The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: skianne on July 06, 2015, 06:49:33 am
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Hi there. I have just weaned the second of my two lovely OSB girls after their respective first litters of piglets. All went well with births and litters and the two were in parallel woodland pens where they could see each other through a wooden gate. I put Mango in the pen yesterday with Chutney after a very stress free separation from her babies at 8 weeks - in with Chutney who was moved two weeks previously also after 8 weeks and very stress free. Both now in a pen they have been in before with a spacious house and lots to do. They are out of sight and sound of their babies. However, Mango instantly attacked Chutney when she first went in and has given her a nasty cut on her ear and wouldn't let her eat even though I gave them separate troughs....this morning they are sleeping outside the house at opposite ends of the pen ( actually mango is sleeping across the doorway of the house outside blocking entry for chutney). Should I separate them again? Have I done the wrong thing by assuming all would be as before? I thought they would be delighted to see each other! Will they ever be able to go in together again? It is fine for the moment if I should separate but with big litters it will cause issues if they have to be in a separate pen together..
Can anyone advise please? ???
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I find my girls can take up to a week to settle down again after you've taken their babies away. I have a few sows who I isolate for this period because they do similar.
They will need to re-establish their pecking order, so some pushing is fine. If possible, put them both on the same ground at the same time, this way you won't have one that's already claimed territory.
Can you not feed them at opposite ends of their pen? There may be a little running around, but it means they should both get enough to eat.
If they're not attacking/damaging each other this morning then leave them to it, they'll probably sulk for a few days and then settle down.
HTH
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It's just pecking order and they'll sort themselves out soon enough. My girls are the same and after a couple of days it's all peace and harmony again. The worst thing you can do is to separate them again because they'll be even worse next time you try.
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Thank you both of you ! Yes I will feed them at opposite ends and hopefully all will settle. glad you have both had similar problems.. I am glad I didn't remove them last night from each other - bit hard to watch but I felt it would be the wrong thing to do. Mango has always been slightly more dominant so I guess she is just reminding chutney who is boss! It's a brutal world!
Thankyou! :)
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P.S - love the names Mango and Chutney - brilliant ;D
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Then I must introduce you to Mrs Puff the ewe, her lamb Little Miss Puff and the man of the moment Puff Daddy the ram......
I won't begin to mention Mrs Puff's mother - Cloud......
:thumbsup:
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Ours always do battle when they go back together :). Some argue longer than others but they do get back to how they were.
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I would advise putting them in pens next to each other, so that they can get used to each other again. I had this problem a few years back and I had to do this.