pie-eater 377 Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 Ive always preferred hobs to jills, only 2 thing that have stopped me keeping hobs exclusively, 1. they come into season late in the ferreting season and lose their edge. 2. they cant get through a purse net. Castrating would obviously stop them coming into season so that's one problem taken care of. Castrated hobs are likely to be able to live together year round so no need to be separating them. Also theres no jills to worry about taking out of season. I also find more hobs make the grade than jills. I think the pros outweigh the cons for me Anyone got any experience working castrated hobs?. Quote Link to post
RIP.JD 21 Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 I've got a castrated hob, he's huge, slow and you'd never belive it but he pushes rabbits out amazingly well.. Don't think they have a choice ?... However I'm sure it's a vasactomised one you need as castrated hobs don't work at taking Jills out of season.. 1 Quote Link to post
pie-eater 377 Posted February 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 I've got a castrated hob, he's huge, slow and you'd never belive it but he pushes rabbits out amazingly well.. Don't think they have a choice ... However I'm sure it's a vasactomised one you need as castrated hobs don't work at taking Jills out of season.. No I don't want them for taking jills out of season Iv had vas hobs before, what Im thinking about doing is keeping castrated hobs exclusively so I don't need to mess around taking jills out of season. I have an entire hob (the one in my avatar) who is a brilliant worker but does lose interest late in the season. Quote Link to post
Joe1888 672 Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 bpr had two for a while, no problems and worked ok 1 Quote Link to post
The one 8,479 Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 Ive got a load of jills and they work well but im still ferreting when they come into season and at the end of the day you have to wash there bits , but ive two hobs here and they where got for working huge sandy burrows and they either bolt the rabbits or they are wrapped around them in the mouth of the burrows like pythons and they are so laid back , we have talked a few times about moving over to castrated hobs no seasons to worry about and hopefully they can live in harmony in one hutch 1 Quote Link to post
terryd 8,430 Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 my hob is castrated and works fine plus I don't have a rampant ferret to deal with in the summer and he lives in with a spayed jill 1 Quote Link to post
Gaz6br 193 Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 I've had vasactomised hobs I work one at the minute he's great, but no experience with a castrated one I'm afraid, thinking about it I'm sure it would be fine Gaz 1 Quote Link to post
ZeusPolecat 185 Posted February 16, 2015 Report Share Posted February 16, 2015 My hobs castrated, lives with the jills. Very laid back. Lays up often and for long periods of time but is otherwise my best worker. 1 Quote Link to post
pie-eater 377 Posted February 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2015 Sounds like it could work out then. I wont part with the 2 jills I have now as they are good workers but I wont replace them once they've passed on. Quote Link to post
krawnden 1,036 Posted February 16, 2015 Report Share Posted February 16, 2015 I'm a big fan of castrated hobs. Best ferret I've ever owned was one. Haven't got any at the moment but planning on breeding a litter this year specifically to keep back 2 or 3 hobs to have them castrated. The only downside to them is when you get a goodun you can't breed from him. 1 Quote Link to post
pie-eater 377 Posted February 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 I'm a big fan of castrated hobs. Best ferret I've ever owned was one. Haven't got any at the moment but planning on breeding a litter this year specifically to keep back 2 or 3 hobs to have them castrated. The only downside to them is when you get a goodun you can't breed from him. Thats my plan to breed a litter and keep back 2 hobs, hoping for 2 light coloured hobs in the litter. Quote Link to post
krawnden 1,036 Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 I'm a big fan of castrated hobs. Best ferret I've ever owned was one. Haven't got any at the moment but planning on breeding a litter this year specifically to keep back 2 or 3 hobs to have them castrated. The only downside to them is when you get a goodun you can't breed from him. Thats my plan to breed a litter and keep back 2 hobs, hoping for 2 light coloured hobs in the litter. Given a choice of colour I prefer light ones too as they're so much easier to see in the thick cover i do a lot of (especially as the older I get, the worse my eyesight becomes ) 2 Quote Link to post
pie-eater 377 Posted February 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 I'm a big fan of castrated hobs. Best ferret I've ever owned was one. Haven't got any at the moment but planning on breeding a litter this year specifically to keep back 2 or 3 hobs to have them castrated. The only downside to them is when you get a goodun you can't breed from him. Thats my plan to breed a litter and keep back 2 hobs, hoping for 2 light coloured hobs in the litter. Given a choice of colour I prefer light ones too as they're so much easier to see in the thick cover i do a lot of (especially as the older I get, the worse my eyesight becomes ) Thats it exactly. It makes sense to use lighter coloured ferrets with the cover not dying off until later in the season. Quote Link to post
Neal 1,869 Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 I no longer have any ferrets but I previously kept three castrated males together year round. They all got on fine and worked well too. Initial outlay for the op is the only drawback. 1 Quote Link to post
pie-eater 377 Posted February 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) I no longer have any ferrets but I previously kept three castrated males together year round. They all got on fine and worked well too. Initial outlay for the op is the only drawback. Yeah that is a bit of a draw back but it would save me building extra hutches to separate them in the spring, so I suppose it balances out money wise. Edited February 17, 2015 by pie-eater Quote Link to post
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