SMALL FERRETS

[DiStuRBeD 0]

haha, i must of eaten some good shit as a kid then im 6'6

[jacob 28]

yeah ditch keep it simple mate im a bit thick,but i thought we were talking about small ferrets not weedy ones ,i think youve taken it out of context ,weedy ones may be incapable of dealing with their prey ,but the small ferrets i keep have never had much of a problem doing their job.ive never had one kicked to death or eaten by a rat either,ive seen my ferrets literally ride the rabbits out like professional jockeys i shit you not, but as you say each to his own ay.

[Kay 3,709]

in my opinion medium sized jill's are best, in fact any jill that will work, size is really comparative, i wouldn't go on a fruitless search for "greyhound" ferrets

 

My uncle who has been round ferrets and hunting dogs longer than most on here have been alive, said to me last time i saw him,

 

" greyhound ferrets, the reason we used to be able to find such small ferrets was for one reason........they were malnourished as loads of idiots fed them on bread and milk ........he then told me about how he has always fed meat and that in his opinion the small ferrets he used to see were a result of being fed down rather than bred down....ferrets are bigger now as they achieve there genetic potential as they receive better diets.............." i think i agree with my uncle, better fed larger ferrets work better than malnourished runts

 

 

now i expect someone to post pics of a small meat fed ferret, i am sure the exist, people are all different sizes, but consistently small ferrets only come from malnourished stock

 

 

I agree 100% with the under feeding of ferret to keep them from developing properly, i took 2 kits from a breeder who said they were small cause of the breeding, i was quite sickened by the way they ate, the poor things had been half starved & in a week they doubled there size but sadly it took months for them to realise my fingers were not on the menu

 

They came good in the end and were of average size s i agree the bulk of tiny ferrets are basicaly tiny cause of there diet

[reynardhunter 3]

you might be a bit quick to jump the gun there ditchie ..... my uncle preffers small ferrets as its harder for them to hold rabbits therefor no kill ins see ?? ..... and having seen them work they dont half shift those bunnys from the smaller sets at least.

 

 

Then it'll be a gun I've spent most of my lifetime in the jumping of, Ricky

 

No kill ins with the smallest ferrets? No. But some gargantuan struggles when they met a rat down there. And some pretty damn harsh kickings from rabbits they were likely trying to kill, or move from an 'Arse Up'. (Of course, these days, they'd be spaded down to, long before either antagonist could make any headway )

 

I was never particularly blessed with the freedom of choice over which buries I worked. Massive, dowland chalk fortresses or little, hedge bottom four holers. They all needed clearing. Thus, over the decades, I refined my own preferances to ~ as I recently suggested else where on here ~ putting in both some jills of average size and one good, strong hob. Crafty bit was in their Feeding Fed right, they'd hunt for the fun of it. If a jill had an arse up? The hob would soon find her and push the recalcitrant rabbit out. I'd found working with only dinkies left me no such option. Thus I learned the art of patience!

 

Talking of big ol' hobs: I had no cine camera, so can't back this up in the modern fashion, but I've no reason to lie to ye. On more than one occassion I found my last hob, " Pot " actually dragging a rabbit out of the bury! He let me take it and went back to work.

 

On another, most memorable occassion, same ferret was working a hedge when he popped out and wandered off along the ditch. Before I could reach him he clamboured up the bank and went off into some rough vegetation beyond. Having got through the fence, I found him scratching anxiously at a bit of old tin. K? Can you imagine my astonishment, delight and pride when I lifted that leaf debri piece of tin ~ to find myself staring, wide eyed, at the back of a bloody rabbit?!

 

Work That one out, mate. Because I'm damned if I can!

 

 

ReynardHunter; I love my place too!

The ,>i dont sleep i wait bit is class ditch, you must be some character, cheers

 

and whats darwins theory got to do with it?

 

Simply put mate; Weedy creatures, incapable of dealing with their prey, don't get to survive. They get the living sh!t kicked out of them. They get weakened by the repeated experiance. They die.

 

Ferrets are taken aside from Darwins theory of Natural Selection only because people are on hand to send on substitutes and otherwise aid and abbett their efforts.

 

Show me a three year old, natural born and bred, wild Polecat of around the six inch mark and I'll declare Darwin a c*nt

 

 

Personally ~ as stated above ~ I prefer to work with a rabbits worse nightmare. NOT a minor irritant. That's all.

 

But each to his own

f****in classic answer!

[bunnyboy 0]

I live in Ireland and was wondering does anyone know where i could get some small ferrets, i have never seen any for sale in fact i,ve never seen small ferrets except in magazines, My own jills are pretty large and any hobs i,ve had have been like grizzleys, Also i,m looking for silver ferrets, Thanks

 

 

You must be looking for pennine rats or whippet both are a type of ferret

[Guest Magwitch]

my mate as a strain he calls welsh ratters smallest ive ever seen about weasel sized

[Hywel 53]

i work small jills but also has Ditch says work a normal sized hob along side them, i found small jills leave a few down the bury but if i put i hob in he clears the holes and takes no prisoners. they work in different ways the hobs are slow but methodical the jill fast and furious. this combo works for me :thumbs-up:

 

Exactly the same scenario here Magwitch I also work small Jills and use the Hob as back-up. As for some claims that the small ferrets are derived from malnourished parentage I can assure you a smaller working strain does exist with litters fed on a BARF diet. Each to their own......

[jigsaw 11,899]

Heres living proof of a small ferret getting the shit kicked out of him,this happened last season but hes still going strong this season and though hes small he works like a demon.I have got dozens of rabbits with him.He is very small but hes very rarely held a rabbit underground and killed it.I have dug to him and found a rabbit in a stop end quiet alive,He has been fed with the best he can get,hes never been poorly fed,most of my ferrets are very tidy in size and its not from starvation either.Its the way I like my ferrets,on the tidy size.

[Hywel 53]

Heres living proof of a small ferret getting the shit kicked out of him,this happened last season but hes still going strong this season and though hes small he works like a demon.I have got dozens of rabbits with him.He is very small but hes very rarely held a rabbit underground and killed it.I have dug to him and found a rabbit in a stop end quiet alive,He has been fed with the best he can get,hes never been poorly fed,most of my ferrets are very tidy in size and its not from starvation either.Its the way I like my ferrets,on the tidy size.

 

Did he lose the eye?

[jigsaw 11,899]

Yes Hywel hes only got 1 eye now but hes still going well.The only problem is since hes lost it hes a little nippy,when hes in the warren he tends to grab at anything that he touches.He never bit anyone and outside of hunting hes still like a lamb but in the dark and in the heat of the hunt hes a little nippy.Once he knows its not a rabbit hes fine.

[whin 463]

ninties i got paid for getting rid of rabbits etc and caught thousands in a year along the scottish borders , strong bitches and strong dog ferrets plus breeding counts, i ve never had undersised ferret as when your working these cold lonely places, you want a ferret to either bolt or kill and move on and when your catching thirtyto fifty plus daily ,you soon tire anything but strong ferrets plus come jan feb they dont bolt the same so you need a good hungry worker who will sit tight til you get there ,ive pulled 4s and 5s etc out of stop ends with good strong workers, ive saw little bitches quit on rabbits hard worked and in very cold conditions , i like a ferret that kills you get a mark either dig it or he moves on and bolts more, used to work seven ferrets a day ,they all had meat on them , after 4 months hard ferreting at the end of a season you can telll the world , the dog ferrets and the odd strong jill were the only ones left , ferrets lasted me three seasons then then they started not bolting hard rabbs and well time for them to go or take them out less and keep them keener these rabbs up the hills are bigger up to 4 pounders were localy rabbs are 2 to three pounders and a smaller ferret would do for the odd jaunt as there not many rabbs localy, all hares and deer,

 

i dont see the piont of breeding small of anything if your going to work it hard ,but if you an occaisonal ferreter most ferrets will do born out of expierence all the best

[jigsaw 11,899]

Whin I breed for small ferrets.I'd be classed as the occasional ferret I suppose.I get out once a week.I work 6 days a week and ferret on Sunday.During Xmass I have been out on the 23rd of xmass,had 16 Christmass eve and I got 14,,out today got 6.I used the same pair of ferrets each time,they suit me fine for what I do.I wouldnt personally keep a killing ferret,I've given a lot of them away.Once they learn the knack of killing below ground they perfect it to a tee.I had 36 rabbits in the last week and had to dig to 2,1 was alive and kicking in the stop end.I dont have a dog at the moment and we use 12-18 ft field nets and have great craic with what we do.I'd say if we had to deal with the ammount of rabbits that you deal with my type of ferrets wouldnt stand the pace either,but what we have at the moment we find quite satisfactory,the best day we ever had was 4 years ago and we tallied 52 rabbits,21 of these were caught with a ferret we nicknamed ''the rat'' as shes so small but shes very keen.Truthfully after that outing she lost a lot of conditioning and weight and after a week off and plenty of feeding she was as right as rain again.I admit what you say carrys a lot of truth and I'd love a challenge like the numbers you have to deal with,all the best Jigsaw

[Shamo 319]

I keep and breed what I refer to as 'Fitchy Ferrets'. They are Polecat colour and nice and small. They can fit down Rat Holes easily and are well able to deal with Rabbits. They are bred down NOT STARVED. I have selectively bred and culled for the Ferrets I have. If they couldn't do what I wanted them to do then I wouldn't keep them! Each to their own. I have no problems with the ones I keep and breed. My Males are the size of a small Gill and easily capable of getting through a Net without knocking it down. I do not keep malnourished specimens and mine are all healthy and shiny Coated, BUT VERY SMALL. They kill Rats regularly if they don't bolt and they bolt their share of Rabbits. As everything, it is all to do with trying, selection and culling.

 

If these small Ferrets are so hopeless guys......I wonder how Weasels and Stoats have survived!!