Ferreting Question

[Welsh_red 4,406]

Im going to annoy people with the constant questions so im just going to start a thread and ask in here when i start thinking of things .

 

Im pretty much decided on getting ferrets . Im not going to rush into it tho . Im setting a rough timescale of christmas or just after . Need to stock up first

 

Decent shovel

Fetter finder collars

Source the kind of food i will feed them . Of course majority of the food will be rabbits i catch and birds i shoot but in potential lean times i need to find a suitable subsutute .

Nets Nets Nets

Build a good hutch for the shed and a nice court for outside .

God my bedding supply sorted . Mrs has a horse at a local farm and i can get straw/hay from there easy enough and the farm lady wants the old soiled bedding to put around the chicken coops to ward off foxes ( read it doesnt work but shes old school and is adamant it is so i got good place to get rid of it anyway )

Ferret harnasses so i cant take them for walks when needed , im sure the kids will love that bit .

Ferret box

 

 

Their just on the top of my mind at the moment . Anybody else got anything else they think i should be thinking about .

 

 

My start question is this . Ive read on here in the terrier section about after a dig putting the soil back in . Backfilling (?i think?) and im sure there was discussion about the proper way to do it . Forgive me for my ignorance if this is wrong . I wanted to know and again it might be a stupid questions , but after youve dug to your ferret do you just chuck the soil back in the hole ? or is there a preferred way of doing it to keep the warren open at the bottom .

 

Re reading it it sounds like a shite quesion but as ive typed it i will leave it there and leave myself open for humiliation

[leethedog 3,071]

To be honest just chuck it back in and compact it as you go you won't put the rabbits off like you could a fox.

 

Ps

You forgot a big flask for your preferred hot beverage you'll need it for the cold standing still and waiting part there is lots of it atb Lee

Edited October 23, 2016 by leethedog

[Welsh_red 4,406]

To be honest just chuck it back in and compact it as you go you won't put the rabbits off like you could a fox.

 

Ps

You forgot a big flask for your preferred hot beverage you'll need it for the cold standing still and waiting part there is lots of it atb Lee

 

so i was right about a correct way to backfill in the terrier section?

[leethedog 3,071]

Didn't see it mate but to be honest I just chuck it back in then to farms don't want em so why encourage them . And they come back in the end anyway

[jok 3,082]

G round to go ferreting on might be a big plus.LOL in fact I think I'd go there first. All the rest youv'e mentioned, w ithout doubt will be available on this forum from guys who do what you'll be doing. Backfilling is more to do with looking after your ground and leaving it in a way that won't annoy the owner. If you get into hors e paddocks and the like then you might need to take a bit more care as the surface will subside and leave a bit of a hole. Clearly if you are out in a wood or hedgerow then it is not quite so important but you still need to leave it tidy. Another little tip. Seeing as how you have a spade, dig a suitable hole in which to bury the entrails. Go back more than once to check that you have collected your nets. Check for back netting as this can happen quite often. Might sound daft, but, when packing everything away, check you have everything you started with. ( I once found 46 nets in a bag that had been left behind). Buy yourself a game carrier. There's a guy on here making and selling them at the right money. Nothing worse than rabbits slipping out of your grip on the way back to the car. Don't stop asking for advice. It's freely given. Jok.

[jok 3,082]

I've just P'Md Jim Chick on your behalf. He does all the box and collar thing so it might be good for you to have a word with him.jok.

[Welsh_red 4,406]

I've just P'Md Jim Chick on your behalf. He does all the box and collar thing so it might be good for you to have a word with him.jok.

 

beat you to it . I messaged him last night . Tiercel pointed me in his direction

[Welsh_red 4,406]

G round to go ferreting on might be a big plus.LOL in fact I think I'd go there first. All the rest youv'e mentioned, w ithout doubt will be available on this forum from guys who do what you'll be doing. Backfilling is more to do with looking after your ground and leaving it in a way that won't annoy the owner. If you get into hors e paddocks and the like then you might need to take a bit more care as the surface will subside and leave a bit of a hole. Clearly if you are out in a wood or hedgerow then it is not quite so important but you still need to leave it tidy. Another little tip. Seeing as how you have a spade, dig a suitable hole in which to bury the entrails. Go back more than once to check that you have collected your nets. Check for back netting as this can happen quite often. Might sound daft, but, when packing everything away, check you have everything you started with. ( I once found 46 nets in a bag that had been left behind). Buy yourself a game carrier. There's a guy on here making and selling them at the right money. Nothing worse than rabbits slipping out of your grip on the way back to the car. Don't stop asking for advice. It's freely given. Jok.

 

You bury your entrails? ive always gutted them in the corner of a field and left the bits behind . Not sprayed everywhere obviously but in a pile . Next day their gone . Although obviously if the numbers are big then theirs a lot of guts there . Only ever got 5 bags with the gun before

[jok 3,082]

Yes my friend. But if your land owners dogs or a casual walker spots the detritus then you are going to get a complaint. Better the fox digging than the dog walker finding. Jok

[terryd 8,158]

yes double check for your nets like jok says. I spent the summer knitting some nice nets. First trip out this year I used them. Thought i had picked them all up and a couple weeks later passing the holes. I saw one of luminous pink nets left on a hole. How the hell I missed it i never know.

Try and put bands round them now and slip on me wrist that seems to work for me now

Edited October 23, 2016 by terryd

[jok 3,082]

By the way. Going back to the beginning of the thread. You will never annoy people on here. They just get disgruntled. Jok.

[Daniel cain 43,397]

Always use rubber bands...especially when in company and others putting them down.atb dc

[Welsh_red 4,406]

Read about the runner bands idea . Clever thinking

 

 

Im going to crack on with the hutch this week or next weekend . I can get my hands of OSB sterling board from work . We used 3 or 4 sheets of inch thick this last week to deck out our scaffolding for skimming . Their now in the work shed and im sure i can get them cheap off my boss . Pretty much brand new apart from a few dollops of skim on them . I was going to make the hutch out of this . I was worried about the piss and shit seeping into the board over time so as a thought i was thinking of painting the floor and 3 or 4 inch up in fibre glass paint or something water resistant so when im cleaning out i can clean it properly . My only thought on that would be that if it flaked or if the ferrets scratched at it and broke it off it might be a problem for them? I know their supposed to be escape artists but i wasnt sure if that extended to scratching and clawing their way out or just finding little holes to sneak out of . The size i was thinking of making it was 1 metre wide x 70 cms depth x 1.50 high

 

crap diagram i know , just knocked it up quickly . Nesting box in the top left and 2 areas for playing . Im hoping to get 2 jills to start with . Their was a idea of getting a hob as a liner to clear out laying up ferrets but im thinking if i got collars on them i wouldnt need one . Would that size hutch be enough for 2 jills . It would be situated in my hunting shed but id also build a court outside that they can go out into when im around . Wouldnt want them in plain sight when im not there and would rather they were locked away in the night . When im in work i could potentially leave the shed door open to get fresh air in there . Mrs is only away from the house for 5 hours in the day . On each of the levels i would have a door fronted with mesh with a little ply coming up the mesh to stop the bedding falling out . Also instead of 1 set of stairs down i would swap it for a bit of piping so they can get used to going through a tunnel . The nesting box door wouldnt have mesh on so they got a bit of darkness in there . Might see if i can find anything that you can only see through one side so i can watch them in there without them seing me

 

What you lot think

[bobhow 57]

i paint the floor of my hutches with bitumen paint i also have a spare cage once a month i swap ferrets over give the used cage a good scrub out my nest boxes are made separate and placed in the cage i find this makes cleaning easier

Edited October 24, 2016 by bobhow

[jok 3,082]

Haha. If you were the prat that left them on Skipton moor then tough. We also brought off 132 rabbits. Some freckling trek that was. LOL Jok.