Old Working Strains Of Ferrets

[blinddate 43]

Guys

 

Had an interesting day at the Hampshire country show at Netley Marsh yesterday morning, and had good conversation with a fellow rabbiter about todays quality of working ferrets.

 

In my view not all ferrets work and the general working quality is not what it was 20 plus years ago?

 

Too many breeding micro, wild polecat and show ferrets.....all too often untested in the field.

 

In the late 70's and early 80's only working ferrets were kept, and those not making the grade were sent to the big warren in the sky!!

 

You could pick up kits from most sources and have guaranteed workers in a short time. i remember at the pugs and drummers stand in 82, box loads of ferrets being traded and swaped in a large enclosed ferret arena!! Here i bought my last greyhound type...and christ did they work!!

 

Today too many kits from untested and untried parents have resulted in a much higher failure rate for myself and many close associates.

 

in my chat with my fellow ferreter he asked if i knew of any top untainted by micro and show lined, working ferrets and who had outstanding strains? Are there any ferreters still keeping 20 plus year strains that guarantee workers every time?

 

i sadly cannot think of too may places I can now call upon and is this just my view or are others finding the same?

 

Do these Strains still exists and is it too late to revive the overal working abilities?

 

 

[Guest vin]

Did you manage to keep the strain going from that last greyhound type you bought all those years ago in the 1980,s. .? If so can I have a kit this year old chap ?

I would love to get a bit of that into my workers.. Ken has a nice greyhound/micro type Jill he calls it "mouse".. thats about my type for most jobs.

 

I get what you mean James by this line of enquiry and I totally agree..The standards these days are very poor for working strains. . . there's the odd one or 2 old boys up my way ( one of them is your mate mick with the micros ) they still have there own working type lines that they have kept going for well over 20 odd years.. some of them are the best of the best from what I've seen so far.

As for these micros etc etc..I have use for 1 very small fert for 1 job that I do that requires a fert that cannot hold and kill a bunny. . .Ken knows the job im talking about.

 

In my humble opinion the ferret should hold as much importance as the dogs do in the grand scheme of things.. they should be micro chipped to the owner and cost at least £100 to buy with papers and proof of ownership etc etc like a dog etc etc..

 

look how many there is for sale and free to good home at end of every season and how easy it is for the general run of the mill numpties to go out and purchase one,with no idea about how to keep them.

 

Then thats another subject..the ones who have them and dont look after them properly..feed em on shite kitty kat or some other piss poor diet..The poor old fert doesnt stand a chance these days..

[The one 8,592]

I think theres still a few guys got good working stock that are tried hard each season and the dross doesn't get passed on or breed from . It makes me laugh when you read on here that every ferret will work theres a world of difference bolting rabbits out a wee burrow on a Saturday to using the same ferret four days a week bolting rabbits out hundred hole burrows that go off the scale of the locator .But at the same time i recognize the need for need for fresh blood to keep the strain going and as long as any hob or jill is worked hard and tested for at least two seasons before being breed into your strain i dont see a problem with that either .

[Ideation 8,217]

£100 a ferret. . . . . . all that would happen would be folk breeding for money. It doesnt mean they would be well bred, looked after etc.

[The one 8,592]

£100 a ferret. . . . . . all that would happen would be folk breeding for money. It doesnt mean they would be well bred, looked after etc.

Was it James Mckay that charged serious money for his strain of ferrets them the guy posted on here he couldn't handle it as it bit for fun ?.

[socks 32,253]

Half of my ferrets i currently have are from a strain that is over 25 years old and mouse and her sister are just two i have from that strain and never let me down ... These ferrets have to work day in day out for weeks at a time with no day off and have to consistently produce the goods ... I don't only want or keep ferrets that work only underground they have to be able to find track and kill or bolt rabbits above ground in thick cover also ... In today's throw away society ferrets suffer badly as they are so easy to come by ... This means that good working strains are lost and potential good workers are passed over as the summer comes and lads can't be bothered to look after them during the warmer months ... One thing is for sure a good working ferret will put more rabbits in the bag than a good working dog .........

[Guest vin]

I suppose its a bit like the lads with the terriers and coursing dogs etc etc...the best of the best gets passed around between friends and family and the waste is disposed of.

I will not be breeding no kits for the next couple of seasons.

 

I will say one thing though...I have seen some cracking ferrets working this last couple of seasons...mine have only just stopped working since last winter (2011) becasue they were worked throughout most of last year on pest control jobs and just continued through til the end of this winter..they have done some serious graft and bagged me a few bunnies... But i wouldnt class them as the best of the best,not by a long shot.. they are ok,average grafters thats all..sometimes you just get one that is a superstar ! I lost mine last year... and it still guts me to this day..she was the one that could do the lot as Ken says up above as well as below ground..I've got her kit and she,s coming along nicely but it will take another 2 seasons at least until she is anywhere near as experienced at the job.

 

I am always looking to improve or maintain what im working with and like you say its not good having a top class marking/catching/retrieving superdog if the ferret cant find/kill/bolt the bunnies when found.(not that i have one of those by the way... I fekking wish)

 

PS.. one of my best ferrets this season has been a little Black eyed white Jill that I found abandoned on a warren with no collar...she is a cracker and works very well... But like my rescued Cur i have no idea what she is as far as breeding goes. . she wasnt worth much to her previous owner obviously..there loss and my gain.

Edited May 7, 2013 by vin

[johnny boy68 11,726]

The ferrets I keep I've had the breeding for a good 20 years now I expect.

[Andrew Beirne 78]

The hob I got at the start of the summer last year off my ferreting partner i got after doing a whole season ferreting with him in 2011/2012 was from his fathers strain which he has continued on.He only gave it to me under the condition i didnt sell him on then at around christmas this year his dad who ferrets the odd time with us got a jill off one of his friends who has had the line 20 plus years said it to me about taking a jill on the same condition i didnt sell her on

[Phil Lloyd 10,739]

Edited May 7, 2013 by CHALKWARREN

[leec 132]

ive got an had a strain from one a very close friend for over 20 year,not all ferrets work an very very few to a high standard ive bought um from all over the country off so called top rabbit catchers,

I stick to wat I no now,

[fatlad 250]

ive kept a strain since 89 ive used 2 outcrosses in that time the first was a hob my mate got me

from keeps he was a awsome worker from 6 month old but we waited till he was 3 to use him

the second was a silver bitch i found she would stay until dug to so she went into the strain

i kept a hob from her to go over my best bitch next year, i past the bitch on to a keeper to

use he bred a good litter from her last year. i think the problems you get are with peaple not

working ferrets for long enough before taking a litter from them ive had ferrets jack after 1

season from a kicking off a rabbit, but ive never bred from a bitch that doesnt work rats aswel

it seems to of worked up to now

[Guest vin]

ive kept a strain since 89 ive used 2 outcrosses in that time the first was a hob my mate got me

from keeps he was a awsome worker from 6 month old but we waited till he was 3 to use him

the second was a silver bitch i found she would stay until dug to so she went into the strain

i kept a hob from her to go over my best bitch next year, i past the bitch on to a keeper to

use he bred a good litter from her last year. i think the problems you get are with peaple not

working ferrets for long enough before taking a litter from them ive had ferrets jack after 1

season from a kicking off a rabbit, but ive never bred from a bitch that doesnt work rats aswel

it seems to of worked up to now

 

That's interesting what you say about the rats there fatlad...my best ones have always been the ones that like a roll with the rats..my old jill that i lost last year was mustard on them.. not that I pursue rats very often..but sometimes they just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time...lol.

[blinddate 43]

Did you manage to keep the strain going from that last greyhound type you bought all those years ago in the 1980,s. .? If so can I have a kit this year old chap ?

I would love to get a bit of that into my workers.. Ken has a nice greyhound/micro type Jill he calls it "mouse".. thats about my type for most jobs.

 

I get what you mean James by this line of enquiry and I totally agree..The standards these days are very poor for working strains. . . there's the odd one or 2 old boys up my way ( one of them is your mate mick with the micros ) they still have there own working type lines that they have kept going for well over 20 odd years.. some of them are the best of the best from what I've seen so far.

As for these micros etc etc..I have use for 1 very small fert for 1 job that I do that requires a fert that cannot hold and kill a bunny. . .Ken knows the job im talking about.

 

In my humble opinion the ferret should hold as much importance as the dogs do in the grand scheme of things.. they should be micro chipped to the owner and cost at least £100 to buy with papers and proof of ownership etc etc like a dog etc etc..

 

look how many there is for sale and free to good home at end of every season and how easy it is for the general run of the mill numpties to go out and purchase one,with no idea about how to keep them.

 

Then thats another subject..the ones who have them and dont look after them properly..feed em on shite kitty kat or some other piss poor diet..The poor old fert doesnt stand a chance these days..

Vin

 

Sadly the ferrets i got from the pugs and drummers stand escaped man many years ago, and so i have none of this breeding....my baseline today is a black eyed "coney catcher strain" and interestingly Chalkwarren and i were looking at some old video footage the other week showing the great great great grand parents in his ferret run....if only we had those beasts today !!

 

Since I posted this, i have had some interesting PM's/ calls from ferreters offering old type strains, which once my new set up is complete (new alarms and lasers etc being fitted tomorrow to deter the ferret thieving scum...plus presents for them....if they can get into the unit!!) i may well take them up on a few kits as it looks like Ken and I will be a bit busy to say the least judging on some new jobs coming forward and you never know I may find the holy grail of a true greyhound ferret or the ulitmate worker!!

 

James

[redpat1 225]

I would love to put an old working strain over my Jill. Although mine are decent workers it would be nice to know that what I am using as a stud can only add quality and give me a strong base to start my own line that 20 years from now people will call "an old working strain" of high quality. Every working strain must have started out not particularly well known and then spread firstly to a few close friends who line bred them amongst themselves, then in time were available to a few of their close friends and so on and so on.

My point is If a good quality pair of ferrets showing all the right attributes combined with a careful, knowledgeable owner with selective breeding and excellent husbandry skills(which I don't currently have) continue selectively bred over time, surely this will create new high quality working strains for generations to come.

Forgive my lack of knowledge and naivety on the subject but this is an area that I am fascinated with when it come to lurchers, terriers and ferrets.