Teenage piggy alert need help

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ASTRID

ASTRID

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi,
My guinea pig Bakewell gave birth to three baby's one of which i kept (pancake) she's great but mum is getting tired of being mum little fights are breaking out no blood broken just chattering teeth and a whole load of stampede and eking doesn't help my friends pigs are staying and don't seem to get on only with my pigs for 5 mins as a social bond session she gets on well with her mum most of the time just happens little and often do say if my pigs should stop seeing other pigs they never bite they walk on your lap when they want to be stroked the go nuts when they here me come up the stairs nuts is a little bit of a understatement very social and the best set of pigs i have ever had so it did come as a bit of a shock! x Here's a picture of my pancake she is the cutest pig do have a look
vzcy7q.jpg

Astrid x
 
She is beautifuli wouldn.t have piggies together on and off.Try mum and baby on their own and only seperate if blood drawn .If blood is drawn seperate permanantly and get each a friend if you have the space and the time
 
I agree. It could be that having them all mixing on and off could be causing stress. I would just keep mum and baby together and see if they settle down. :)
 
Yeah bakewell grow up with Marzipan they get along fine its just mum and daughter thanks i will try and call off visits from now on x
 
What you are witnessing is simply normal dominance behaviour. Either leave them together so that mum can organise the hierarchy and they can settle down once every piggy knows their place or keep them strictly separated into two groups. Please don't mess them around!

Young sows are very firmly put into place at the bottom of the hierarchy after the end of the weaning phase. Mummy is often making it very clear to her daughters that she is no longer mummy, but a higher ranked lady due the appropriate respect. The underpiggies will scream surprise, protest and submission quite dramatically; but they are actually not hurt. The loud screaming is more of a "why are you nasty to me?" / "don't be nasty to me" reaction. Piggies just let another piggy feel the teeth to drive a point home, but they don't bite when exerting dominance.

Piggies very much identify themselves via their group and a rank within that group - they are either part of it (and then you have to sit out the dominance without interfering, as much as it looks like bullying to us; unlike us humans, piggies have an instinctive understanding of what is going on), or you have to separate them into their own new group/pair and let them settle in that. If you every want them to merge again afterwards, you will have to do formal intros on neutral ground, as laid out by our introduction thread.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?38561-Sow-behaviour
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...FAQ-Introducing-and-reintroducing-guinea-pigs
 
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Thanks good way of putting it just very close to my pigs and upsets me to see them upset x
 
I have taken your advice and help off any visits and it seems to be working Thank You for anyone's input
Astrid x
 
Hi there we 4 weeks ago rescued four pigs. Two older and two younger. One younger one (mocha) is considerably bigger than her sister latte. Mocha is continuously chasing latte away from anything and everything including food and water ( we have always had 2 bowls and 2 bottles) latte mostly does her own thing but is constantly harassed by bully mocha. It's so heartbreaking to watch as all four are rarely together.
I phoned the pig rescue center and she says not to seperate them, but how long will this behaviour last? It's already been 4 weeks and lattes ears are chewed to bits :-( very sad owner
 
Maple syrup said:
Hi there we 4 weeks ago rescued four pigs. Two older and two younger. One younger one (mocha) is considerably bigger than her sister latte. Mocha is continuously chasing latte away from anything and everything including food and water ( we have always had 2 bowls and 2 bottles) latte mostly does her own thing but is constantly harassed by bully mocha. It's so heartbreaking to watch as all four are rarely together.
I phoned the pig rescue center and she says not to seperate them, but how long will this behaviour last? It's already been 4 weeks and lattes ears are chewed to bits :-( very sad owner
Click to expand...

Hi! I agree with you that this is getting a bit excessive after four weeks of bonding. Sows can indeed bully others, as can boars. Am I right to assume that all four sows of yours are currently living together? Were they bonded by the rescue you have rehomed them from or did you rehome them as two unbonded pairs (and what rescue is that, btw?).

Please weigh Latte regularly to make sure that she is OK and growing as she should. In your case, it may be better in the long term to split your group into two pairs; one older with one younger each each, preferably the two more dominant sows (Mocha and the older top sow) and Latte with the older undersow. Sadly, sows not always work out in a pair or a group - and that irrespective of the fact of them being sisters or not!
They don't tend to have bloody fights they way hormonal boars can get into, but that doesn't mean that always all goes well - far from it! You may find that Latte will thrive when she is away from her sister and that your four sows are much happier as two pairs.

If you wish, you can run a trial separation for a day or two and see how that goes; that short period will not break the group bond. There will be some dominance as the new hierarchies need to be established, but you should be able to observe whether the mood and the interaction is much more peaceful and relaxed overall. Please make sure that all sows have their own food bowl and if necessary, feed Latte away from the others.

PS: You can start your own thread when you go to the relevant section like behaviour and bonding and click on the "post new thread" button on the top right. ;)
 
You can use my thread if you want I'm not fussed :) I hope your guys settle down like mine did :)
 
How long did it take your pigs to settle astrid? Ps apologies to using your thread I'm new to this and finding it difficult to navigate x
 
No no don't worry :) well with help from the forum all I had to do is wait for the little sows to grow up and stick up for them self's (pancake) here's a PIC it took until she was about 3-5 months
2ia4lsj.jpg
 
The dominance phase in group introductions takes about 2 weeks on average in my own experience. Ideally, it can take just a few days and be minimal, but it can also take noticeably longer if a piggy is struggling to settle down.
 
Thankyou astrid, I think doing what I can and riding out the storm until maturity sounds like a plan, when the weather gets warm at night they will be outside and in more space. As an already established heard the bullying is a great shame and not what I expected. I'm amazed how much I've had to learn about the pigs in the last 4 weeks :-)
 
if one of thems ears is chewed up i would seperate them. I have a group of 4 and a group of 6 as i have a dominant sow in each group that will not accept other adult sows.Maybe I'm just a coward. My two dominant sows went for each other within five minutes full on fight but luckily i was there to stop them. Have tried adults with one of them when she lost her friend and wouldnt even have the quiet one in the cage, kept going after her.She has accepted babies. The other one was in a pair when i got her so introduced two babies to them and they are fine. Luckily both dominant sows are the biggest in the groups so dont get challenged.
 
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