Who's The Boss?

[Reenie]

This isn't urgent, I'm just interested. I have 3 boars, 2 are brothers about 18 wks old - Groucho, who's really quite big compared to Chicco, Then there's Little Dude, who is a few weeks younger. They were all born in the one herd, so they have been together all their lives.
My question is - who is boss? Groucho and Chicco had a bit of a tiff a few weeks ago, and Chicco seemed to come off as the boss, so I'm pretty sure it's not Groucho as he now seems to be the butt of any dominance behaviour from the other two. Chicco hardly ever just walks. He spends his days rumble strutting around, butt dragging and trying to have chin-offs with the other two, so I thought he was in charge, however Little Dude never backs down to him and sometimes even chases him away, but I've noticed that Little Dude is also nibbling Groucho's ear, and Groucho is happy to let him (I understood that to mean 'I'm happy to have you in my herd'). Chicco and Little Dude have the odd mini-lunge and squeal at each other, but all three happily sit side by side to eat and although Groucho does get shoved out of his spot, he never gets chased off, and they all steal food out of each other's mouths. So - who is boss? Chicco or Little Dude would you say?

 

[Wiebke]

This isn't urgent, I'm just interested. I have 3 boars, 2 are brothers about 18 wks old - Groucho, who's really quite big compared to Chicco, Then there's Little Dude, who is a few weeks younger. They were all born in the one herd, so they have been together all their lives.
My question is - who is boss? Groucho and Chicco had a bit of a tiff a few weeks ago, and Chicco seemed to come off as the boss, so I'm pretty sure it's not Groucho as he now seems to be the butt of any dominance behaviour from the other two. Chicco hardly ever just walks. He spends his days rumble strutting around, butt dragging and trying to have chin-offs with the other two, so I thought he was in charge, however Little Dude never backs down to him and sometimes even chases him away, but I've noticed that Little Dude is also nibbling Groucho's ear, and Groucho is happy to let him (I understood that to mean 'I'm happy to have you in my herd'). Chicco and Little Dude have the odd mini-lunge and squeal at each other, but all three happily sit side by side to eat and although Groucho does get shoved out of his spot, he never gets chased off, and they all steal food out of each other's mouths. So - who is boss? Chicco or Little Dude would you say?

I would say Little Dude - Chicco - Groucho from top to bottom, which Chicco hitting the teenage hormones earliest and challenging in Little Dude from time to time.
Mini lunges actually mean "stay away from" in fairly strong terms. They are not an aggressive behaviour, but a strong warning. It depends on whether the other piggy accepts that a line has been drawn.

 

[Reenie]

I would say Little Dude - Chicco - Groucho from top to bottom, which Chicco hitting the teenage hormones earliest and challenging in Little Dude from time to time.
Mini lunges actually mean "stay away from" in fairly strong terms. They are not an aggressive behaviour, but a strong warning. It depends on whether the other piggy accepts that a line has been drawn.

Thanks for that @Wiebke . Just goes to show that size really doesn't matter in the guinea pig world, lol.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for that @Wiebke . Just goes to show that size really doesn't matter in the guinea pig world, lol.

No, it doesn't. The top sow of my big group was one of the smallest sows. It is always down to personality.