Start Kits At What Age ?

[toolebox 1,542]

At what age do you guys start light working youre young kits ?

[vanman1 411]

Personaly i start mine at about six months (ish) the trick in my opinion is start easy.I try and find a smallish bury maybe 3-8 hole that iam sure holds rabbits.Be patient sometimes i dont even net up just let them sniff work etc once they have pushed a couple out they genrally only get better.Sometimes il pair a youngster up with an older jill and let them work together.

 

The biggest mistake people make imo is putting a youngster in a large warren the rabbits can run the ferret around and it will get frustrated and start mucking about,which in turn will frustrate you!

 

Biggest tip i can give is start small and be patient

[The one 8,474]

I start mine when i get them from the guy that bred them , running threw pipes in the garden picking them up putting them down trying on collars , Then when i think there mature enough i try them with a older jill , i wouldn't worry about age as they all mature at differnt times but look at size etc

[mhopton 807]

Agree pipes in backyard or garden helps them loads I find, and helps get them used too been pick up from the rabbit hole ,

Nothing worse than a ferret that's running back in all the time

ATB mark

[The one 8,474]

Aye it must be a big shock too them being stuck in a carrying box and bumped about them being shown a hole for the first time getting a collar stuck on and expected to go down it and bolt rabbits , so ive always tried to ease them into gently and hopefully produce good workers that can give ten years of working life

[vanman1 411]

Totaly agree with above (training should start from home early a possible) i two get them used to collars before there first hunt there court is full of tunnels logs etc which they have full access to from 7/8 weeks.The first 6 months iam contuinely picking them up putting them down pipe on hollow logs etc etc.Ive even taken days off work to play with my ferret!!! lol

[nighthunter. 13]

you will only get out of ferrets what you put in two them atb.

[Jarvis 277]

I have loads of pipes in their court so they get used to being in dark spaces and at different angles. When it come to working them I start them at 6 months and put them in a smallish warren with an older experienced ferret with no purse nets just a long net around it.

[pie-eater 377]

I prefer to start ferrets in their second season. Maybe Ill give them a tiny try at the end of the first but I genuinely believe ferrets held back until their second season work better.

 

I start them on small warrens on their own as Ive not had much luck with the entering behind an experienced worker method. As soon as they make contact with the first rabbit things start to fall into place.

[toolebox 1,542]

Thanks lads ,Im far from a newbe when it comes to the keeping & working of ferrets,but a very bad accident a while ago involeing the head has robbed me of most of my memory ,so its all new again ,for the life of me I just couldn't remember,a while back I thought & told a mate that the kits were full grown at 6 weeks old .lol

Edited January 8, 2014 by toolebox