Wiebke's Tribe: Sows and the City Boars

OK - so Beryn hasn't worked out. Not a huge surprise after Macsen turned out to be definitely NOT a bullied or traumatised teenage boy who cannot stand up for himself. He is not aggressive or dominant by nature but more than she can handle - and he is currently trying to grow into his new Tribe name as fast as possible!

However, it was clearly love on first sight between Macsen and Meleri! I had to give them a few days next to each other to allow Macsen's teenage hormones to settle bit though in order to prevent him from going overboard with trying to mount Meleri nonstop from any angle.

Like her sister Miaren, Meleri seems to prefer a 'family' look with a piggy with similar colouring and markings. Anyway, the bonding pen is nicely quiet and relaxed, even with two parallel tunnels in there.

It's going to be a busy day tomorrow with completely reshuffling the cage layout on the ground floor again...

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For those that are interested, here is a video from the start of the bonding with a nice range of behaviours: rumblestrutting and bum wiping (scent marking), spray peeing, acceptance mounting (Macsen is allowed to mount Meleri even though she is not in season) and dominance mounting (Meleri is allowed to mount Macsen). Head/ear touching (friendly dominance), bum (i.e pheromone) sniffing, 'back seat driving' (mild dominance) and relaxed chuntering between encounters.
Dominance-wise the two are fairly evenly matched on the more submissive side. It is going to be interesting to see who is coming out on top. Meleri is a smallish adult sow in her prime at 2 years of age while Macsen is a fast growing, chunky teenage boar.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2550905685189883
 
Wiebke said:
OK - so Beryn hasn't worked out. Not a huge surprise after Macsen turned out to be definitely NOT a bullied or traumatised teenage boy who cannot stand up for himself. He is not aggressive or dominant by nature but more than she can handle - and he is currently trying to grow into his new Tribe name as fast as possible!

However, it was clearly love on first sight between Macsen and Meleri! I had to give them a few days next to each other to allow Macsen's teenage hormones to settle bit though in order to preventing him from going overboard with trying to mount Meleri nonstop from any angle.

Like her sister Miaren, Meleri seems to prefer a 'family' look with a piggy with similar colouring and markings. Anyway, the bonding pen is nicely quiet and relaxed, even with two parallel tunnels in there.

It's going to be a busy day tomorrow with completely reshuffling the cage layout on the ground floor again...

View attachment 135451


For those that are interested, here is a video from the start of the bonding with a nice range of behaviours: rumblestrutting and bum wiping (scent marking), spray peeing, acceptance mounting (Macsen is allowed to mount Meleri even though she is not in season) and dominance mounting (Meleri is allowed to mount Macsen). Head/ear touching (friendly dominance), bum (i.e pheromone) sniffing, 'back seat driving' (mild dominance) and relaxed chuntering between encounters.
Dominance-wise the two are fairly evenly matched on the more submissive side. It is going to be interesting to see who is coming out on two. Meleri is a smallish adult sow in her prime at 2 years of age while Macsen is a fast growing, chunky teenage boar.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2550905685189883
Click to expand...
What a lovely friendly bonding video, whatever they are saying to each other it made Ollie pigwig come over to my phone to have a listen! :)
 
The funny thing is now that Macsen and Meleri are gone, Beryn is not happy at all - she very much misses their company through the bars!
 
Wiebke said:
The funny thing is now that Macsen and Meleri are gone, Beryn is not happy at all - she very much misses their company through the bars!
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I mean I know it doesn't help right now, but that's a good sign, right? She's at least looking for the company whereas originally she'd have done away with it entirely if possible...if I remember right, anyway. Good luck with Beryn, she'll find "the one" again someday surely!
 
Lorcan said:
I mean I know it doesn't help right now, but that's a good sign, right? She's at least looking for the company whereas originally she'd have done away with it entirely if possible...if I remember right, anyway. Good luck with Beryn, she'll find "the one" again someday surely!
Click to expand...

Beryn has always reacted to piggy company, which is why I have persevered. It is a matter of finding another one she doesn't feel challenged by. Unfortunately babies scare her stiff - Meleri and Miaren were actually adopted primarily to live with Beryn but it was an outright fail!
 
Wiebke said:
Beryn has always reacted to piggy company, which is why I have persevered. It is a matter of finding another one she doesn't feel challenged by. Unfortunately babies scare her stiff - Meleri and Miaren were actually adopted to primariy live with Beryn but it was an outright fail!
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Oh damn. And I know it's not really possible to break up the groups that you have. Beryn's a lucky girl to be in your care, there's many people who wouldn't be prepared with your patience.
 
Lorcan said:
Oh damn. And I know it's not really possible to break up the groups that you have. Beryn's a lucky girl to be in your care, there's many people who wouldn't be prepared with your patience.
Click to expand...

I've just broken up a trio with taking Meleri out; she and Gareth got on but were not the closest of friends after she lost the race for second spot... So I only have got one trio left compared to five trios and quartets a year ago!
 
Macsen and Meleri are currently fully in the post-intro dominance phase; Meleri is not strong enough to come top but is not yet willing to give up on her claims yet. Neither of them is aggressive by nature so I am letting them work it out between them on the roaming ground.

Compared to when Meleri and her sister Miaren bonded with Gareth and Teggy as youngsters, she is a model of restraint...

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The Huns, the Goths, the Vandals, the Mongols, the Tartars and the Turks have been and gone through our supermarket over the past three days!

This is all veg I could get for 26 piggies for 3 days! Lawn, here we come...
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Change of plans here as the long planned adoption of a rescue sow coming to the end of her pregnancy watch next week has unfortunately been postponed until such time as lockdown conditions are eased again - which is highly unlikely to be the case for the next month or two at the least. The little sow has been reserved for me since her arrival in January and seems to have had a lucky escape - but sadly not quite soon enough in view of the fast developments of the last couple of weeks! :(
Merrypigs - Sammi March 2020_edited-1.jpg


Anyway, that has left me with a major headache since the bonding between Macsen and Meleri failed a few days into the post-intro dominance phase when Meleri couldn't back up her claim for leadership but was too pig-headed to concede and things turned sour as Macsen is a confident boy who kept pressing his advantage. :(

Which means that have been left with a single boy on my hands again! And no new little princess to fall in love with him... :yikes:

Thankfully Macsen and Hirael seem have made a match of it and have come to an understanding between them over the last few days. I don't like to split up long established pairs and groups but with adoptions and pet sales on hold, my options are extremely limited. Anyway, while it wasn't love on first sight, it looks like things have settled down nicely now and are developing into a nice friendship. While Hirael is also submissive and totally non-aggressive (as is Macsen apart from his teenage hormones), she has obviously got enough kudos to stand up to Macsen, who is currently getting a crash course in husboar etiquette...
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Macsen and Hirael have settled down together really well. She allows him to chase and mount her some at first whenever he gets excited but has no compunction of telling him off very comprehensively to go and amuse himself somewhere else when she's had enough!

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The out-take: unfortunately I hadn't noticed at the past photoshoot that hub had used the high reslolution camera and had left the flash turned on. So Macsen did his best to keep his eyes squeezed shut throughout the whole session, including eating grass with closed eyes! :D
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Here are some snaps from the first lawn trip on the Easter weekend:

Brathlys 'Scarlet Pimpernel' (more like a dark chestnut these days) and her hubby Alan
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Alan again
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Carys 'Love' (who is now an adult) and Gethin 'Dusky'
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and last but not least 6 years old sisters Mererid 'Pearl' and Morwenna 'White Seas', who both suffer from congenital cataracts
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Neighbours at home are still neighbours abroad!

6 years old Pioden 'Magpie' (my largest and currently oldest piggy) with his young wife Dryw 'Wren', coming up to 8 months of age at the front and Dylan (about 4 years) and wife Begw 'Little Pearl' (reaching adulthood now) at the back.

Begw is my smallest; she is within spitting distance of 700g - she really is about half the size and weight of Pioden!

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Macsen and his wife Hirael shared the run with their neighbour Beryn during cage clean - but they stayed prudently well away from each other at different ends of the run. Beryn made it very clear with her body language that she didn't want any contact. Oh, Beryn...

Macsen 'The Greatest' and Hirael 'Long Brow' (you see why she's got that Welsh girls name in this picture)
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Beryn ' Candytuft'
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Third time on the lawn together for Beryn, Macsen and Hirael. While it is definitely not love, it is also definitely not World War III!

I am just keeping at it to help Beryn get over her fear of other piggies over the course of this summer. If she can manage to hitch up with Macsen and Hirael, that would be the big lottery win but any step forward in the right direction is a success in itself!

It was a case of 'Spot Wally' in the fast growing grass when I lifted the cover - but all three having hung out together without panic or high drama all the time - which is some major progress!
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Queen of the Jungle!
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Today we had a bit of a 'Where is Wally?' game on the lawn as the pigs did enjoy making tunnels and nests in the high grass.
(If you can spot all 6 piggies, you must be a pro!)
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(PS: the pigs involved are Carys, Gethin, Miaren, Llelo, Brathlys and Alan)
 
Wiebke said:
Today we had a bit of a 'Where is Wally?' game on the lawn as the pigs did enjoy making tunnels and nests in the high grass.
(If you can spot all 6 piggies, you must be a pro!)
View attachment 141532
(PS: the pigs involved are Carys, Gethin, Miaren, Llelo, Brathlys and Alan)
Click to expand...

I see 5... squinting for the other one - if the top right bunch of grass has a piggy in I see all 6
 
Wiebke said:
Today we had a bit of a 'Where is Wally?' game on the lawn as the pigs did enjoy making tunnels and nests in the high grass.
(If you can spot all 6 piggies, you must be a pro!)
View attachment 141532
(PS: the pigs involved are Carys, Gethin, Miaren, Llelo, Brathlys and Alan)
Click to expand...
I had to make the photo bigger before spotting the 6th one too right.
 
More lawn pictures and a spot of flirting between Cerian and Gareth, who normally live at the opposite ends of the piggy room
(Gareth, Teggy and Meleri top left; Breila and Cerian in the front and Nye and Hyfryd on the right)
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Wiebke said:
More lawn pictures and a spot of flirting between Cerian and Gareth, who normally live at the opposite ends of the piggy room
(Gareth, Teggy and Meleri top left; Breila and Cerian in the front and Nye and Hyfryd on the right)
View attachment 141778

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Click to expand...
Your grass looks so nice my mouth is watering. What size run are they in?
 
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