More advice needed....

[Bullcat 12]

O.K. Here is my dilema...

 

I`ve got two Jills living in seperate pens. Their Kits are 8 weeks and six weeks old now. I want to know if and when I can have them all living in the one pen together. I`ve also got a hob (the father of the kits) which I would also like to have in the same pen. Is this advisable or possible?

 

Help please....

[Guest Frank]

Wait till the 6 week old kits have reached 8 weeks and dont, what ever you do, put the hob in with them, he might end up killing them.

 

Frank.

[welshdragon 6]

hi Bullcat like frank said dont put the hob in with the kits

W.D

[Ricky-N.p.p 0]

I had the same dylema back in the summer, i put all the kits in one pen and the 2 adults in the other.

 

hope this helps

 

regards

Ricky

[Mitch 0]

Ok here is something freaky, When my Jill first had kits they where fine in there nest box but they soon started to wander. I noticed a couple had gotten out but not travelled far, i was able to pick them up put them back into the cage and i noticed another one was still missing,

 

When i checked my hob he had picked it up and put it in his nest box, had anyone heard of this? he was the father of them, which im sure has something to do with it

[blackdug 90]

i,ve had some hobs that were good dads ,done the same with kits

[Bullcat 12]

So do you guys reckon that the best thing to do is;- have all the kits together in one pen, the jills in the other and the hob on his own in another?

Any advice is much appreciated...

[Crow 1]

I can't see why there is a concern for putting the hob back in - but more on that later.

 

Once the younger litter is 8/9 weeks old you should be able to put the babes & jills in together - assuming your court is big enough of course. When I do this (and I always do) here's my procedure:

 

I remove all the 'furniture' from the court and give it a good clean out, then I replace it but in a different way. I create smaller places for the smaller ferrets to get into. I also add extra pipes, logs, etc to generally make it a more interesting place for those that had already been there. Then I add the youngsters that were not originally in there - I give them about 30 mins to have a look around and get to know the place a bit, then I add the other youngsters. The additional arrivals and the change of court gives them loads to look into, play around with, etc. After a while I then add one adult jill, leave it a while, then another.

 

You will get some squabbling and squeeling but don't be too concerned, just keep an eye on things and check your ferrets for signs of injury regularly.

 

Once that had all settled down then I can't see why you couldn't add your hob. At this time of the year he will have come out of season, therefore he won't be sexually agressive. He may pull the others about a bit but if he was OK with adults before then he should be OK now!

 

Too may people worry about hobs and babes, but I've bred on a communal system before (leaving the hob in the entire time) and I've never had a problem with hobs attacking/killing babies. I could be lucky of course, but I have four hobs and none have shown homidical tendancies to the young. In fact, they are more aggressive to each other when in season.

 

Take things easy, keep and eye out, have faith and relax!

 

Crow

Edited December 29, 2006 by Crow

[Guest MOLLY]

My Hob left the 1st litter alone, then ate all but one of the 2nd, which arrived a week later

I removed him and tried him again when they had their eyes open and were walking about a bit, found him trying to kill them again, he had to be removed till they were much bigger.

MOLL.

[Guest Bigbob]

i had 4 litters this year two sets of hutches with two jills and two litters in each that worked out fine as there was only days differnce in the ages of the kitts in a hutch but there was a fortnight between all the litters . Once the youngest litters could fend for them selfs i put them all intogether and put the bitches back with the rest of my ferrets and the only problem i had was the bitches came back into season

[Bullcat 12]

Hi Guys

I`ve been away from my computer over the Xmas holidays, hence why I havent thanked you all for the great advice...

I`ll give Crows advice a go over the weekend.

[kurgan 5]

Hi Guys

I`ve been away from my computer over the Xmas holidays, hence why I havent thanked you all for the great advice...

I`ll give Crows advice a go over the weekend.

just wondering what the hell do you do with all the young ones i fancy breeding but would be hard pushed to give them away,i'd keep a few but knowing my luck id end up with 20 of them.

[Bullcat 12]

Hi Guys

I`ve been away from my computer over the Xmas holidays, hence why I havent thanked you all for the great advice...

I`ll give Crows advice a go over the weekend.

just wondering what the hell do you do with all the young ones i fancy breeding but would be hard pushed to give them away,i'd keep a few but knowing my luck id end up with 20 of them.

 

Advertise them and sell them... Any unsold ones, I will keep.

I advertised them yesterday, phone hasnt stopped ringing and I`ve sold a few today.

[Mitch 0]

They definatly are goers, 50 bux i get up here for a ferret