Trio and a lone boar

[Birdpainter]

Hi guys
I've currently got a trio of baby boars (6months old) and a older lone boar (2 years old)
All home rescues
Is it worth trying to bond one of the babies to freddie the lone boar
I'm worried about so many things
Breaking the trios bond
The new bond not working and them fighting
They currently live side by side in a c and c cage
Coco and freddie rumble strut next to each other a lot
Is this a good sign or bad sign?
Should I attempt to bond coco and Freddie
Or choose one of the other trio or just try to keep them as a trio and lone boar
I'm wanting to move them outside
I've got two 6ft hutches I could move them into
But don't know whether to just keep freddie alone?
Or alternatively boar date him at a rescue and have a trio and a bonded pair?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Unfortunately, the chances of the boar trio lasting long term are rather low. Most boar trios fail before adulthood as they find it so difficult to form a functioning hierarchy. You may be one of the lucky ones who can have a functioning hierarchy but planning for a failure is best. A boar trio needs a huge amount of space (around three square metres (one square metre per boar)/32 square feet total space) but even that won’t help them stay together. So moving the trio outside into a 6ft hutch will mean they don’t have anywhere near enough room (a 6ft hutch is big enough for a pair) - you are looking to need a 3 metre by 1 metre cage for them to have enough territory each (one square metre per boar). There are no commercial hutches big enough to give a boar trio the room they need.

Given you have four boars, then you could try bonding one of them with your lone boar to make two pairs. Boar pairs stand a much better chance of lasting than a trio does. You would need to work out which two of the youngsters get on best and Keep them together. The one who is removed you can try to bond with Freddie.
There is going to be a risk that Freddie and the baby don’t get on, but given the chances of the trio surviving together are very low, you are likely to end up needing to separate them and have multiple living arrangements anyway.

taking Freddie dating and finding him own new friend is an idea, but if, most likely when, the trio fails, you will then end up with two pairs and a single piggy. I would therefore consider trying one of the babies with freddie before taking on more piggies - unless you have the space for multiple piggies and cages?

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[Featheryfriend]

Don't forget to give some thought to what you will do if things don't work out neatly and you end up with say, a pair and two lone pigs, who would both benefit from perhaps going rescue dating. Then you potentially have four or even six pigs in three seperate hutches. If you don't have the room or desire for that many hutches and pigs, start considering now how you will ensure the future of each pig, should that happen.

Boar bonds sound so complicated, ha. I did split up a sow trio and make two pairs once. After observing them, I figured out who was the "third wheel" and bonded her with the lone pig.

I about drove myself nuts recently figuring out all the possible different ways to configure and divide and stack my cages depending on how my pigs decided to group up. Good luck and here's hoping your boys keep it simple for you.

 

[Freela]

Most boar trios fall out in adolescence, so pairing up a brother with your older boar is perhaps not a bad idea and could be more stable in the long run. I'll let someone with more boar experience step in, though... I have sows!