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Post by shades on Dec 15, 2015 3:30:44 GMT
This is not really a problem; more of a discussion topic. As you know, I've got two boys who are around 4 months old now. Both are doing the dominance thing (rumbling and bum wiggling but mounting has ceased for now) but it's pretty low-key. It's early days and I can't see who's the boss. One is physically bigger (chubbier) - he might be a few weeks older or just greedy with the food - but the other one is not phased by him. Time for the dumb question  . Is it possible to have an outcome of no leader because there's only two of them? How would I recognise if there's a dominant boy? What behaviour would the submissive pig show? |
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Post by Bean on Dec 15, 2015 10:57:27 GMT
Some pairs rub along just fine without a clear leader - for others there will be a leader but if there's a more submissive pig who's never challenged their authority then there might not be any wrangling. Really hope that's the case with your boys. For all the stories you hear about squabbling boys, there are also plenty of pairs who grow up together quite happily.
I don't think it's always obvious who the dominant pig is either. When my boys were together, everyone else thought that Cadders was in charge as he chased Josh around a lot - he would try to mount him and also appeared to be pecking at his rear end.
However, what was actually happening was that Josh was displaying lots of dominant behaviours (constantly rumbling and bum swaying around him) and Cadders would get really stressed out by his performances, so would start chasing him round and round - Cads felt threatened and turning the tables for a bit would momentarily stop him feeling cornered. Josh was overflowing with testosterone so would never have accepted anyone else being boss - he'd run around when Cads chased him, but almost seemed amused by it, never threatened which seemed to vex Cads more. The more he got stressed, the more he'd end up squaring up to Josh and that's when we decided things weren't going to blow over. But to others it did look like Cads was initiating all the aggro.
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Post by maxiemojo on Dec 15, 2015 19:29:00 GMT
My two boys are the same age, going on 4 months old at the end of this month. I have not seen any dominance behaviour happen as yet, they are really affectionate towards each other at the moment.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Dec 15, 2015 20:22:25 GMT
I am not sure who is the boss between Lacy Jane and Merlin, I think theirs is a pretty equal relationship too.
Hugs
Jo xx
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. Is it possible to have an outcome of no leader because there's only two of them? How would I recognise if there's a dominant boy? What behaviour would the submissive pig show? 
