Introductions Nerve Wrecking!

My girls were the same way. I know how nerve wrecking it can be! lol It sounds normal to me, and it's probably a good thing you have not separated them unless blood gets drawn. I am not sure how long it will last, a moderator could probably answer that. I don't know if you can do this with your girls or even if it should be done(moderators, please correct me if I am wrong), but i split my 2x6 C&C cage in half, so they can get used to one another. I seems to have worked brilliantly with my trio. They each get a 2x3 and every other day I switch who's in what cage. I will be taking down their separation wall today. I hope all goes well with you and your girls!

Any thoughts or ideas on the above?

It will take a while, few weeks at least. When I got my third pig, they were really mean to her. In the night we still kept them separate or when we were not home. I was too scared they will hurt her. So we only let them hang out supervised with lots of food. Now its been few moths already and still sometimes they pick on her. Time and patience. Dont leave them without supervised.

How big is your cage? How long did you leave them in the neutral territory? And how were they getting along there?

Wow. I have a herd of five and with each introduction things went super. There has been no meaness and I think that is because they have a bunch of room and the introductions were done in a very large area. I learned after trying a bathroom for introductions and it went awful. When one is in a Mood she will chase but that ends it by the time they reach the other end. Sounds like horses running. So sorry things are so rough with your girls.

Awwww sorry thing were so stressful for you! I am so glad I got two sows that were already bonded! This would have made me crazy too!

I know how you feel! I first introduced my pigs at around 2:00pm, and I was in tears by 3:00. It's hard to see someone you love unhappy, and I was so worried about one of them getting injured. They fought constantly all day, and I never once took my eyes off them. At 1:00 in the morning my dad finally came down and told me I had to go to bed, so I seperated the boys and cried even harder that I was going to have to start all over again the next day. 11 hours of fighting with no results! Luckily after a stress-full week Eugene finally declared dominance over Maximus and they've never so much as growled at each other since. Be strong, I'm sure everything will work out eventually, and your pigs will be the best of friends.

bpatters said:

How big is your cage? How long did you leave them in the neutral territory? And how were they getting along there?

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Thank you bpatters. I extended the current cage. It was a 2x6 and I added a 4x1 strip in one of the long edges. I also added new hideys with two openings. I had them for about 2 hrs in a spare room, just on the floor with some hay and hideys. After two hours there was, what I thought, a small improvement as the chasing/ nipping,etc was getting less so I moved them onto the new cage.
It continued there though, although the time between these spats grew longer (maybe a small sign of improvement). Lola sort of froze and stayed on the same spot and sometimes one of the twins would come close and not be bothered but sometimes there would be chasing. She wasn't roaming freely, eating or drinking though so that worried me.

@Mmgh5 Thank you so much. I'm happy to hear I'm not alone, it feels so terrible. Was Maximus challenging Eugene's dominance or was he accepting this? I always thought there would only be massive issues if two piggies wanted to dominate but in this case Lola is not interested at all. She's quite subservient.

Razzle said:

Wow. I have a herd of five and with each introduction things went super. There has been no meaness and I think that is because they have a bunch of room and the introductions were done in a very large area. I learned after trying a bathroom for introductions and it went awful. When one is in a Mood she will chase but that ends it by the time they reach the other end. Sounds like horses running. So sorry things are so rough with your girls.

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So lovely that it always goes well. They had a bit more space that that on a bathroom but maybe they need more. The sun is shining today so I might put them all together outside and see how it goes.

EllaBellaMuffin said:

It will take a while, few weeks at least. When I got my third pig, they were really mean to her. In the night we still kept them separate or when we were not home. I was too scared they will hurt her. So we only let them hang out supervised with lots of food. Now its been few moths already and still sometimes they pick on her. Time and patience. Dont leave them without supervised.

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Yes, that is what I ended up doing. For a minute at 11pm last night I thought it was fine as it had been just over an hour without any trouble. But then both Itsy and Bitsy decided to gang up on Lola so I've put a divider on the cage. Not confident yet they can be let alone. Thank you for your kind words.

Now that I think about it, those hideys had to all be tossed out. Once they were gone it seemed to settle issues. I just used fleece over the corners for a long time. I now have boxes with two exits. One of the girls did chatter at the new girl and I was very upset at her awful behavior so I put them in another very large area and that seemed to upset the power issue with them all worried about their safety and things turned. Personalities are huge with this so I think you are dealing with some strong personalities. But for me it was making sure they were all off guard in the intro area. Safety in numbers, you know so they lost that battle mentality. Hope things settle soon for you.

Are you adding one new girl to a bonded couple? I had serious issues with two sisters who did who did not want to share with another single girl. I had to house the little girl next to them in her own separate cage or they would bully her something awful. It seems to be easier to add to a large herd. Well large to me anyway.

"Things" never went "super". I think I had forgotten how stressful it is to add another to the herd. But it seems to be easier with numbers greater then three. Sorry, I think I was hallucinating when I said "things went super". Never happened.

@Razzle Ahah, not a problem. Thank you for sharing your experience I'm adding a 4th piggie to a trio and have ensured all hideys have a entrance and an exit. And yes, it seems all my piggies have big personalities

So day 2 and after spending the night separate (same cage just with grids separating) I done a 2nd round of introductions. As the sun is shining and it's a fine Spring day here in UK I decided to put them all out in the garden in a large run with a couple of hideys. The girls always feel a bit unsure when they are out so I hoped no big dominance issues would be displayed. 3 hours later and there was 1 or 2 chases (and mostly the "you're in my way" type) only and all 4 cuddled up in the big hidey box . And even though they are not being super friendly with Lola, Lola follows them and cuddles with them (she didn't have to as there was another big hidey out).

I have now moved them indoors and there has been a few chases/ squeals but with much less frequency than yesterday so fingers crossed it continues this way. What is interesting is that in a few occasions the fighting/ squabble is triggered by Lola but between Itsy and Bitsy (there was even a bit of teeth showing). It's 2pm here so still plenty of time to see how it develops. They are all sleeping relaxing now.

This is their new setup. You can just about see Bitsy in the far left log, Dahlia is on the other log and Itsy in on the bottom left corner. Lola is on bottom right corner.

https://s1352.photobucket.com/user/MrsSuzy/media/Piggie Girls/2013-04-21135354_zps07369e78.jpg.html

Wow! I love your cage! I'm so glad everything seems to have worked out with your girls!

@MrsSuzy Your welcome. I hope all things work out for your piggies. At the beginning of the introduction Maximus humped Eugene for a little bit. For the rest of their introductions however he became very subservient, while Eugene continued to hassle him.

Mmgh5 said:

@MrsSuzy Your welcome. I hope all things work out for your piggies. At the beginning of the introduction Maximus humped Eugene for a little bit. For the rest of their introductions however he became very subservient, while Eugene continued to hassle him.

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Interesting to know. For some reason, and even though I read loads about introductions, etc. I thought it would only be like this if both new pig and existing pig had big personalities. Live and learn, hey.

The interactions have been less intense today but still unsure of leaving them unsupervised for long. Bitsy (who likes to eat coroplast) seems to be enjoying eating Lola's hair. She doesn't teeth chatter at her but sniffs her then just pulls a big chunk of hair out and eats it. That's usually when Lola runs. She never did this to the other two, maybe it's Lola's long hair?

Sorry to keep going on about this but I feel so depressed today . Just wanted to share that.

Things pretty much still the same as above, Itsy and Bitsy chasing and eating Lola's hair but Dahlia (who is last in pecking order) has been showing her teeth at Lola. I've put some grids separating them but still allowing them to see each other and starting to think what I should do next. Might wait till the weekend (as I'll be at home for longer) and try a bath.

I confess, this is much harder that I thought and I'm a but clueless in how to take it all. I've read it always looks worse that it is but I'm finding it hard to assess it myself. Maybe they are just fine as no blood has been drawn but I just don't know. Maybe I'm having a bad day too but I just want to cry. Sorry for the moaning all.