dicky82

I would suggest a well mannered Springer, that's just my opinion. Lots of people have lots of different breeds they use for the hide and or rough shooting. might be worth remembering that if you buy a pup it will be next year before you know if they are suitable for both the hide and rough shooting. if you were to look at older dogs that have a bit of experience in both scenarios then you could then have your decision made about what breed you go for.

no intentions of starving her. she has her fair share of the food and has plenty of exercise. never had it with the other ferrets so that's why i was curious as to why she was a little porker. she'll be worked in the next few weeks. most of my permissions are still too over grown at the minute but with recent drop in temperature they should be ready to rock soon.

just wondering has anyone come across this before? i picked up a new ferret a few weeks back. it's a kit from this season. she is very porky compared to my other jill's. she's not very big if that makes sense but she is a little porker. doesn't seem to affect her running around and going through pipes and holes and things. her mother and father are nice lean ferrets. i feed them solely on rabbit, chicken and pigeon. oh and lambs hearts when i can get them cheap. i'll try post a pic later.

got 30 off him during the year. itching to get out and use them. quality is unreal.

my brother re-fare's to my hob as 'the general' because he got two sisters up the duff. anyone from Ireland/Dublin will get this. . .

i thought that myself, give the dog a 'bone'. . . anyway, i was going to ask is it really a wire haired vizla? i would have thought it had a smooth coat? or do wire haired vizlas only have wirey muzzles? lovely pup all the same.

the man is a top bloke. looking forward to using the new nets, alas it will not be until next season now as the last time i was out there was babies everywhere, ans some juveniles which shows that they were having young very early in the year.

lads and ladies, i just want to let everyone on here know that i recently bought some fantastic nets off netrigger. great quality and an absolute gent to deal with. he even threw in some complimentary ones and some varied sizes. would highly recamend him. cheers netrigger and thanks again.

cheers again for the replies, she seems to have chilled out a little in the last day or so, not as agressive but she did get a hold of my hand today and had a good hold of it, i know that she will chill out more as time goes on but it wasn't the handling that was the issue, shes was ok to pick up and hold it was just how that when she got the oppertunity to bite me she went at it as hard as possible, its funny how something so small has such power in its little jaws. . . its no wonder they can take out a full grown rabbit.

thanks for the replies lads, its not the picking up thats the problem really, i can actually pick her up and avoid a nip when i'm holding her, its when she's free to run around, she just bolts for my hands, actually today she jumped from a platform down onto the next level to get my hand. im not teasing her of coaxing her to do it she just wants my bloody fingers off.

ye handling is the way forward alright but what im trying to explain (not very well) is the pure agression, even when im not handling her or near her, as soon as she comes out of the nest box she just makes a bee line for my hands, it reminds me as if i have walked into someones yard and their dog just keeps attacking my leg no matter how much you kick it away. its mad because she locks on, and i have to prise her off.

any body got any experience with overly agressive ferrets? i understand that young ferrets mouth and nip and that frequent handling brings them round. its just that i have recently got two jills from this season and one is very agressive, she chases my hand anytime im at their inclosure and when she gets it she sinks her teeth in, as if she was eating a rabbit, her sister nips a tiny bit but more so out of curiosity? anyway just wondering what are your experiences of ferrets that would be overly agressive?

when i got my ferret kits last year the lad i bought them off told me thats what you feed them, came on here to double check and was 'steered' in the right direction, the lad i got them off was by no means an auld timer. met a young lad out with his ferret one time and he told me he feeds it solely on that chubb stuff from lidl, i used that as a 'wetter' one time in the dogs food and the dog was shitting like a dairy cow after it. anyway mine get lambs hearts, rabbit, pigeons, eggs and dry meal.

The more kits a jill is carrying the greater the load on her body, given what you have said IE numbers of kits and change in diet I would almost certainly say toxemia is the cause. Get her back on meat ASAP, if your mate is worried about flies feed smaller portions more frequently and get a Red Top fly trap: RED TOP FLY TRAPS thanks for the help and the link. will let you know if his other jill has any trouble.

we cut one open today. fifteen little ones inside. also he has changed from meat to dry food due to flies in this weather, so this could lend creedence to your theory. should he go back on the meat asap? or is it just because they were carring so many kits? the other jill was equally as swelled as the one we opened up and both were quite small jills.