ferret breeding

trouble

Well-Known Member
Im not having a good time this year , i keep loosing litters and the problem seems to be the jills arent giving any milk . Their fed on dry food and flesh , they get milk with an egg in it and always have full water bottles . Any ideas
 
from about day 2 on , the hutches are clean , cant get my head round it . I never had problems before even in the bad old days when they were fed bread and milk
 
any chance their getting to hot, I know that the temp in the hutch is often hotter than outside, I have put an electric fan blowing in the front of the cage just to make sure.
 
I've had a good year as far as ferret breeding goes. too good in fact.
Occasionally kits will die but as a rule ferrets know what they are doing and provided your jills are well handled there shouldn't really be any problems. The extremely hot weather doesn'y help and shading is quite important as young ferrets can get overheated and die.
Don't overdo the egg by the way, certainly I wouldn't give it on a daily basis. Make sure the flesh is fresh and don't leave any odd bits laying about. Are the kits dying off one by one or are they going in batches, also have you checked to see if the jill is giving milk OK. Finally how many jills and kits are you talking about here?
 
its 3 jill in seperate hutches , any flesh is hung from a hook so they dont drag it into the beds , their shaded but the kits seem to be going one at a time as the jills dont seem to be giving milk . I think theres a 3 and a 5 left but I dont look too hard even though the jills are very tame
 
its 3 jill in seperate hutches , any flesh is hung from a hook so they dont drag it into the beds , their shaded but the kits seem to be going one at a time as the jills dont seem to be giving milk . I think theres a 3 and a 5 left but I dont look too hard even though the jills are very tame
Are you finding them dead or are they being eaten?
 
How old are these kits Trouble? You can often lose the odd one or two from a litter early on but once they are about ten days old they should be fine.
personally I wouldn't stop the jill taking flesh into the nest, you would be surprised just how early the kits will start sucking on it. Once mine are a couple of weeks old I start handling them briefly. give the jill a drop of milk in the run and you can then go into the nest. You get the occasional jill that's a bit touchy but not often.
The sooner you start just getting the kits used to your hands the better.
 
My team of jills has reduced in number recently due to age and recently one to illness which was to be my breeding jill.
To those that have any surplus jills of the smaller type and would like a good home with long term ferreter I would like to restock for the up coming season.
Please pm me if you can help.
Thanks
 
Forgot to ask, are you disturbing the kits within the first few days?
My father always told me to listen for the young and don't touch and as Old Keeper said handle them briefly after a couple of weeks to get them acquainted to handling.
 
In the very early days say up to about 10, unless you really know your ferrets well it is probably better to err on the side of caution and leave the kits alone. In well over 60 years of breeding ferrets I have never lost a litter due to the jill killing them.
All the jills are well handled and above all when they first have the litter it is essential they have plenty of food and perhaps for the first couple of days a small amount of milk. When I first check the kits I make sure the jill is drinking some milk then normally use a small twig to open the nest to see whats there, only a quick look. After a couple of weeks I look at the kits and have no trouble with the jills. You will as I said earlier get the odd one that can get really quite nasty when she has kits, but this is rare and she will settle down as the kits grow. I think the killing of kits by jills is a bit exagerated probably comes from the days i just about remeber when ferrets were treated quite badly, fed nothing but bread and milk, and then only sometimes. Hungry nervours jills can then become over protective that plus hunger equals disappearing kits!
 
Gimlet pm me Im close to Reading with a chap looking to find homes for a few this season youngsters very a very small jill breed with a small hob, the mum is the smallest ferret ive ever seen
 
Hi gimlet 61
there is a guy near me who has 6 hobs he's looking to rehome

Pm Me if you're interested and I will get his number for you



OP

Re kits, my motley crew had 3 lots all in one run and house, had a head count on day one, just quietly fed and watered em for ten days all survived. They all looked after them, every single one. 9 hobs 6 Jill's

I would take the whole lot to the vets for a checkup mate.

​Phil
 
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Evening all, missed out on the Jills that Dacaras let me know about, so still looking.
Thanks for the Hob offers but really looking for females only.
 
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