Fighting: Did I do the right thing?

[Irishmoon]

Last night when I got home from work it was piggie play time. I set up my 3 different little pens for the piggies, the girls in their own, 1 for Gilbert, and another for Louie and Duke. When I picked up Duke I noticed he was more skiddish than usually and wanted nothing to do with Louie. That's when I noticed that he had a big bite mark in his ear. Louie had attacked him sometime while I was at work. I still allowed them to be together during play time but Louie was chasing Duke around and didn't want to share any veggies and Louie somehow climbed over their little pen and was trying to get Gilbert who was in his own pen. Well after that Louie was put back in his cage and I decided to see how Duke and Louie would do together since I didn't have another cage to separate Louie and Duke. Well Duke and Gilbert were getting along great and having a good time so I decided that they are going to live with each other and Louie is going to have to be alone. Duke and Gilbert even sleep next to each other.

Was I right in switching up the boys living arrangements? Louie has just become so aggressive, I don't know if it's puberty or not since I don't know their ages, I think they are around 1 years old. Let me know what you guys think or any suggestions that you might have. Thanks.

[sirigirl92]

It definately sounds like puberty.
Did you get them together? from the same person/shelter/store?
And yes, you did the right thing.
The general rule is once blood is shed they need to be separated.
I think peices of ears count too, .
And once puberty is over, you can probably keep all three boys together.
But for now, keep Mr.Mini Hormones alone, but dont give him less attention.
And it would help if he could still be in the line of sight with the others, just so he doesnt feel completly "alone".

[pigsmakemesmile]

I have 5 boys. At one point they were all cohabitating together until one day, the baby of the group, Paddington, started to fiercley pick on Jerry. Jerry, who I didn't know, had many bite marks and scabs on his backside which was concealed by his long hair...he's a Peruvian. So I decided for sanity and Jerry's well being to pair them up. After some trial and error, I have them paired beautifully and it's been harmony for over a year with no injuries. Jerry is so much happier with his buddy Popcorn... who's my favorite pig and the oldest of the bunch. Sometimes you need to reconsider living arrangements if it'll help avoid future injuries or serious injuries. You can arrange their pen in such a way that the single pig can safely be between the others using divided grids such as I have. I have 2 pigs in one end, one pig alone and 2 pigs in the other end. Their pen is in the shape of an L. Personally, I don't think you did the wrong thing by separating them. Your pigs' behavior... being skiddish, along with an identifiable bite-mark to the ear was just an early sign you noticed and you intervened before something more serious could happen. If it's a very young pig living with an older pig, then yes, there could be issues as the pig is going through puberty. Paddington, who is 1 1/2 years, can only cohabitate with Ben who's 2 as at this point, Paddy is past puberty and Ben's personality allows them to cohabitate peacefully. Typically, it's noted you leave them alone unless blood is drawn. I'd check your pig thoroughly for scabs older and recent. I found a small scab detrimental as abscesses easily develop underneath. As for the injured ear, if it's torn, the most it may due is the edges will scab but there will be a permanent separation. If it's a hole, it may or may not close up dependening on the nature of the wound. cleanse the ear with normal saline or diluted peroxide avoiding it getting into the ear canal and dripping toward the eyes and pat dry, keep it clean and dry. Any signs of redness, increased warmth are early indications of a problem developing.
Good Luck

[akstrohm]

I hope the new situation works. One thing you might consider is that having the girls in the same room could be making the boys act up. Even if they can't see the girls, I'm sure they can smell them. If you want all the boys to live together, I would try to move their cage into a different room from the girls. Or at the very least introduce them when the girls aren't around.