Guinea boar problems - grateful for any advice

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I have had guineas since I was a child and currently have 3 boars who We got as babies in July 2017 so they are just over 2 years old.

They all lived together for about 6 months then Colin started to pick on Toby so Toby moved out to another hutch leaving Colin and Trevor as roomies. We got a rescue pig to be a new buddy for Toby which was great but I think he was quite an old pig and sadly thatcher died today so Toby is alone again.

Meanwhile Colin and Trevor got on well for quite a while with Colin being a bossy dominant pig and Trevor wearing it, unfortunately Trevor got fed up and they had a fight and had to be separated.

I now have 3 boars in 3 cages that all see each other through the bars for outside time so they are not too lonely. In an ideal world I would like them to all get on and live together in one big cage! I’m not sure what to do for the best... should I try and bond two or three of them? Should I look at getting them neutered and get a sow for each? Or a baby boar? Or an older boar? Or should I just leave things as they are?

RIP thatcher - you were such a sweet gentle pig, we will miss you x

Boars can be right little toads and the 6 months Terrible Teens is a prime time for them to start with the dominance issues .

They're all quite young though .

If Thatcher died today it;s too early for Toby to do anything except grieve . Let him have his peace just now with the other hogs in chattering distance .

Is there any chance of re-bonding Colin and Trevor ? You'd need to go right back to basics , completely neutral, remove ALL Their smells .
Bath them , good strong shampoo ( I used Gorgeous Guineas Cedarwood and Lemongrass for this ) then in an empty pen with a huge lump of hay and veg.

If you go down the boars&sows route , you're looking at 3x castration, (about £60/pig ) recovery and no guarentee though if you go to a Pig Savvy vet it's a quick operation. (Then you don't have the issues with impaction )

But sows aren't all sweetness and light (my GP8 steadfastly refused to bond with our other pigs and attacked poor GP6 our placid boar)

It depends what you want long term. Do you want three cages of Mr&Mrs ? That would be lovely and not too much more work than three single boars ......though boars are tidier .

There are worse things in life than a little boar with side-by-side company . Our boar pairs didn't cuddle up, they liked their own space . But they liked to know the other one was there .

I felt sorry for GP6 when he had to side-by-side with our sow pair (GP7/GP8) but for his own safety he couldn't live with them.
He missed the bonded life (he'd had GP4/GP5 to live with)
He did get to spend the last 3 months of his life with GP7 (I'm not sure what she thought of him, he was a cheeky little git but she told him 'nope' ) they were like an old Darby&Joan couple until he died in January and she died in April.

You couldn't have Toby + a sow if you do pair up your other boars , they would fight more with a female in the midst .

I think in an ideal world , I'd give Toby a few days , see f you can re-bond Colin and Trevor then put out some feelers for a boar for Toby , a tiny piglet would be easier .
When you think about all the what if it doesn't work I think you'll drive yourself daft ( Been There Done That )
Then you have the what do I do when another one dies working out the partnerships
Who is in the photo ? Is that Thatcher ? Lovely boy .

Thanks so much 70 I’m going to give that a try - yes that’s Thatchy in the photo - such a friendly smiley pig, I’m glad we were able to take him in and give him a nice 18 months or so at least x

I would definately try re-bonding the two boars who were a pair before and keep Toby as a singleton for now .
Boar trios are blooming tough to manage .

It's a very un-natural set up for them, by choice a male would have a little hareem and breed .
So putting 2 boars together works with certain perameters - like space , their own privacy , no sows , careful introductions - but it's not what they'd choose . (Though our married boars were very much under the thumb of their pig wives and knew their place )

Right well, I have washed them in lavender shampoo, scrubbed the hutch and run and Colin and Trevor have been in the outside run with a heap of food since 11am ish and so far no blood! Lots of spells of teeth chattering, a bit of jumping in the air and rushing up on one another and coming nipped a mouthful of Trevor’s fur off but that’s it so far. Both have taken full advantage of the food mountain and both have had a snooze... really hoping it continues to be calm and they can be hutch mates tonight! Does that sound promising to you @70isaLimitNotaTarget?

They are now snoozing as far away from each other as possible!

Lol. I feel for you. We had to separate our boys earlier this year after the posturing turned towards (literal) blood shed! We haven't risked trying to reintroduce them though. Good luck!

I have given them more food and now they are munching instead of arguing - greedy piggies!

Well that didn’t end well. One bloody foot for Trevor, one neck strain for Colin because he wouldn’t let go when I was trying to separate them. At least I tried!

Ouch little buggers

If they aren't going to be harmonious then at least you've tried .
They'll still have chattering company in seperate cages .

(I tried about four times to marry GP8 with our herd - GP8 came along with GP7 , both sows - it seemed she was the aggressor in the group. We literally had to throw the towel in. )

It's a shame when they'd been harmonious before but they've made their choices .

Are the piggies ok? ( I am sending you sympathy for your foot and neck too , honestly )

Thanks 70 - I’m pleased I tried and I don’t think any pig was too hurt, I will keep an eye out today to see all is well. I think Colin is just a bit of a psycho - he’s a golden agouti and I have heard they can be a bit mad... so beautiful though!