Litter wastage ?

[Squirrel_Basher 17,101]

We all know there are too many ferrets bred every year just for the sake of keeping the jill healthy and in the absence of a vacetomised hob .The choice I make and an emotional one for some of you is to cull what is not needed from the litter at an early age .I understand this will cause some reaction but its 100% better than some fates awaiting unwanted ferrets,poor conditions ,unworked .If we were a bit tougher on stock in general then only a few surplus animals would live out their lives untested .

Foxdropper .

[martin 332]

If I don't want any from a litter I will leave the Hob in and,I find that the Jill and the Hob will eat them,or,most of them.What this does is very quickly puts the Jill into tip top condition,and if any survive,then in my opinion they were meant to survive.........probably a bit more contentious than your method,but,it is natural.

[Guest MOLLY]

I've done everything possible to prevent unwanted litters, even had the same hob vasectomised twice

But what am i supposed to do with 25 unwanted kits? Luckily i've found homes for 10 of them, but it meant 15 had to be pts As you have all described it is definately for the best but not a nice thing to happen.

MOLL.

[blackdug 90]

i have the same problem just now 2 pregnant jills ready to drop and no takers for the young,,moral of my story is don,t trust these hobs with the snip !!!!!

[MikeTheDog 153]

In the absence of a 'jaffa' go for the jill jab!....You can get it done real cheap if you take your jills to the vet same time as you take your dog for its annual booster vaccination. Used to cost me £2/£3 per jill. Also some ferret clubs have friendly vets who come along to a prearranged meeting and jab a large amount of jills in one hit. And if you time it right the jills don't come on again 'til next year.

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

WE always do it,.and do it quick,..its then done and dusted...

[Guest ceredigion bull cross]

If I don't want any from a litter I will leave the Hob in and,I find that the Jill and the Hob will eat them,or,most of them.What this does is very quickly puts the Jill into tip top condition,and if any survive,then in my opinion they were meant to survive.........probably a bit more contentious than your method,but,it is natural.

nice one martin , i'll give that a go myself this year

[Guest ARTEMIS]

I've read in my selection of ferret books, that Jill jabs sometimes need to be done twice in a year - and are so expensive, that in the long run it's cheaper to get the Jill spayed!

 

I guess it is expensive to get the Jill spayed though, as I found it it's going to cost me £40 for each of my Hobs to be castrated at about 5 months old.

 

Don't know what I'd do if I had Jills! Sounds like it's tough decisions and expense all round!

 

Ferrets are not cheap! :kiss:

[Kay 3,709]

Well personally i wouldnt neuter under 6 months old .let the ferret mature & it will have to have visable testicals before a vet will castrate anyway .

[Guest Rabbiteer]

I've read in my selection of ferret books, that Jill jabs sometimes need to be done twice in a year - and are so expensive, that in the long run it's cheaper to get the Jill spayed!

 

I guess it is expensive to get the Jill spayed though, as I found it it's going to cost me £40 for each of my Hobs to be castrated at about 5 months old.

 

Don't know what I'd do if I had Jills! Sounds like it's tough decisions and expense all round!

 

Ferrets are not cheap! :kiss:

 

"that Jill jabs sometimes need to be done twice in a year - and are so expensive,"

 

If you are down south join the Wessex ferret club then hopefully you will not find £3 per jill jab so expensive. If you do still find it expensive maybe you should think again about getting ferrets..............

[waz77 15]

I keep my ferrets in cages with wire bottoms like mink cages but bigger,with a tray underneath to catch shit and ive never mated a jill in 23yrs and never had one die from not breeding from them,the one ive got now must be 6-7 and never seen a hob.I think the main problem is the jills swollen vulva easily lets bacteria in leading to problems,with a wire floor theres no muck.I may be wrong but its worked for me for years.It means you don't add to problem of too many unwanted kits and you rehome a few from people who have some they want rid of

[Guest ARTEMIS]

Well personally i wouldnt neuter under 6 months old .let the ferret mature & it will have to have visable testicals before a vet will castrate anyway .

 

 

Yes, my local NFWS recommended and Wessex Ferret Club recommended Ferret friendly vet have let me know that ferrets are normally castrated at a MINIMUM of 5 months, and I plan on taking them in for a pre-op check at this age (as also recommended by this very vet!). Obviously I won't be asking the vet to do anything he or she does not recommend themself - I'll let the vet take the lead on this important issue, and I have researched and sought out a recommended ferret friendly vet already, even though I don't yet own any ferrets!

 

If you are down south join the Wessex ferret club then hopefully you will not find £3 per jill jab so expensive. If you do still find it expensive maybe you should think again about getting ferrets..............

 

I am going to join the Wessex Ferret Club - it's really great to hear they are doing Jill Jabs at only £3 each - that sounds very reasonable - perhaps the info I'm getting from the books I'm using for research is a little out of date - or maybe the Wessex Ferret Club is subsidising a fair bit - I don't know - but either way, £3 a Jill jab is very good indeed!

 

Of course even if I DID find a jill jab expensive (not that I'll be needing them as I'm going to get HOBS!),

A - I'm a woman - why would expense stop me - expensive = better! (said tongue in cheek - having a laugh here)!

&

B - "I'm worth it! :kiss: and so are my ferrets!

 

[jultaylor1972 2]

We all know there are too many ferrets bred every year just for the sake of keeping the jill healthy and in the absence of a vacetomised hob .The choice I make and an emotional one for some of you is to cull what is not needed from the litter at an early age .I understand this will cause some reaction but its 100% better than some fates awaiting unwanted ferrets,poor conditions ,unworked .If we were a bit tougher on stock in general then only a few surplus animals would live out their lives untested .

Foxdropper .

See your point and agree 100%.

[Ricky-N.p.p 0]

i have a visectimised hob that so far hasnt priduced any young,so wasnt going to have any young this year but i have one jill left that he hasnt serviced and some mates have asked for kits,anyone who has any unwanted kits near glasow, or anywhere for that matter, as i attend dome gamefairs all over the country please pm me asap,could be doing everyone a favour !

[Guest ARTEMIS]

Are there any statistics available on success rates of Hob vasectomies?

 

It seems to me - that even though some hobs have had the vasectomy op - they still manage to get Jills pregnant...

 

The two little hobs I'm getting are from a litter brought about from mating between a Jill and a vasectomised hob!

 

It seems to me, unless you are prepared to cull the unwanted kits from the litter (or can rehome them or leave them with a rescue center) - the best options might be to have the Jill take a "Jill Jab" (which according to the article below - is cheaper than raising unwanted kits for 6 - 8 weeks or so....which obviously won't affect anyone who is culling the kits at birth anyway.....!)

 

 

I found lots of info here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/health15.htm

 

If you scroll down to the "Vasectomy Reversal" and "Vasectomised Hobs" section, it has a lot of info. (for anyone that has not already read this article!)

 

A little off - topic I know, as the main point here is about culling the unwanted - and this kind of veers off into preventing the unwanted in the first place!

Edited June 8, 2007 by ARTEMIS