They Will Never Be A Quad :(

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kerry

kerry

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The new pigs have been quarantined and given a full good health check from the vet so I decided to introduce them to the other two.

I cleaned both cages out throughly and used the pet disinfect spray, took out all the toys and put new bedding and paper and completely new food and hay in each cage.

I then took the division out of the middle. (I have a 7 foot run with a 6x4 cage at each end of the adjoining run, so the run is in the middle). I then put all 4 pigs in the middle with some veggies.

They ate the veggies and they all run into one of the cages. This is where the chattering started and the dominant ones of each pair gave each other head buts. Neither of them bit but they chased each other around trying to fight. I separated them with a tea towel when one was backed into a corner. Maybe I shouldnt have done this.

I separated the pairs and put them back on each respective side with the division in the middle again.

Both pairs are now napping in their own cages.

I dont know how much is too much bullying. I know they need to sort it out amongst themselves but I cant bare to watch them hurt each other when they are both happy in their own pairs.

They both have seperate cages with a 4.5ft adjoining run so they do not actually need to be out together, I just thought they would be happier having more friends each.

Shall I call it quits or start again on another day? I know the sticky says that they need to sort it out in one day but maybe today wasnt a good day because I wasn't feeling brave. No blood was drawn, no mating antics, no fur went flying. Maybe if I wasnt such a wimp they would have been fine after a while.

:(
 
It just sounds like normal behaviour to me. That is how they establish a hierarchy. I would have left them to it myself. You can try again another day if you like.
 
I take it they are sows and not boars? Sow bonding is different to boar bonding and it is ok to seperate them and try again the next day. It may take several meetings. Last year I bonded a pair of sows in with a group of sows, on their first meeting everyone started flying around and teeth chattering and I had to seperate them quickly. I tried again in a couple of days fully expecting it to be the begining of a long process but everyone just mooched about like they had always lived together! They had obviously sorted out a lot more in their previous encounter than I had realised but had I left them together that first time there would have been some serious damage done as everyone was way too wound up.
 
Pound Shilling & Pig said:
I take it they are sows and not boars? Sow bonding is different to boar bonding and it is ok to seperate them and try again the next day. It may take several meetings. Last year I bonded a pair of sows in with a group of sows, on their first meeting everyone started flying around and teeth chattering and I had to seperate them quickly. I tried again in a couple of days fully expecting it to be the begining of a long process but everyone just mooched about like they had always lived together! They had obviously sorted out a lot more in their previous encounter than I had realised but had I left them together that first time there would have been some serious damage done as everyone was way too wound up.
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This makes me feel better. The new two had only been back from the vet for half an hour so they were probably not too happy about that. I didnt want any injuries. Maybe ill try on another day early in the morning when they are not tired or stressed x
 
piggyfan said:
It just sounds like normal behaviour to me. That is how they establish a hierarchy. I would have left them to it myself. You can try again another day if you like.
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Okay I will try again another day. I'm over protective I guess, I dont want any of them hurt but it looks worse than it probably is
 
kerry said:
This makes me feel better. The new two had only been back from the vet for half an hour so they were probably not too happy about that. I didnt want any injuries. Maybe ill try on another day early in the morning when they are not tired or stressed x
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Yes they are all female and around the same age, 1 and a half to 2 years
 
Best of luck I'm trying to re-bond my trio that fell out after one had an op :( Maybe they don't like vet smells? I am going to bath them all tomorrow & re-try on neutral ground & hope they remember that a week ago they were all friends! :)
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Best of luck I'm trying to re-bond my trio that fell out after one had an op :( Maybe they don't like vet smells? I am going to bath them all tomorrow & re-try on neutral ground & hope they remember that a week ago they were all friends! :)
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Oh bless, I hope it works out for you :). I might have to bathe them all and put them somewhere different and hope it works. There is a dominant one in each pair and its those two clashing which is sad because the two underdogs get on well together x
 
I don't know if it's a good sign but Mumma pig is lying down next to where Ziggy is lying the other side of the partition :) I hope it is :)
 
It does sound a bit like normal dominance behaviour but it can be very worrying for us looking on. I think you could try again another day when they are less stressed but it is possible that you may need to keep them as pairs.
 
Hi I found your thread interesting as I too am trying to bond 4 girls. One of my older girls is particularly peeved at the two new comers and it took nearly 5 hours of teeth chattering (you'd have thought I had a bag of rattlesnakes!) and charging before the four of them socialised nicely! I sat with them and the only involvement I had was to use a dustpan to seperate when things got hairy, blocking then gradually raising it again so big pig could see them again. I did this on my sofa where they didn't have an awful lot of room to wander off and forget the New piggies were there! The journey is continuing as bigger piggy still isn't complete convinced yet but each day seems a bit better! It was certainly the most interesting 5 hours watching the submissive/dominance dance! My tip…always have your dust pan! I hope your piggies are all firm friends now and hopefully mine will be too soon! :o)
 
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