I have recently expanded my herd to 4! I have two pigs already established as mates (Heidi and Mo) and I recently adopted 2 more pigs (yet to be named) who are
a mother and daughter pair. I would definately like to have all of them living together in one cage after some expansion takes place. My question is how to
introduce them. I had an introduction between Heidi and Mo that went pretty well and now they are friends. But how to I introduce 2 pigs to 2 pigs? Should I
just use the "put cages closer and closer together" method or should I attempt to get all of them to a neutral territory and hopefully everyone can
get along? Any experience with this situation will be help ful THX!
0 Kudo
introducing multiple pigs
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 moochieboochie |
introducing multiple pigs |
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Posts: 21 07/14/08 06:12 PM |
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PooksiedAnimals |
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Posts: 3566 07/14/08 08:14 PM Moderator |
If you haven't already, I would start with reading this: Guinea Pig Introductions.
Two bonded pairs may be tricky. I had a hard time with a mother-daughter pair introducing them to an established solo sow - but I think a lot depends on the personalities of the pigs involved. You could certainly try the side-by-side cages. It would give you an idea if they're really interested in each other, or see any immediate hostilities. You may also want to try a buddy bath - between the terror and the common scent, it may prevent the pairs standing off from one another. Beyond that, all I can say is good luck! I've never an introduction of that size myself. Please post what happens! I would be very interested in knowing! |
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moochieboochie |
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Posts: 21 07/14/08 10:22 PM |
Yeah that page is very helpful I read through it before trying to introduce Heidi and Mo. I am a little wary of having 4 pigs on the floor at the same time !!!
Yikes! I think my plan of action once the quarantine is over is to just move the cages closer together, then maybe try the buddy bath if no one gets too angry.
I will keep everyone updated on the progress. Thanks!!!
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moochieboochie |
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Posts: 21 07/22/08 09:35 PM |
So I tried doing a four pig introduction. Crazyness~!! First I had pair #1 in the top of a store bought cage within a playpen gate thingy that I use for
floortime. So two pigs were under a cage top and the other two were in the playpen thingy so they could see and smell each other but not get at each other.
Everything was kosher in this situation, everyone seemed interested and not angry so I let them sniff each other for a while then eventually added a bunch of
hay to the play pen and removed the cage top from pair #1. They were now all together with a ton of hay as a distraction. This is when it got crazy. Everyone
was doing well at first, munching on the hay. (pair #1 is Heidi/Mo my first pair, and pair #2 is Swazey/Noodle my new pair who are mom and daughter) So it
turns out that Mo could care less about the other pigs and they are friendly to Mo as well, but Heidi is a big jerk and was just rumbling all over and chasing
and nipping everyone especially Swazey. Mo and Noodle would just ignore Heidi and then she would usually leave them alone but Swazey, who is also the smallest
pig, would rumble back so then Heidi would chase her and nip her. It wasn't anything like a ball of flying fur b/c Swazey didn't fight back she would
just run away. But Heidi did not let up and Swazey kept challenging her then running and getting nipped til eventually Heidi was taking clumps of fur and
Swazey had some sores from hair being ripped out from her rump. After about 3 hours of this I gave up and put everyone back in their respective cages. I tried
to put Mo with Swazey and Noodle into Mo's cage because they seemed to be getting along, but once they were in the cage Mo got upset and started chasing
them. I tried to keep Heidi separated, but nearby the others, but she ended up just freaking out because she couldn't be by Mo. So in the end they are
still separated in pairs. I do need to extend my cage a bit before they all can be together anyways. The trial run was interesting but unsuccessful. I am
thinking that I will try again with just Swazey and Heidi to see if they can work things out. If not, I think it will be buddy bath time. I'm getting tired
of cleaning two cages lol! I do love watching their weird dominant behaviors though. It's so fascinating!!!! Someday I want to go back to school to study
animal behavioral science. Hope you enjoyed my report. If anyone else has any stories of experiences with 4+ pigs it would be fun to hear them. My adventure
continues!
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moochieboochie |
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Posts: 21 07/22/08 09:37 PM |
My paragraphs got messed up ahhhhh! sorry. i'm not sure why they never come through correctly.
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PooksiedAnimals |
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Posts: 3566 07/23/08 06:28 AM Moderator |
(I think it depends on the browser. You can usually edit the post, and the second time through, it will paragraph properly. It had this problem a lot when we
first went to yuku - but I haven't seen it so much lately.)
I don't know how old Swazey and Noodle are, but obviously Heidi and Swazey are your two dominant pigs. Sounds like Swazey doesn't want to be submissive, but isn't quite sure about besting Heidi, either. You could try buddy-bathing the two of them, and then try the introductions again. Sounds like Swazey, though, is an instigator, and Heidi isn't going to put up with it! |
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moochieboochie |
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Posts: 21 08/13/08 08:41 PM |
Ahhh the sweet smell of success! After trying 3 times to introduce all 4 of my pigs to each other it finally worked. I finally moved to a different
"neutral" place and introduced in the afternoon when everyone was sleepy. They finally started to mount each other and not just chase and bite. I
think Mo ended up as Queen pig, which is strange because I always thought Heidi was on top maybe the other pigs made them switch spots. But everyone has been
getting along since being put in the same cage. There was a little rumbling and mounting for a few days but things have quieted down and its so awesome! No
more cleaning two cages for me. I do need to expand mine a little because a 2x5 just isnt going to cut it with 4 of em. That will be done this weekend. I was
very close to giving a buddy bath after intro #3 but then it went so smooth I didnt have to. yay!!!!
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PooksiedAnimals |
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Posts: 3566 08/13/08 08:55 PM Moderator |
Great news. I'm glad it worked out for you. Huzzah!
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