To bond or leave as neighbours?

[leight17]

Hi

We unfortunately lost one of our elderly sows 2 days ago. We have been left with a single sow approx 2 years old and 2 bonded sows (in separate cages). I have tried to bond a single older sow with the bonded sows 2 years ago with and it didn't end well (hence having 2 sets of 2 in separate cages!). My question is, is it worth trying again with the new younger sow, or would they be happy living next door with a c&c wall separating them? They are currently next door with access through the bars, but I have read a lot of information on here regarding bonding and worry that trying to make a trio would be too tricky and may ruin the calm relationship they currently have through the bars. We are also going on holiday in 1 week so don't want to do anything yet without full reassurance they would be ok whilst we are away, but didn't know if a neighbourly relationship is enough for the single sow? Lots of thoughts spinning around my head as you can probably tell! Any advice greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

We unfortunately lost one of our elderly sows 2 days ago. We have been left with a single sow approx 2 years old and 2 bonded sows (in separate cages). I have tried to bond a single older sow with the bonded sows 2 years ago with and it didn't end well (hence having 2 sets of 2 in separate cages!). My question is, is it worth trying again with the new younger sow, or would they be happy living next door with a c&c wall separating them? They are currently next door with access through the bars, but I have read a lot of information on here regarding bonding and worry that trying to make a trio would be too tricky and may ruin the calm relationship they currently have through the bars. We are also going on holiday in 1 week so don't want to do anything yet without full reassurance they would be ok whilst we are away, but didn't know if a neighbourly relationship is enough for the single sow? Lots of thoughts spinning around my head as you can probably tell! Any advice greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hi and welcome

I would recommend to leave your girls as they are, especially for your holidays. You can try a meeting on neutral ground after your return and abort as soon as you notice things starting to head in the wrong direction.

Quite a few of my own 'sow testers' have lasted all of 5-10 minutes when it became obvious that acceptance and a peaceful leadership sort-out would never happen. With some rather fear-aggressive sow pairs even a submissive neutered boar would not work.

 

[leight17]

Hi and welcome

I would recommend to leave your girls as they are, especially for your holidays. You can try a meeting on neutral ground after your return and abort as soon as you notice things starting to head in the wrong direction.

Quite a few of my own 'sow testers' have lasted all of 5-10 minutes when it became obvious that acceptance and a peaceful leadership sort-out would never happen. With some rather fear-aggressive sow pairs even a submissive neutered boar would not work.

That is great thank you!

 

[Wiebke]

That is great thank you!

If you feel that you would like to stage a tester, then the trick is to abort before things can escalate. It is easier with experience to spot the early signs and key behaviours but you should notice soon enough.