Urgent help please! Quick response appreciated!

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JoBo

JoBo

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I am just introducing her girl BB to my existing herd and all she is doing is intimidating all the other pigs and chasing them around, even tried to mount one of them.
All my pigs seem rather intimidated by this and have run up the ramp to the top of the hutch to hide. The ones that hace stood up to BB have lost and my boy Swizzles is just as scared as the girls.

What should i do?
Should i remove her and try again in a day or so, or should i leave her in there and keep a close eye thisafternoon.

I hate it that it is upsetting my girls and Swizzles and dont want this for them, so please let me know what i should do, i have never had any problems like this before and BB is only about 7-8 months old.

Quick responses please 8...
 
are they in the outdoor hutch/run? would it be worth trying them in a neutral space on the grass, so they're less likely to run upstairs, so sort out their differences quickly?
 
I don't know if I can help you, but I had lots of issues with Archie when I was introducing him. The girls didn't appreciate his advances at all and there was lots of chattering and aggressive behaviour, but I persevered and now they can't be without each other. I would suggest just keeping an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get too aggressive. She's possibly just trying to test where she fits into the hierarchy. To be honest though, I don't have any experience with bonding other than Archie so I don't know if this is the right thing to do or not. Sorry if this is really unhelpful lol.
 
Thanks Helen all the runs are taken up by other pigs
 
Shellza said:
I don't know if I can help you, but I had lots of issues with Archie when I was introducing him. The girls didn't appreciate his advances at all and there was lots of chattering and aggressive behaviour, but I persevered and now they can't be without each other. I would suggest just keeping an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get too aggressive. She's possibly just trying to test where she fits into the hierarchy. To be honest though, I don't have any experience with bonding other than Archie so I don't know if this is the right thing to do or not. Sorry if this is really unhelpful lol.
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I do think it is a hierachy thing but don't know if I can leave them as I don't want any to get hurt and I am working a long day tomorrow xx
 
You need to do introductions on completely neutral territory. BB has been plonked in the space of other piggies so will feel very uneasy and assert authority.
Finad a large space and put hideys and food in, i did my introduction in the hall where the pigs dont play. Watch closely and be ready with a towel in case a fight breaks out. Expect humping and squealing and chasing, it looks horrible to us but it their way of communicating and sorting out the heirachy.
If it works and you decide to out them all together in the house, you need to scrub it clean (use white wine vinegar to neutralise smells) and re arrange it to make it 'new'.
 
When I introduced Sophie she was very aggressive. I bathed them all together and then she was fine. You may like to try that.
 
hellsbells82 said:
do you want me to drop mine round, it's not really big, but maybe you could introduce them a few at a time?
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I've got one of these [ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/rabbit-animals-Galvanized-Outdoor-Playpen/dp/B00178HJGM[/ame] it's not a great size but you could put it against a wall/fence to make it bigger, can drop it round in about 10 mins if you like?
 
Thanks for the offer but its just as easy for me to put my other pigs away, most of the herd are back downstairs and they are all sleeping in the hay and BB is leaving them alone at the month, they can't be too stressed if they are sleeping, just typical that I have a total wimp of a boar that can't sort it out, I do think that BB will win her top dog place, its strange cause she was residing with a group of girls when I got her, it must just be a dominance thing surely
 
aww bless them, hopefully things will settle down, she's probably just a bit defensive at being somewhere new with so many unfamiliar faces
 
Shellza said:
I don't know if I can help you, but I had lots of issues with Archie when I was introducing him. The girls didn't appreciate his advances at all and there was lots of chattering and aggressive behaviour, but I persevered and now they can't be without each other. I would suggest just keeping an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get too aggressive. She's possibly just trying to test where she fits into the hierarchy. To be honest though, I don't have any experience with bonding other than Archie so I don't know if this is the right thing to do or not. Sorry if this is really unhelpful lol.
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hellsbells82 said:
aww bless them, hopefully things will settle down, she's probably just a bit defensive at being somewhere new with so many unfamiliar faces
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Yeah maybe but do you think I should bring BB back in tonight?
 
When I had my problems with Tegyd, I started her off on neutral ground on the lawn (new gorund) and then slowly added one piggy after another as she could cope. I started with the least aggressive ones and then went slowly up the ladder. Before, I had her in a cage top next to the big run; then in the cage top IN the big run, so she could slowly get used to so many piggies swirling around her.

However, it never worked completely out with her; the only two piggies she got really on with were Taffy and Hywel. So now she lives with Taffy and my new submissive (neutered) boar Terfel. Compared to the other bonding, this later one has all the ease of a perfect bonding, so I know that I am doing the right thing.

Best of luck with your girl! Take it slowly, but when you have her with the others, try to keep her with them for as long as possible, so they can really work through the relationship stuff. Take her out whenever the tension mounts too much with the group as a whole.
 
Thanks Wiebke, I am doing this from my phone whilst sitting out with the herd so sorry about the mess up with the multi quotes, at the moment they are all sleeping and chilling and BB is tucked up in the hay somewhere and leaving them alone for now, is this a good sign that at the moment they are all relaxed?
 
Well they are now all out in the run and BB has been throwing her weight around a bit and all of my herd including the male have all been running away, so I think BB may well be top dog quite quickly, my smallest pig Jewel did initially stand up to her and now has a tiny nick on her ear, but I always struggled to work out the hirachy in my herd, I now think there was not much of one, I think maybe Swizzles should man up cause he has 4 more ladies coming his way soon lol xx
 
JoBo said:
Well they are now all out in the run and BB has been throwing her weight around a bit and all of my herd including the male have all been running away, so I think BB may well be top dog quite quickly, my smallest pig Jewel did initially stand up to her and now has a tiny nick on her ear, but I always struggled to work out the hirachy in my herd, I now think there was not much of one, I think maybe Swizzles should man up cause he has 4 more ladies coming his way soon lol xx
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4 more? I'm losing track Jobo, who are the next four? poor Swizzles sounds very henpecked bless him, hopefully he'll eventually assert himself with BB, that's what happens when you introduce Northern girls :)
 
lol, the 4 other girls are baby Bramley who i should have got from Leeds but she was sick so i am going back for her, the other 3 are the 3 rescue girls that i got a few months ago and are living in the double huch until the shed is ready xx
 
I have bonded sows and I found that this behaviour settled down within two days, worth pressing on with it they usually settle:)
 
If there are no real bites and fights, I would try to see how far you can get with your lot. Just throwing the weight around is OK. Make sure that you feed in several places so Madam has limits as to how much weight she can throw around.

Best of luck! It doesn't sound like an easy one! I knew why I wanted a macho like Hywel, but even he has been on quite a learning curve lately!
 
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JoBo said:
lol, the 4 other girls are baby Bramley who i should have got from Leeds but she was sick so i am going back for her, the other 3 are the 3 rescue girls that i got a few months ago and are living in the double huch until the shed is ready xx
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ahh I remember- I forgot you actually have three lots of piggies at the mo!
 
Neutral territory is always the best place to bond guinea pigs on as neither will feel on charge. There should be plenty of food as guinea pigs associate things with each other ie, food would be with the arrival of a new guinea pig.

As long as there have been no full blown battles of blood drawn, you should not seperate them as consistent changes of environment can be stressful and confusing, causing aggression.

Vanilla essence is said to be calming and helpful in bonding and having tried it with my own, it is! Just dab a small amount onto each of the noses. It will help them all smell the same and it has a relaxing smell.

I know this sounds terrible but loud noises are also helpful, for example, the noise of pressure hose will scare them a little and they will learn to get through stressful times togethher as a team.

Best of luck, and hope this helps. :)
 
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