Two Females Fighting I’m Heartbroken!

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SpringingJ

New Born Pup
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Ok so I have had one female for about 8 months and a month ago got another young female for her. Fina is about 9 months old and Phoebe is about 3 months. I introduced the correctly on neutral grounds a few times before housing they together. Fina immediately established herself as the dominant one and Phoebe was very submissive. They have been housed together for about 3 weeks with no incedents. Fina would do lots of rumble strutting a few times daily and maybe every once and a while kick Pheobe out of a house she wanted. There was no head to heads or mounting only on the initial indtorductions but nothing after that.

All of a sudden last night I Fina starts her rimblestrutting around Phoebe but then tries to nip her.. Phoebe being submissive as always tries to run away and this is where it turned. Fina starts chasing her and not playful whatsoever but at warp speeds while trying to nip her the entire time. Phoebe stayed submissive running, squeaking and doing whatever she could to tell Fina she’s NOT challenging her.

Now I know unless it’s bloodshed and actual fighting it’s important to let them work it out but Fina just would not stop! I watched them for 3 hours to make sure it didn’t escalate further because of course I don’t want either to get hurt. After a few hours and also being 3 am I moved Phoebe to an extra house I have.

Needles to say after trying to reintroduce this morning the same behavior happened. Again I tried to let them work it out but it’s been happening ALL day and I can’t watch Phoebe get bullied anymore. I put in a cafe divider so they are not fully separate but the extreme chasing stops. I am heartbroken.

I know the dominance is continually established. I don’t know why it got to this level all of a sudden. Could it be Phoebes coming into her first heat? If so will this maybe only last a few days?

They have plenty of space - toys - houses with two exits - hay - kibble - lots of veggies.

I could be overreacting as a nervous Mom who wants her pigs to have companionship. Maybe just some time with a divider then clean the house and try again? Could Fina have a hormonal issue that’s causing her sudden bullying?

I tried to upload a 25 second video of the behavior but it’s too big.

Any advise or input is GREATLY appreciated!
 
Hi! Please wait a couple of days and try intros again. If you are lucky, it was just a hormone spike during a very strong season. If you are unlucky, it is the end of the road of the two. Sow fall-outs are much rarer than boar ones, but they do happen occasionally. :(

You may find the tips in these two guides here helpful:
Sow Behaviour
Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
 
Thank you so much for replying! I’m really hoping I’m lucky and where Phoebe is much younger and should be getting her first heat that it is due to hormones. I have the divider in the C&C cage now.. I could also house them completely separate. Idk I think I’m going to keep them with divider so it’s not like a completely new introduction again.

So plan is to keep them divided for a couple days then I will completely clean out the house and put new hide outs in and keep my fingers crossed!

I would hate to keep them separate and where Fina is the aggressor and Pheebs is so sweet it I would hate for Pheebs to loose the companionship. But 3 pigs is just not feasible!
 
SpringingJ said:
Thank you so much for replying! I’m really hoping I’m lucky and where Phoebe is much younger and should be getting her first heat that it is due to hormones. I have the divider in the C&C cage now.. I could also house them completely separate. Idk I think I’m going to keep them with divider so it’s not like a completely new introduction again.

So plan is to keep them divided for a couple days then I will completely clean out the house and put new hide outs in and keep my fingers crossed!

I would hate to keep them separate and where Fina is the aggressor and Pheebs is so sweet it I would hate for Pheebs to loose the companionship. But 3 pigs is just not feasible!
Click to expand...

Please just keep the divider. All the best!

It would be very helpful for us if you please added your counry, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can help you more efficiently, especially if things don't go to plan. You can do that by clicking on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. this makes it appear with every post you make. Thank you.
 
Sounds like Fina might be in season! I remember when my Tonks and Drommy were babies and Tonks used to be such a cow to Drom during her seasons, chasing her and nipping at her. Now they're in a herd it's ironic that Drom is above Tonks in the hierarchy and sometimes picks on her like some kind of revenge :))

It would be worth trying to reintroduce them in a day or two. What size C&C cage have you got? Sometimes extending it can also help calm the situation too :)

I also give a bit of dried camomile flowers that I got from the Hay Experts online during strong seasons and I swear it helps!
 
UPDATE!

Just thought I would give an update... I kept the girls separate for a few days with the cage divider in. First day or two was fine but on the third day they both were biting at and digging at the divider like little beasts. I was worried they were going to break a tooth!

I then tried them together again and prayed things would go well. A day later and all is fine! :hug:

At first Fina was rumble strutting Phoebe would then groom her and use that to start a mount BUT Phoebe was not having it and this time had no problem telling her to get off. Fina would listen and just back off! There was none of that wild chasing and nipping at all!

I am SO happy I was beyond upset when I thought that was the end of the road for them. I guess we’ll see in a couple of week if it’s just related to their heats. If so I’m fine separating them for a few days that’s MUCH better than separating for life.

Thanks to all to replying to a nervous piggy Mom. I just want my girls happy and to have the companionship I know they need. I couldn’t be happier they are back to popping together! :yahoo:
 
I'm glad they're back together again! You don't have to separate them when they have their seasons, it may get a little rough during strong seasons but they're perfectly fine :)
 
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