Hi Marion
Really pleased to hear the little ones made it.
From watching the hogs here for many years, I have discovered that the males tend to move on after a while. They normally return after hibernation, but then move on later. This may be a way of preventing inbreeding. Normally the males return earlier from hibernation and have a chance to put on a bit of weight before the females return. The youngsters may try to ‘court’ a female, but are likely to get biffed out of the way by an older bigger hog.
I have found that the males move on, gradually. They begin to visit less frequently and then only very occasionally. I am not sure how being over-wintered in captivity effects this. When the hogs become adult, they mostly probably just consider the other hog as just another hog, so if the male didn’t leave for some reason, I imagine it is possible that they could mate, if, as I mentioned, another bigger male didn’t interfere.
I have found that the females tend to stick around. They tend to be more tolerant of each other, although some female hogs have certain other female hogs they don’t tolerate so well. They will share bowls together quite happily with the ones they ‘get on with’, but the males normally don’t.
When the hoglets are around, the males and older females are very tolerant of them and often let the hoglets share, or even take over the feed bowl completely (whether their offspring or not). Once the hoglets reach a certain size, though, the gloves are off again, with the males.
I hope they continue to do well.
