from 14-3 kits

[clabby 14]

hi a mate of mine was given 2 fine jills the lad that gave em my mate failed to tell him they were pregnent. now me any my mate have had ferrets for a fair few years and for some reason the kits off the 2 jills seem to be dieing prety quick they are now 5 weeks old one of the jills killed her hole litter but cant find a reason for the others dieing off as the jill is real good with them. the hutches have been disinfected and treated and presure washed incase of any infections or what ever. any one no what the problem can be out of the 3 kits left im having one my mates is having one and he rehoming the other and i dont want to loose the kit i picked as it has real nice markings

[The one 8,477]

Are they first time mothers ?? then you can put it down to a learning curve. If not do they have any milk??

[clabby 14]

Are they first time mothers ?? then you can put it down to a learning curve. If not do they have any milk??

 

 

yea first time litters they were last years young. the one that killed all her young looks like she had a bit of mastitus coming on so that may of been the cause so he was told. and teh remaining 3 seem to b ok there getting a little bowl of cats milk and some thin sliced ham aswell as milk off the mother. dont no weather thats [bANNED TEXT] to do or not? but thats all we could think off they are eating and drinking the ham and milk tho so i gess thats a good thing

[Coneytrappr 30]

I wouldn't feed ham mate, very salty processed rubbish. They need good fresh, real raw meat- rabbit, chicken, woodys.

 

atb,

 

CT

[clabby 14]

I wouldn't feed ham mate, very salty processed rubbish. They need good fresh, real raw meat- rabbit, chicken, woodys.

 

atb,

 

CT

 

 

so ill get him to do away wid the ham i supose i better give him some of my suply of rabbits i thought the wafer thin stuff would of been better since it would be easyer to tear and eat will the kits be able to tear into a rabbit at 5 weeks? or would it be better to just cut it up into little bits or somthing

[ferretertom 7]

I think its just a worse year for ferret kits my mates have had the same problems and i had 1 kit off one jill whitch droped dead for no apparant reason i think someone i know lost about 25 kits only 3 liveing from about 4 jills.

Someone else put it down to the weather.

[lurcher lass 9]

how old are the kits? as their eating some solids clearly their being weaned so the jills milk is starting to dry up, in this heat have you checked the kits are drinking water, kits can't use drinking bottles, use the chicken feeders and check their lapping water alright..if their not lapping syringe feed them water,

other then that make sure their getting plenty of protein, i give mine beaten egg daily, helps keep protein levels up and gives them moisture

meat wise i would also avoid giving them ham, its fine as a treat to get them used to different tastes but not as a main food group, raw meat either feom carcus or from a supplyer - the likes of landywoods are fine, tripe, fish, day old chick as a treat, off cuts from meat i'm about to cook, chicken or bit of sausage meat, the list is endless give them a bit of everything so they'll eat anything when their older makes things easier

it also be the heat, my ferrets are feeling it just like the rest of us, so my partner said to freeze bottles of water and pop that in, my adult ferret and the kits in seperate hutch have benefited from this

personally if it were my kits, i'd remove them from the jill all together and continue rearing them myself,

all the best and keep us updated

lurcher lass x

[Coneytrappr 30]

I wouldn't feed ham mate, very salty processed rubbish. They need good fresh, real raw meat- rabbit, chicken, woodys.

 

atb,

 

CT

 

 

so ill get him to do away wid the ham i supose i better give him some of my suply of rabbits i thought the wafer thin stuff would of been better since it would be easyer to tear and eat will the kits be able to tear into a rabbit at 5 weeks? or would it be better to just cut it up into little bits or somthing

 

At five weeks they should be beginning to tear at the exposed meat [not old enough to open a rabbit themselves or fight through skin and fur], but if they aren't at that stage yet it would be fine to cut it up for them. Rabbit will be perfect.

[lurcher lass 9]

I think its just a worse year for ferret kits my mates have had the same problems and i had 1 kit off one jill whitch droped dead for no apparant reason i think someone i know lost about 25 kits only 3 liveing from about 4 jills.

Someone else put it down to the weather.

 

 

how do you lose 25 kits?!? i would have stepped in to rear some myself, last year i helped my jill by doing feeds every two hours round the clock with a poorly kit who at 4 weeks suddenly became weak, i syringed him water and meds til he was stronger and then slowly re introduced to meat again, he not only lived but grew well and was rehomed to a chicken farm and worked end of last season, new owners are very happy with him.

i don't understand how you lose this many kits, surely its a virus or something, keep your hutches clean, make sure the jill is copping, keep her weight on and all hydrated and not too hot or too cold,,

at the risk of sounding stupid i don't understand how this could happen

[spencerburgo 8]

ham is a definate no no, the salt in the ham could kill an adult ferret let alone young ones wich are just weaning go to the pet shop and get some pet mince or even tinned cat food but raw is best for them

 

cheers spencer.....

Are they first time mothers ?? then you can put it down to a learning curve. If not do they have any milk??

 

 

yea first time litters they were last years young. the one that killed all her young looks like she had a bit of mastitus coming on so that may of been the cause so he was told. and teh remaining 3 seem to b ok there getting a little bowl of cats milk and some thin sliced ham aswell as milk off the mother. dont no weather thats [bANNED TEXT] to do or not? but thats all we could think off they are eating and drinking the ham and milk tho so i gess thats a good thing

[clabby 14]

ok well i got some rabbit thawing out so ill skin it and drop it round his later looking ta the 3 serviving kits they look happy enuff and are drinking ok he has been putting soggy mushed up dog biscuts in there aswell. aslong as these 3 servive i wonte mind because ill have a kit

 

cheers for the help guys this was jsut somthing new to us as we never had that any problems other than me loosing a jill at 6 months for no reason. even at 7 weeks old my kits were active and playful and helphy and the lad i got my ferrets off dint exactly look after his ferrets that well and my mate cleanshis hutches 3 times a week so cant see a reason for it. i did forget to mention that the mother had tore the heads off 2 of the kits so mabe she could be drying up and the kits she killed had hurt her?

[loulove1 0]

I have lost 4 kits this weekend; they all started off healthy and the best looking kits I’ve seen in a long time.

 

They are now 6 weeks old and I have started to notice they are not developing as normal, by this I mean they are developing what I can only describe as some sort of deformitive disease.

 

The 1st 2 to die became week and I noticed that there spines were becoming curved; this happened very quickly (24-48 hours).

 

 

The other 2 just seemed to drop dead with no visible reason but having spent a long time feeding the others yesterday I have become concerned at there development as they should be more active by this stage but they seem to have started to get what I can only describe as seal leg syndrome on the front legs. By this I mean the front legs on some of the kits (not all) seem to be unusually spread out to the sides, this is making them move around in an unusual way.

 

I think this may be some sort of deformity that has occurred as they are from a silver Jill, the hob was a polecat and they have no relation but have read of the silver strain becoming deformative in the past.

 

I have bread ferrets many times over the years and never come across this, they have water in an easy access bird water feeder and they have had a healthy raw meat diet along with a constant supply of dry food and the odd bit of milk and egg.

 

I am not happy as all had good homes to go to and I am going to have to call all the new owners to give them the bad news this week, I am going to see how they are this afternoon but if I still have concerns I will not be passing on the ones that are still alive.

 

I am sure I read something a long time ago about a similar occurrence in kits but haven’t been able to find anything.

 

Any advice or experiences of the problem welcome.

 

Darren.

 

(im going to post this as a topic as well)

[clabby 14]

I have lost 4 kits this weekend; they all started off healthy and the best looking kits I’ve seen in a long time.

 

They are now 6 weeks old and I have started to notice they are not developing as normal, by this I mean they are developing what I can only describe as some sort of deformitive disease.

 

The 1st 2 to die became week and I noticed that there spines were becoming curved; this happened very quickly (24-48 hours).

 

 

The other 2 just seemed to drop dead with no visible reason but having spent a long time feeding the others yesterday I have become concerned at there development as they should be more active by this stage but they seem to have started to get what I can only describe as seal leg syndrome on the front legs. By this I mean the front legs on some of the kits (not all) seem to be unusually spread out to the sides, this is making them move around in an unusual way.

 

I think this may be some sort of deformity that has occurred as they are from a silver Jill, the hob was a polecat and they have no relation but have read of the silver strain becoming deformative in the past.

 

I have bread ferrets many times over the years and never come across this, they have water in an easy access bird water feeder and they have had a healthy raw meat diet along with a constant supply of dry food and the odd bit of milk and egg.

 

I am not happy as all had good homes to go to and I am going to have to call all the new owners to give them the bad news this week, I am going to see how they are this afternoon but if I still have concerns I will not be passing on the ones that are still alive.

 

I am sure I read something a long time ago about a similar occurrence in kits but haven’t been able to find anything.

 

Any advice or experiences of the problem welcome.

 

Darren.

 

(im going to post this as a topic as well)

its ok mate hi jack my thread funny enuff these kits are albino silver x the hob was a silver

[gnipper 6,467]

My kits at 5 week old are eating carcases and dry food ok and using the water bottles, I wouldn't feed mushed up dog biscuits or ham or milk tbh. Either feed fresh or defrosted carcases or ferret biscuits (soaked if the kits can't crunch it yet) and they should be fine.

[Coneytrappr 30]

I would stay away from breeding silvers, personally.