Want a Guinea Pig(s) Possibly getting a 3rd sow, general advice please :)

[Princess_Piggie]

Hi guys!

So as some of you know I have two lovely sows called Daisy and Minnie who are pretty much identical himilayan-americans, and I love them to bits. I've been contemplating bringing in a 3rd sow for a number of reasons. My main reason is forward thinking. If (god forbid) one of the girls I have now happened to pass away, I would want the remaining pig to have company, and I feel that bringing in a 3rd now means that the company would be immediate, and there would be no phase of loneliness, instead of trying to pair the remaining pig with a new sow while she was grieving.

My main questions are these;

1. Is 10.5sqft enough room for three sows? I know the general rule is 7.5 for one pig, add another sqft for another pig, but just checking heh.
2. Would the general cost of hay,veg etc go up by alot? I don't mind a minor increase in cost but nothing major.
3. If I did go through with bringing in a new sow now, would an older or younger sow be more appropriate?
4. I've had my girls a little over a month, should I leave it longer before bringing in a new sow IF I do bring in a 3rd? They're both pretty well settled in considering how short a time it's been.

Any advice or opinions or experience or whatever you can bring to the table would be great

 

[guinnymom23]

1. Is 10.5sqft enough room for three sows? I know the general rule is 7.5 for one pig, add another sqft for another pig, but just checking heh.

Not sure how it would convert to sq ft, but for 3 sows, a 2x5 C&C would be plenty?

2. Would the general cost of hay,veg etc go up by alot? I don't mind a minor increase in cost but nothing major.

I wouldn't say that much more, they will go through the hay faster, just need to find a hay distributor/farmer that can provide more for less?

3. If I did go through with bringing in a new sow now, would an older or younger sow be more appropriate?

Younger would be better, especially with sows, they may foster it? Think older would try to be more dominant...just my opinion though

4. I've had my girls a little over a month, should I leave it longer before bringing in a new sow IF I do bring in a 3rd? They're both pretty well settled in considering how short a time it's been.

If you're going to get one, sooner would be better, less chance of fighting too much as the first two haven't had a long time to bond together?? again my opinion. I've introduced 4 sows all within months of each other and they all get along relatively well now, the older two still put the youngest in her place from time to time but no injuries to report.

 

[xanima]

Well, the general rule might say that 10,5 is okay for 3 pigs. Personally, when I look at my second level that has that size I can´t really imagine three pigs living there... It isn´t that big.
On the other hand: I really think it is soo much nicer for cavies to live in a group. However: to two girls I would recommend a neutred boar. Would never again keep females without a neutred boar.
To the costs. Well... the third wont eat less than the other two, so generally, you should have to pay half of what you pay now for the new pig. At some point (not sure when exactly) the costs for me got a lot higher, because two pigs we could easily feed with vegetables we had already at home, at some number that wouldn´t suffice anymore.
How old are your pigs? Usually I would look for roughly the same age, if they are really young, I would look for an adult pig.
When isn´t that important in my opinion

 

[Princess_Piggie]

They're roughly 4-5 months old

 

[pinky]

I have a mom-daughter pair and an unrelated young female in a 2x5 and it's plenty of space for all three. I had a large herd with females and neutered male but there were squabbles between some of the girls and the dominant females picked on the male. I took in a senior male and I introduced him to my neutered male. They got along better than housing the neutered male with the girls. I now have a 2x4 with the males, a 2x4 with a very dominant female and an extremely submissive female and the female trio. It's worked out better this way for my guinea pigs.