Intorducing them gently to each other unfortunately didn't get us anywhere... maybe because of the sheer number of little personalities. So two weeks ago I decided to take the partition away and let them fight it out. Amy wasn't a problem at all. She got chased about a bit and didn't look too happy for a couple of days but on the 3rd day she was popcorning around the cage.
Fiona was a different matter. Since she lived on her own for many months before we got her she didn't know how to deal with other piggies. It soon became evident that she wasn't a aggresive by nature, but that she got freightened easily when another piggy came up to her with the result that she would jump forwards to protect herself. However every day we could see her improve and backing away rather then starting a fight.
There were no more big fights after 3-4 days. However by then Chloe had decided that she really disliked Fiona (who gave Chloe such a huge fright one day that she ran across the length of the cage and was crying in a corner - poor old Chloe). All this week Chloe has been chasing Fiona whenever she got to near, but Fiona didn't really seem to care. And I think Chloe has now established her dominance as I've caught her walk passed Fiona wihtout batting an eye lid a few times now.
What really surprised me is how easy going Betty was over the last few weeks. She can be quite agressive but was actually really laid back this time. Zoe only attacked Fiona once, and looked really feral. Cassandra on the other hand hasstled Fiona for a good few days. I didn't expect that at all. Innocent little Cassy... Twinkle, Keleigh and Diane weren't too bad. Molly can be an agressive wee thing which is completely add odds with her pathetic looks. Bonny had a few nasty moments, which surprised me as she is one of the most laid back piggies ever. Jenny is quite strong minded and can't be bothered with anybody that gets in her way and makes sure they know if they get in her way.
While some fights looked really vicious, no blood was drawn and no one got hurt. They just needed to establish a new ranking and now that has been done everything is calm again. the first few days were really hard as I don't like to see my girls upset. But the rewards have been immense. They now share an absolutely massive cage and they are all happy. Amy even came to the kitchen last night for some spinach. There were 9 girls in the kitchen last night and only 3 remained in the dining room. I'm sure that Fiona will soon come to the kitchen too. Twinkle will never come through - she's too proud to beg for food. And Molly will come through on one of her rare non-lazy days.
