroduce on neutral territory. Their opinions should become clear quite quickly upon reintroduction.

Bonds In Trouble

I should note that any physical fights are never good and are usually grounds for confirming a bond is over without the need to temporarily separate ie go straight to permanent separation. However, many people use the word fight but mean a disagreement rather than an actual rolling around physical .

Ty! They have the minimum cage size requirement for 2 females (I don’t remember the exact dimensions but it was something like 5ft x 2.5ft) since I don’t have a lot of space in my room. Only one hide they have has 1 exit, but the other 2 are like corner hideouts with one big exit spot that could fit 2 or 3 pigs through it at once. I’ll try to do the temporary separation & reintroduction with them just to see how it goes.

 

[Piggies&buns]

The cage size is fine and is bigger than minimum if it’s 5ft x 2ft. That is an ideal size.

Hides should always have two exits - being trapped in a hide by the dominant piggy is a big source of issues so there always needs to be two exits. One big exit isn’t enough.