Think I Must Have Killed A Robin

[tsteve9999 456]

I can't believe the run of bad luck I've had with ferrets in the last 18 months or so.

I had to have my 2 oldest ones pts as they went off their back legs, the new hob I got escaped, the next hob kit I was gifted turned out to have a deformity of his back, pts again, and this afternoon I went up to feed them and found the new hob kit lying in the middle of the pen with dried blood on his muzzle, breathing his last

. I haven't got a clue whats happened he was fine yesterday, and the 3 jills are ok, my best guess is poisoned in some way or a fall. The only different food they've had is a mallard the dog caught 4 or 5 days ago but I can't see it being that because I had the breasts off it for my tea and I took the remains away 3 days ago.

[Lee farrington 211]

Sorry to here about your run of bad luck.

If it was the duck then I guess they would all be going the same way.

Hope your luck changes soon mate

[The one 8,397]

Its a lot cooler now there's no such a big chance of the meat spoiling but as said it would of wiped the lot out

[Aussie Whip 3,827]

Maybe bone fragment from the duck,lodged in the wrong spot.Hope your luck changes soon.

[Jerry71 269]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, have you been in touch with breeder were you got new pug from, did the new one pass something to others etc, in breeding can cause a lot of deformateys in pugs and any stock if bred to close and to often, also when a Jill as had more than one litter in a season the kits can be poor doers due to calcium etc, I know folk like to keep a good line close but they can be down sides as well, I keep a family of albinos and this line go's back years but new blood is entered to stop kits being born with bad backs, legs,. I hope things get better for you. Atb j

[tsteve9999 456]

Nothing to do with the breeding, he was as fit as a fiddle and from different stock to the one with back problems. My new pen is basically an aviary, I built it 6 foot high for easy cleaning and they climb up it often. The only thing I can think of is he fell and landed awkwardly, though I've never seen one fall before, and the floor is soil so it's not really hard. Maybe he landed on the edge of a nest box or something, I've no idea. Whatever it was killed him quickly, he was right as rain saturday morning and dead by sunday afternoon. I've checked the 3 jills a couple of times today and apart from the 6 year old one looking like a bag of bones, which she alwys does, they're fine, so I can't see it being food or desiese that did it.

[Jerry71 269]

Mine always climb up the front of there court it's six ft high by ten long and four wide, they have nest boxes in two corners five feet from floor with pipes leading into them, they are old show boxes for 6 pugs, and plenty of room for them to be cozy in the worst of weather. They also have large branches to climb and rock piles. Floor is solid but we get bales of sawdust and straw and make it deep anufe for them to burrow into. Mine fall and Im sure if you're pug landed wrong on branches or box then it'd break it's back falling wrong, it's hard ain't it,trying to make there courts interesting but safe, if I was you I'd put nest boxes up high, just bolt them in place and have pipes leading in. Never going to stop them climbing though. It's heart breaking when things go wrong and I really hope things get better for you, atvb j

[tsteve9999 456]

Yes mate, I'm beginning to wonder if I made a mistake with the pen, I built it on the base of my old koi pond and filled it with topsoil thinking the could dig a couple of holes if they wanted. When I put them in it was a small lawn and now it looks like the front line of the Somme... lol Its like a swiss cheese and I'm having to dig up the latrine area every month or so and fill back in with a bag of compost. The ferts love it and are noticably fitter than they were but it's a ballache in other ways

[Jax13 251]

Is it just me or are there a lot of ferrets dying unexpectedly recently.

 

I lost 3 in the last fortnight and I have a query.

 

All of mine died after I took them off biscuits and put them back onto rabbit. Do we think there could be some sort of meat taint that can make them ill if they have rvhd?km not saying it's zoonotic and they are contracting it but what if the disease at a certain point in its incubation in the bunnies is causing it to affect them?

 

I don't know and it is only a passing thought because this year I have heard about more unexpected deaths, pts and deformed kits than ever before in my (albeit slightly brief) ferreting life.

 

Something, somewhere seems a wee bit odd this year.

[Jerry71 269]

How long was food left could have gone off due to it being warm still , Im sorry to hear you lost 3 though,atb j

Edited October 31, 2017 by Jerry71

[tsteve9999 456]

So far all the rest of mine are fine so I don't think it's any infection, but 3 in a fortnight would make me worry.