[Gpdd] MISC: Dilemma --- It's a Boy!

[Penny Charlesworth]

Hi Pat,

I have been looking at the shelter website over the weekend and I wondered 
why one little piglet was still there. I saw that Appleton had been adopted 
earlier in the week and now I know why you did not go and collect the last 
one of Pixie's babes. I didn't think that you would resist another little 
girl as she could have been reunited with her mother.

Living in a large old house, there is always room for another pen. My pig 
room spread into the next room years ago. You might have seen my set up on 
the Undercover Piggies blog.

All of my boars are paired up and my girls live in groups. I have never had 
any trouble with introductions but I have been doing this for a very long 
time and practice makes perfect. I prepare a neutral pen with clean bowls 
and hideys so nothing smells of the original pig, except the pig himself. 
With a babe I usually just put him with the big pig and see what happens. I 
provide an extra small hidey or pigloo in case the little one needs to 
escape. Boars have a bowl each to begin with whereas sows will share right 
from the start.

I always do intros on a morning when I am going to be home all day so that I 
can keep an eye on them. If by the evening they had not adjusted to the new 
scenario I would separate them and try again another day but this has never 
happened in all the years of Piggyfriends.

With big boars, I bath them together before putting them into a neutral pen.

I believe that one of the easiest intros is between a baby boar and an 
adult. If you want to adopt Apricot you could try him with either Virgil or 
Floyd. Or you could try those boys together and make a space for Apricot.

I did not realise that your big girls do not share a home so there is the 
possibility that Pixie could go with one of them when her quarantine is 
over.

Baby girls arriving alone here at Piggyfriends are put into a group of girls 
with a pile of food. The usual response is "Hello new pig. Let's eat" and 
off they all go together. My girls live in large pens and I have never tried 
this in an enclosed cage as I only use these for quarantine or sometimes a 
sick piggy who needs to be separated from their group.. I am not sure if 
having a roof to their home makes any difference. A pen of the same 
dimensions seems somehow larger but this is only an optical illusion and 
probably makes no difference to the piggies inside.

In a big group I sometimes feel that the residents do not even notice a new 
pig. They can't count above one and know that they are surrounded by 
friends, how ever many there are. It is natural for them to be in a herd.

With some intros there is a certain amount of running around, sniffing and 
rumbling but, unless there is any fighting, they are left to sort out the 
pigging order. There might be an Alpha pig who wants to exert their 
authority but most newcomers seem to think " OK. you're the boss. That's 
alright by me. Where's the food?"

With any new pig, I try to select a group or a bereaved boar of similar age 
and/or temperament before the intro.

With boars, I usually know within minutes if they are going to hit it off. 
With a big pile of food they usually eat together and are so full up that 
they forget to squabble. They settle down for a nap and then seem to forget 
that they have not always been together.

I could write pages on intros so if you want any more advice please email me 
privately. Good luck Pat with what ever you decide.

Penny and the Piggyfriends.