Single boar - lost his mate :(

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Sarah L R

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Morning,
Sadly we had Loki pts on Sunday which leaves Thor on his own - so far he is eating alright and is coming out for a fuss and run around plenty of times a day but of course, us humans are no replacement.
Just wanted advice on what to do - we do not know his age as they were rescues and we have had them 2 years so I am guessing they would be 4-5 years old?
We have a female herd of 7 who live outside (not neutered) nor is Thor and 3 rescue boys who live apart from the girls outside (they are neutered) - so we do have another 10 pigs but I am not sure what the best course of action is (or do we just wait and see how Thor copes)- all thoughts much appreciated?
 
I’m sorry for your loss.

So you have a herd of 7 sows.
A boar trio (you’re very lucky there!)
And Thor as a single

Does Thor live outside as well?
Is he alongside the boar trio?
Are you happy to get another piggy for him to be bonded back into a pair with?

Your option - I would urge extreme caution here - would be to split the boars and try to make two pairs.
The issue would be that if an attempt failed you may not get the original boars back together and you would then be left with more singles.
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m sorry for your loss.

So you have a herd of 7 sows.
A boar trio (you’re very lucky there!)
And Thor as a single

Does Thor live outside as well?
Is he alongside the boar trio?
Are you happy to get another piggy for him to be bonded back into a pair with?

Your option - I would urge extreme caution here - would be to split the boars and try to make two pairs.
The issue would be that if an attempt failed you may not get the original boars back together and you would then be left with more singles.
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Morning,

Thor has always lived inside with us, he is in the lounge so there is always a lot going on and he does have a lot of attention.
The trio (I know we are lucky - it seems to work now) I would be reluctant to split as they are all young and so we will be in this position again.
Ideally I do not want another pig - happy to cover the cost of 11 now but need to stop there!
And yes we have 7 sows - they are all not neutered and are a pretty chilled bunch of girls - some more nervous than others but they get on well together - I feel like Thor might be a pest with them and disrupt the harmony but of course am worried about him being lonely?
 
He is likely to get lonely being inside by himself.

You definitely don’t want to disrupt the boar trio though!
You can keep a single boar alongside bonded boars, but again there is the set up and temp fluctuations to consider

Being actually with the girls obviously won’t be an option if Thor is not neutered.
Neutering at his age isn’t unheard of but is obviously a massive thing to consider and not necessarily a risk you’d be prepared to take.

You could consider possibly moving him alongside the girls but it’s all going to depend on your set up, but even then there are considerable issues with that too:
- unless your outdoor space is heated to the same temp as indoors, he can’t be moved outside at this time of year anyway (earliest would be next May time)
- you would need to ensure he couldn’t escape and get in with them and thus cause a pregnancy.

Can of course fully appreciate the cost implications, but him being alone long term isn’t really a great prospect.
Fostering is the next thing, so that you then hand back the foster following Thor’s passing thereby ending the cycle. But, obviously that is then another pig to look after!
 
So sorry for your loss firstly but how lovely of you to immediately think about what is best for Thor a tricky one for sure it is of course your decision but he cannot be alone as you know in your heart. As mentioned neutering him is probably too risky but can I ask what the age of your trio boys are? 💙
 
CTWC said:
So sorry for your loss firstly but how lovely of you to immediately think about what is best for Thor a tricky one for sure it is of course your decision but he cannot be alone as you know in your heart. As mentioned neutering him is probably too risky but can I ask what the age of your trio boys are? 💙
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Thank you, I appreciate that - these little potatoes still get to you dont they - we do miss his little character!
The trio are 2 brothers - almost 1 year old and they are with their dad who is about 16 months - we took them after a call from the vets stating a lady had some 'mistake breedings' and needed some GP's taking from her as was overrun!! The trio did not settle initially and was a bit of trouble but they have now all found their pecking order and muddle along ok. They live outdoors.
I think Thor is probably too old for neutering, the trio are all done x
 
Moving a boar trio’s environment might destabilize them. They would go into two weeks of reestablishing their hierarchy and there is no guarantee that it wouldn’t cause problems to arise.
The much larger cage size which is needed for a boar trio is often very prohibitive in any event.

You have a few weeks to have a think about arrangements (they are usually ok on their own for around four weeks) so don’t feel you need to make any sudden changes.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Moving a boar trio’s environment might destabilize them. They would go into two weeks of reestablishing their hierarchy and there is no guarantee that it wouldn’t cause problems to arise.
The much larger cage size which is needed for a boar trio is often very prohibitive in any event.

You have a few weeks to have a think about arrangements (they are usually ok on their own for around four weeks) so don’t feel you need to make any sudden changes.
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The trio have taken a good while to settle, they came from a bit of a chaotic environment and we have now got them settled but we are always watching them to look for any signs of conflict but they do seem happy and settled now so an upheaval would not go down well I suspect.
Thor lives indoors as well so he cannot go out. I dont want to bring one of the girls in as they all get on so well - I do feel really stuck what to do and despite all the attention, I know we cannot replace Loki and want to make this as painless for Thor as possible!!
He is eating well, paying attention and taking notice of us - are you saying that will decline as time goes on, I assume the signs are lack of appetite etc - is that right?
 
Sarah L R said:
The trio have taken a good while to settle, they came from a bit of a chaotic environment and we have now got them settled but we are always watching them to look for any signs of conflict but they do seem happy and settled now so an upheaval would not go down well I suspect.
Thor lives indoors as well so he cannot go out. I dont want to bring one of the girls in as they all get on so well - I do feel really stuck what to do and despite all the attention, I know we cannot replace Loki and want to make this as painless for Thor as possible!
He is eating well, paying attention and taking notice of us - are you saying that will decline as time goes on, I assume the signs are lack of appetite etc - is that right?
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You can’t ever rely on seeing those signs present themselves as the definitive answer that they are now ‘officially’ lonely. This is because piggies tend to get on with life as they have it. It does not mean they aren’t feeling lonely though - a single piggy will feel lonely whether they ever show it or not and that is why leaving them long term single isn’t in their best interests. Generally speaking you have around 1-4 weeks to get a bereaved piggy a new friend.

Acute pining (stopping eating, depression etc) is actually rare but if it happens (once a medical issue has been ruled out) then getting a new friend becomes an immediate need.

Is your outdoor set up heated?
Is moving him to live beside the girls an option?
Is moving him to live beside the boys an option?
This obviously depends on what kind of outdoor setups you have.
As I say, having boars living side by side is not an issue (it’s only keeping bonded boars next to sows which causes problems) . I have a single boar living alongside a bonded pair that doesn’t cause any issues (a bit of dominance and territorial behaviours between the bars only) but you know your trio best and whether they might be bothered by it.
 
Piggies&buns said:
You can’t ever rely on seeing those signs present themselves as the definitive answer that they are now ‘officially’ lonely. This is because piggies tend to get on with life as they have it. It does not mean they aren’t feeling lonely though - a single piggy will feel lonely whether they ever show it or not and that is why leaving them long term single isn’t in their best interests. Generally speaking you have around 1-4 weeks to get a bereaved piggy a new friend.

Acute pining (stopping eating, depression etc) is actually rare but if it happens (once a medical issue has been ruled out) then getting a new friend becomes an immediate need.

Is your outdoor set up heated?
Is moving him to live beside the girls an option?
Is moving him to live beside the boys an option?
This obviously depends on what kind of outdoor setups you have.
As I say, having boars living side by side is not an issue (it’s only keeping bonded boars next to sows which causes problems) . I have a single boar living alongside a bonded pair that doesn’t cause any issues (a bit of dominance and territorial behaviours between the bars only) but you know your trio best and whether they might be bothered by it.
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The trio I think would not like to be near Thor and may then snipe at each other.
We could potentially make it so Thor lives near the girls without mixing but they are outdoors and he is indoors so I worry about that change for him too. He is currently in the garden nearby the girls (they are all in separate runs having a few hours of grass eating) and he is vocal when around them and they are not bothered.
I have looked into some rescues running a 'bonding service' but it looks like that means Thor going elsewhere for that to happen which would be easier as we do not have space indoors for that set up and tbh I do not want to risk that at ours and then end up with 2 single pairs - once we get a rescue, we work with them so need to make sure its right first as I could not return them!
Who would have thought this would be so complicated!!
1-4 weeks - after that is it not possible to bond them?

Thank you btw - much appreciated
 
Sarah L R said:
The trio I think would not like to be near Thor and may then snipe at each other.
We could potentially make it so Thor lives near the girls without mixing but they are outdoors and he is indoors so I worry about that change for him too. He is currently in the garden nearby the girls (they are all in separate runs having a few hours of grass eating) and he is vocal when around them and they are not bothered.
I have looked into some rescues running a 'bonding service' but it looks like that means Thor going elsewhere for that to happen which would be easier as we do not have space indoors for that set up and tbh I do not want to risk that at ours and then end up with 2 single pairs - once we get a rescue, we work with them so need to make sure its right first as I could not return them!
Who would have thought this would be so complicated!
1-4 weeks - after that is it not possible to bond them?

Thank you btw - much appreciated
Click to expand...

The 1-4 weeks is how long he can stand being alone ie you dont want him being alone for much longer than 4 weeks. Its nothing to do with bonding.

Moving him next to the girls might be an option but we would need to know much more about your set up to advise.

He can't be moved outside at this time of year though unless your set up is in a shed and fully heated and kept at the same temperature as in your house.
For him even being in a run on grass today is probably pushing it - the temperature fluctuation between inside and outside is now quite a lot. The guide for all piggies (including your girls) is you yourself need to be able to stand on the grass with bare feet for five minutes and not feel cold or damp for them to be out in a run. My pigs live outside in my shed and they havent been on the grass for a month due to it being too cold underfoot and now the daytime temps aren't great. They won't get lawn time again until around May.
 
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