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Kosha update; she's getting fiesty
Topic Started: Oct 23 2011, 06:18 AM (527 Views)
Tishrei
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He's pretty much recovered from her injuries. She has two more days of antibiotics and her tail has scabbed over.

But the reason for this post is not her injuries. Apparently she's early in testing the water. She's already trying to establish dominance with me and that's going to stop pronto. She's only 4 months old so I'm surprised she starting so soon. This is what she did today. I was laying down with her and put my arm over her. She bucked and head swiped me (a pig thing). Then this evening while I was standing in the kitchen talking to a friend, she wanted me to feed her. I ignored her as she doesn't get everything she wants as soon as she wants it. So she came over to me and bit my foot. It didn't hurt but the fact that she did that took me by surprise.

Okay, I've been easy on her because she was attacked, etc. But I will have to get a handle on this before she thinks she moved up and taken over my position. If she tries to do that again, I'm going to shove her and knock her off balance. I'm going to do to her what other pigs would do and even what her mother would do if she was being disciplined by her mother.

Tulip didn't do that until she was well over a year old, probably closer to two years old. I'm wondering if Kosha is starting early because she was attacked and she feels she needs to move up in the pecking order. But she's only doing it to me.

She's a real sweetheart -- has a mind of her own and insists that I comply with her wishes pronto. It's actually pretty funny.
Edited by Tishrei, Oct 23 2011, 06:20 AM.
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Crazy Bird Lady


I saw the head swipe on a hog show tonite. Kosha has balls lol. She thinks she's tough. So do your thing to show her who's boss lol.
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VIOLET12
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Yeah...she needs a strong hand at this early age doesn't she? Good you are taking control right away or she will drive you nuts later. :ermm:
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cspags
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Guess she has entered the terrible "twos" a little early
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Tishrei
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That would be cool that she's getting that out of her system now as it's easier to control because she's so small. I don't think that's the case -- she'll eventually challenge me on her own. Right now she's just reacting to stuff. When she challenges me, it will be out of the blue and she'll charge me which is exactly what Tulip did. When Tulip did that, it frightened me because I had no idea what was going on. I thought she was unhappy and was expressing her unhappiness. After talking to the vet, he told me that to get back in there and win the fight by knocking her down. It was like a huge change in her, I knocked her down (harder than I intended) and she got up after catching her breath, looked around and with her tail wagging walked over to me as if nothing happened.
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VIOLET12
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Ha ha .... thats a weird behavior. What exactly did you do .... just push her real hard until she fell over?

Just can't imagine that....but I had to do that will Eddie also. Hold him under his arms with his feet dangling

making him look me in the eyes while I told him I was the mommie and he was the baby. What a silly thing

but it worked and here is my sweetie today. :) He is smiling in case you can't tell. :ermm:


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Edited by VIOLET12, Oct 25 2011, 05:02 AM.
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Crazy Bird Lady


Haha, well probably not unlike pinning a dog to establish dominance, only in pigs u knock them off their feet to show who's the big pig boss!!!!
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Tishrei
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What some people do with pigs to gain control when a pig is establishing dominance is to have a board or a trashcan lid and use it like a shield as they rush the pig and push him/her. That saves some bites or cuts from the head swipe. Even female pigs have tusks except they don't grow as long as a male's tusks. Tulip got me good on my shin once but that was an accident so I did not punish her. What happened was she heard a car backfire and she whipped around to see what it was. I just happened to be right there in the line of fire so to speak. She really got me good on that one.

Pigs are nasty fighters. That's why I am not going to put up with it with Kosha no matter how small and cute she is. Once she knows her place, she will be fine. Here's a excerpt on fighting pigs.

Quote:
 
How Pigs Fight. To understand why potbellied pigs become aggressive, we need to understand their herd instincts. In the wild, pigs travel in herds. Wihin this herd structure, there is a very defined heirarchy, similar to a pecking order in chickens. When two pigs meet for the first time, they fight -- often viciously. This fighting may include posturing and frothing at the mouth; the hair on the back of the neck may stand up and the tail may point straight out and wag. A fighting pig will position him or herself so that his head aligns with the other pig's shoulder. The pigs will slam their heads into each other's shoulders, cutting with their tusks and wiping the foam from their mouths onto the other pig. This foam contains the pig's scent, and marks the other pig with the smell. The fighting will continue until one pig admits defeat and runs away. A pig fight to establish dominance in the herd heirarchy can take hours.

Pigs appear to have very little concept of size. An adult pig will fight with a piglet a tenth his size, or with a farm pig ten times his size. Smaller pigs are frequently more agile and it can be difficult for larger pigs to catch them.

We have also observed behaviors such as tail biting, leg biting and ear biting. Although we know of only one pig who has ever lost a tail during a fight, it is common for major damage to occur to the ears. During a fight, pigs' ears can be split in two or a portion may be completely ripped off. When this type of injury occurs, the hurt pig will immediately submit to the dominant pig and search out mud with which to coat his injury. By covering the injury in mud, the pig prevents insects from accessing the wound.


Kosha will have it easy with me. I ain't gonna rip her ear, LOL. I'm just going to shove her until she gets the message. I can't wait until this part is over as I HATE doing that.

Seriously, even with all this, pigs are AWESOME creatures to have around. I had to go through a lot to get my precious Ducky the way he is. I cannot even imagine what life would be like if he wasn't part of it. He is the one that got me into birds and taught me so much. He taught me about trust -- imagine him trusting me after what he went through. He taught me about forgiveness -- imagine placing his trust in the species that cause him so much hurt for so many years.

I better go before I start crying, LOL
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Crazy Bird Lady


There is a show called Hog hunters and the dogs have to wear protective vests and collars or risk death when pinning the hog for relocation.

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VIOLET12
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That is just so interesting. Guess I just never thought about pigs that much. I didn't even know they could or would fight. I just thought they we sweet creatures that rolled in the mud and liked to eat. ha ha ha ha

Kosha is giving me a good education and I love hearing about her and what she is up to. Another thing I had no idea they had little tusks or that they would BITE! I would like to see those little tusks.


P.S. I saw that Pig Hunters show advertised. Think I'll give it a look.
Edited by VIOLET12, Oct 25 2011, 01:34 PM.
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