Stroppy Sow Phase?

[Little Piggles]

Okay, so the title doesn't really make much sense but I couldn't think of what else to call it!

I have a group of four girls and one neutered boar. I have only ever added baby girls to my group but wondered what your experiences were of adding an older girl into an established herd?

Pippa is my dominant girl and she is the oldest (with Willow) at almost two and a half. My younger girls are 18 months old and 6 months. My herd is pretty harmonious and Pippa is generally very chilled out and doesn't cause a fuss or throw her weight around until she has to. I've only seen her get really stroppy (lots of teeth chattering and bits of hair lost) when Boris first arrived and then she later threw her weight around (chasing) when Marmite, who was about 15 weeks old or so at the time, was added.

I guess I'm just curious if she'd accept an older lady. I know it all depends on character and how Pippa is feeling on the day but wondered if girls have a particular stroppy phase like boys do? Or if adding a girl of a particular age would be more difficult than another?

This is all just what-ifs at the moment. Although I have fallen in love with a needy pair, Simon had said NO this time. And we would need a new hutch anyway if we were to expand so I can't sneak them in

 

[Niki]

I too have always added baby sows until last year when i tried Weeble, a 3yr old sow who has neurological problems & who i was told did not like other pigs.

First i bonded her to a neutered boar & all was well but when the boar of the herd passed i thought i'd try Weeble & her boar with the 5 girls.

Not a great start Weeble flew down the hutch like a maniac flying at anyone she could. They looked at her startled & no-one retaliated.

I re-introduced them all in my run which is approx 18ft x 14 ft & still she would fly at anyone who came within 2 feet of her but i persevered & over a period of about 3wks she came to accept that the others were no threat & that was that. She is still a part of a herd.

The only time i would say sows can be stroppier is when they are in season, Lyric (RIP) was the head sow & she caused mayhem every time she was in season with her chasing, nipping & mounting & she wasn't bothered whether she mounted sow or neutered boar.

 

[ghostbusterbunny]

I started with two yearling girls and here's what I added to get the 7-strong herd I currently have:

1: Added 1 6(ish)month old girl from P@H - she was later removed for being a little horror. Turned out she wasn't a sows-sow, so she now has a husboar.
2: Added 2 babies, one 6 week and one 8/9 week old. Slipped in with no issues at all.
3: Willow and Izzy came home, both around the one year old mark. Slipped in no problems, neither are particularly dominant sows and were happy to let Munchie, one of the original girls, be the boss.
4: Final addition to date was Bean, she's approximately 3, again she slipped in no problems but she will dominate the younger ones and Izzy when she feels like it. On the whole though she's in the middle of the order.

I've had no problems, but I do have very accepting sows. Munchie is quite clearly the boss and whilst she's not the stressy type, she definitely makes herself quite heard and seen when she rumbles around the hutch in the "I'm boss" way she does. With my girls, as long as any additions weren't known to be very dominant, I could easily add sows of any age to their group and they'd be taken in.

I find if anything its the younger sows that have the stressy periods; especially teenage pigs! My older sows don't tend to get piggy PMS, or if they do, I never notice it! Bean is the exception, but she has "big-pig complex"; she's small, and I think she may have been bossed around by her old cage-mate before we got her, so I think she thinks she has to be dominant to get what she wants, not realising that the others really couldn't give two figs and that there's plenty of food and hay/veggies to go around. Bless her.

At the end of the day it depends on what type of sows you have now. If you have a grumpy one, then babies are a safer bet because they pose no threat to her dominance. Otherwise, dating would be the way to go and finding more submissive pigs to appease her! You need pigs that don't, or won't threaten her position as top-pig.

 

[Little Piggles]

Thanks for your experience guys

Pippa's pretty chilled and I think she would take to an older girl as long as she was no threat to her position at the top.

I guess I've just got to not let my heart rule my head. If and when we were to adopt (still a no at the moment ) I think my best bet is to take Pippa and Boris along to the rescue and see what they think. The other girls seem quite happy to fall in line behind these two

Thanks again xx>>>