Help - scrapping sow piggies

[Daisybell1]

We adopted the piggies nearly 3 weeks ago. They've loved together all their life and although their accommodation isn't quite big enough we're working on it.

When scared one has always dived under the other, and more recently has sat on the other. Today there was full blown humping and rumbling, teeth chattering and finally a fight.

They were on the sofa when this happened, so poss a bit stressed?

Do I need to separate them????? Or is the humpee in season and it will pass?

Little toads aren't they?
Sows can scrap and dominance hump just like boars. One will always be the bossier one, they need to sort themselves out.
Was one of them on the 'other ones seat' ? They can get territory arsey (and in the case of the four sows I had as a child , possessive over a person. In our case , my Dad belonged to the oldest sow and no-one else was allowed to cuddle him).
Maybe they just want some time apart, cuddle one on the sofa the other on an armchair?

They might be in season, sometimes the last season of the year can be the worst, their last chance to get pg this year.
Do any of them have a stronger smelling pee? Peeing more? Or sometimes a waxy secretion from their nether regions.

Distract them, bribe them, clean the hutch out and move their furniture round.

Check and make sure neither of them has a sore spot or injury, run your hands firmly over their bodies and check.

I'm looking forward (not) to my sows starting their season malarky (they came to us in July after weaning their litters) GP3 , my boar is neutered but that won't influence his hormone driven boars brain when there's laydeez on the loose.
We have some of those Fox/Chicken/Grain situations where one will scrap and we have to cuddle one each and have one between us. The 3rd one doesn't want cuddled but doesn't want to give the others peace (usually GP5 is the arguementative one , Bless Her )

Well all seems calm now! And they're fine in their hutch, it has just been when they're out that there's been stropping. I think you've hit the nail on the head about having them both out at once - they are noticeably calmer when they're out separately rather than together.

They have their mad moments don't they?

My DD will sometimes take one of her pigs up to her bedroom to help with her homework (because they know all about everything ). I think sometimes our boar appreciates some peace (our sows never stop the prattling.We thought he was noisy but he's an amateur)

They get on fine in the run or the Pighouse but if we put them in the carrier box (to walk up the garden, about 2 minutes) they get all narked

Hopefully it'll blow over with your pigs and Ding Ding back to their corners.

70 - this is a really silly question, but how do I know if my sows are in season? We've had them since last November so I presume it must have happened already, but I have no idea what to look out for. So, how often does it happen, what do I look for, and do I need to do anything?

We have 2 sows in a large cage which is currently outside, but will be coming inside in the next few weeks.

It's every 14-16 days , sometimes they might be grumpy, or have a waxy secretion. (Once they mate it makes a 'plug' to prevent any cross infection).

My DH was peed on by the little sow (first time she's peed on any of us) and he said "Oh, she's peed, it stinks " which might be a sign.
My girls do pee gallons but it doesn't smell any worse than the boars pee usually.

I've had guineas born at different times of year so their times of fertility is quite varied .

Our sows have been with us for 10 weeks now, our boar was neutered a few days after they arrived but they weren't allowed contact until his sterile period .

So far, he's rumbled a bit but we haven't seen any heavy duty amorous activity, just the odd hopeful climb from him. They aren't impressed though.

I think come Spring time they'll change their minds.

Goodness me, every 14 to 16 days! I haven't noticed anything at all. We have to groom one of our piggies every couple of days as she's long haired, and her back end is often a bit matted, so perhaps the waxy secretion is adding to this.

Thank you for this, all seems calm but there was a clump of fur from one of them in the nest box this morning

We took possible bullied piggy out by herself this evening and she was very calm by herself. The other one is also calmer by herself - maybe its just their reaction to being in a new situation...

Oh which pig lost the fur? Was it the bully or the bullied?

Are you getting them a new house (you say in the OP you're working on it) sometimes they are just 'in each others faces' and sparks fly .

Giving them a bath is a good way to diffuse temper, makes them smell the same and puts both in a bad mood with you so takes the emphasis off each other.

Make sure they are completely dry before they go to bed.

I bought 'Lemongrass and Cedarwood' shampoo from Gorgeous Guineas before I bonded mine to start them all off neutral smelling. I'd emailed and asked what the strongest scented one was.
Mine aren't minipigs, some are for 12 weeks+ only.

It was from the bullied one . I'm waiting on a friend to give the hutch a makeover (which will double their space) but I need to give him a chivvy along.

There's no sign of bullying around food, they both get a look in and seem to share it out well.

I haven't risked bathing them yet, and I don't expect they ever have been ... Any tips?

Have a look on Gorgeous Guineas (they have some trial sized bottles and you might want to buy a selection. Some are treatment (Lice'n'Easy) some conditioning for long haired.
Melts (to pre-treat)
Creams for scabby little noses and feet

Have everything prepared - we washed the sows in the basin (I have no idea if they'd been bathed before we gave them a Pre-Bond-Bath) with the bath full of fresh warm water.
A towel on the base to stop them slipping. A plastic jug to scoop it over.
A small jug of shampoo diluted .

You ideally need two people , a couple of towels for each pig.
We blowdry GP3 on a cool set hairdrier (he dries really quickly, he's Rex)
The sows, erm, didn't like the drier.

We put them in a big box of hay when they are as dry as we can, to complete the process. Make sure they're bone dry before they go out.

We washed our boars in the bath, we knew how they'd behave. They'd get that look like they were going to leap so we had to keep a hold.
Don't have the water too deep, they shouldn't get their ears and eyes in water.

And they can be skittery and slippery and look pathetic with little soaked bodies.

When we bathed gp1, he took HOURS to dry! Thought he'd find the hair dryer too stressful.