Winterwitch
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Posts posted by Winterwitch
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3 minutes ago, Our team said:
I need to apologise to you x sorry for falling you fat.
When did you call me fat?
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On 11/06/2019 at 20:30, vfr400boy said:
They are looking good!
Mine are on meat now goat yogurt with SF50 sprinkled on and soaked ferret biscuits
So cute! I read that as spf 50
suncream...yummy haha
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On 11/06/2019 at 13:55, Furrosious ferreter said:
I would avoid the rats if wild... as they might have eaten poison.
Congrats on getting all 11 to this stage,
To yourself and the mum.
Genes are strange... theres a thread on here white kits and parents are polecat coloured.
Weldone again and good luck in the future.
FF
They are shop bought frozen rats of various stages, fuzzies and fully grown.
Ive been giving them as much meat as I can get my hands on but 11 babies are blazing through it like a plague of locusts!
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All 11 babies are growing fast. I’m feeding them continuously. MEAT, minced rabbit, pigeon, rats etc. Meat will always be best for mustilids of any kind.
BUT, I will offer kibble too, some of the homes I have lined up for my babies are going to have them as pets and not workers and they won’t all have access to meat and that is up to them, as long as they are being looked after and loved, it’s the owners choice what they feed them. By offering variety, it will be an easier transition for the new owners. But mine primarily eat meat, even in the summer. I just remove leftovers when they spoil.
The purpose of this thread was for me to get some ideas of things that I can offer my Jill that are nutritionally dense and will keep her going while she is feeding 11 babies. Some of the suggestions have been helpful, some less so.
She is putting weight back on and the kits will be 4 weeks tomorrow so I think we are out of the danger zone.
I was hoping to have a polecat in the litter, as the Jill had polecat siblings, but the parents dna won out. Genetics are fun.
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All 11 present and correct. Mum is an absolute trooper. Started them on solids, kitten milk mixed with cat food or soaked kibble. Will try them on some minced up rabbit this weekend.
Shes holding on in there, I’m just giving her extra meat and food so she’s ticking along.
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On 31/05/2019 at 16:23, jiggy said:
I'd seperate them from the Jill as early as possible too when there is that many. She will soon get sick of them if 11 torture her for milk when they are stronger. I had a Jill that ended up eating 5 out 7 of her young when I thought they were in the safe zone. I had another die after he got his head out and ate a piece of Lino cover I had sheltering the cage. Ferrets don't have good digestive systems for foreign objects. If that was a dog it would of passed it through.
Separate them early? How early?
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I say they come to call, but I think it’s more they respond to the sound of my voice. I always make sure to call them when I go to their enclosures and give them something when they come to me. They’ve learned that my voice means snacks!
Im always frightened that with instincts in the mix, if they get down the holes and find something, they won’t bother coming back! I’m quite attached to them now.
A squeaky toy is a good idea, I’ll give that one a go too.
We shoot every winter (husband shoots, I go beating - I don’t have a gun that fits me yet), our black lab is an excellent gundog despite no formal training. It wouldn’t be difficult to direct his instincts to finding rabbits.
The wonderful thing with the ferrets is that they can eat what we catch. They are such a cheap pet. I have the added bonus of living next door to vets, so I get on the doorstep advice and meds usually for free or in exchange for a Victoria sponge!
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They are intended for working, we are doing some informal training, they haven’t been in the field yet. Husband bought them for working and I hijacked them.
We have a lot of involvement with farming and already get involved with pest control on the shooting side of things.
We are still learning with regards to ferreting. You’ve got to start somewhere right?
What do you all do?
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Mine have only escaped when the kids haven’t latched them shut properly, I always check now but when they were young it was a learning curve
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How odd because albino is a recessive gene? They must be lucky!
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Mine always come back when I call them, silly question but have you tried that?
Next door’s ferrets escape all the time too and they are nearly always trying to get in with ours. Do you have any neighbours with ferrets?
Once theirs escaped and was found in the next road, incidentally in our in-laws garage, eating fire lighters of all things!!
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Well, I’m happily married so weirdos shall be ignored, dick pics will be posted on social media for lols. Fire away
in seriousness though, where are the rest of the gals??
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2 minutes ago, W. Katchum said:
Unlucky
you can expect some wierd private messages now, a lot of them
Really *rolls eyes*
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Not bothered if you make assumptions about my gender. Chill
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I am a woman.
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That’s what makes these forums useful, the wealth of knowledge. Everyone’s experience is different. Best to stay open minded I think.
The kits are just over two weeks now, I think we are going to be alright.
Now comes the hard part, picking one to keep.
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Looks like I’ve started something here - I can’t tell if it is all in jest or if you are really being mean to each other...
I appreciate the advice, I’ve been giving her lots of meat but she’s not really doing much with it in its whole state, so I’m chopping up pigeons and rabbits. Fussy little madam.
Thanks for the offer W.Katchum, I’m near Stonehenge so nowhere near but I do have a freezer full of rabbits anyway. Run out of pigeons though.
I’ve been giving the kits a little bit of kitten milk to fill them up a bit so they don’t feed from her so much which then gives her chance to leave the nest and get a good meal inside her. She just happens to like it too, I’m aware it isn’t going to do much in terms of weight gain, she’s just too sweet, I can’t resist her begging face!
Thanks for the advice, it’s been helpful
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This is her savage sister. She’s our worker because she’s a little monster!
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Another of her pre-pregnancy
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This is her normally, she pulled a lot of her coat out when she was nesting so she isn’t normally so slim. I’ve never heard of a greyhound ferry before so news to me!
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I’ve just offered the kits some kitten milk and the mother loves it! She was licking it off their faces and then came looking for more.
Two weeks old today! 4 boys and 7 girls - very happy with that!
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Thanks for the replies everyone, I tried to reply to each with quotes but my replies aren’t posting for some reason! Perhaps because I’m new.
All babies are fine and growing super fast, she’s lost 15g since Friday.
Not sure that she is a greyhound ferret?
Ill try the suggestions mentioned, thank you!
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Sorry she didn’t make it!
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11 minutes ago, socks said:
Keep piling the food in and keep it fresh also feed whole eggs and full fat goats milk every other day
Never would have thought of goats milk! Thanks!
Skinny nursing jill
in Ferrets & Ferreting
Posted
But OTs Jill is eating 3 skinny chicks a day, and she’s fine!