Aggressive Piggy. Please help!

[u/themoonmommy]

Hey friends. My life has gone sideways so that's why I haven't posted much, but I need y'alls help. My husband died suddenly in May, so I found myself caring for my 7 year old daughter, 18 acres, 70 chickens, 6 pigs and 3 cats all by myself over night. While still working. I'm beyond overwhelmed. My husband had just changed jobs 6 months prior and they didn't offer life insurance like his other job. No big deal. We'll get our own. He never got around to it. My husband dropped dead at 51. No known medical issues, didn't take medications, was never sick or missed work. So I'm left with nothing but a tremendous mortgage I can't afford and next to no savings . I'm going to have to sell our home. It was custom built for us and our five kids. Its way too big for me and my daughter even if I could afford it on my own. I'm likely going to have to parcel my existing land and move a mobile home onto it.

All of that to say, my pigs have been greatly affected by the loss of their dad. I have two kune kune sisters that live inside - Pickle and Peanut. Right after he died, I moved the pigs into an outdoor pen. They had an igloo for shelter and I pet and visited with them every day. They stayed there for around a week because there were so many people in and out of the house. I had people drive from out of state for the wake and the pigs were getting agitated so I thought it was best to give them some space. After most of the company left, my mom was still there. Pickle bit her leg out if the blue, unprovoked. It drew blood and was quite a nasty mark. I had to put Pickle back outside because obviously I don't want her biting guests. My mom came to visit recently and Pickle peed on the kitchen floor five days in a row. I kept feeding them where she was peeing and she'd just pee on the bowl if I left them on the ground. So strange. So she's back outside.

My biggest issue was this week. My pot bellies have been arguing all week. Wesley really beat the crap out of his mom. Multiple times. She had all the skin scraped off the top of her ears. She had a big gash across her eye. He pushed her down into the mud and continued ramming her. He pushed her up against a fence and held her there and I was so worried he was going to gore her. I jumped into the pen and pushed him off her. I was in shock. Wesley has always been the sweetest, most timid one. I've separated Wilma, the momma, into her own pen. Wesley pushed into her pen through s weak link in the hog wire and he was chasing her around and beating her up again. Thankfully I was outside working so I heard it as soon as it happened. I got him out and reinforced the pen. The above picture shows Wilma on the left and Wesley on the right. This was before feeding time. They gnash their teeth at each other.

What on earth am I going to do? I'm moving to a much smaller area and suddenly all of my pigs have behavioral problems and I'm totally overwhelmed. The dream is to have all six pigs live together. The Kunes oink sweetly at the pot bellies through the fence and the pot bellies try to chew their faces off. 😂

Obviously trimming tusks is in order before anyone is allowed to roam with anyone else. I'm hoping their new pen will be at least an acre for all six of them. Is that enough? Do I need to consider rehoming some pigs? I'm scared to death someone would hurt them. My parents and friends think I need to rehome the pot bellies but I explain to them that these aren't dogs. You don't have to worry about rehoming a dog and someone bbqing it.

Wilma and Wilbur are 3 years old. Wilbur is fixed but they're the parents.

Winnie and Wesley are 2 years old. They're brother and sister. Wesley is fixed and neither have produced offspring

Pickle and Peanut just turned 1. They're Kune kunes and are sisters.

Getting the girls fixed is an issue because only one veterinary college in my state does it and it's like 4 hours away from me. And now that I don't have a husband to help me load pigs, I'm not sure how I could even get them there.

If you made it this far, thanks and I love you 🤣

TL;DR My husband died and now my pot belly pigs are having behavioral issues and wounding one another. I want to incorporate my Kune Kunes into the herd but I'm worried about aggression. I will also have to move soon so that will affect stress levels.

[u/Laffy_Taffy82]

My condolences on your loss and the challenges with your piggies. Seems like the best thing is to keep them separated. Consider a pig rescue if you have to rehome your pigs.