housing advise neede

[murray 0]

Hi guys, I have built a 6x6x6 foot court in which I want to keep 3 jills and 1 hob, the bloke i will be getting the ferrets of just keeps his in rabbit hutches so he is no good for advise for me, and I am not sure weather I sould build 4 seperate hutches and lock them up seperatley at night or just build 4 sleeping quarters like parrot boxes. Also, when it comes to the breeding season will they all need to be seperated or just the hob and jill I plan to breed from.

 

Any advise would be much appreciated.

[woz 260]

they will want to all sleep together!! only time you need to part them is if they are about to have kits.....

[victor 10]

true^ good to see another aussie on here.

Edited April 7, 2008 by victor

[murray 0]

thanks guys,

I read somewhere on here that it is ok to leave the jills together when they have kits but the male must be removed , is this the case or am i just best removing the pair I wish to breed. Not that I do plan to breed but if I ever do I just want to be properly prepared. Also is it a good idea to keep a vesectimised hob on hand to bring the other jills off heat or just get the jills needled. I have no shortage of space as I also have another 108sq feet of averies divided into 3 6x6 foot walkins which could easily be converted.

[murray 0]

true^ good to see another aussie on here.

 

Aussie Aussie Aussie

[stubby 175]

once all your ferts have been living in the court, you'll see how the jills get on with each other, as long as there's no real fighting (which there should'ent be) then yes, you could/can leave jills together when they are preganant, the only trouble I have found with this, is that although the other jills act as surrogate mums and help out, in the birth and looking after kitts, but if more than one jill is having a litter of kitts, both mine used one box between the both of them, thus you cant tell which kitts belongs to which jill, and for future record keeping, it gets a bit confussing, knowing that they may be brother or sister, or cousins

this year I have sorted whelping cages, to transfer the single jills into a week before birth,

[murray 0]

thats a good point stubby, single whelping cages sound like the go, what sort of measurements and how are they set up if you dont mind me asking?

[stubby 175]

 

 

the length is around the 7ft mark, the top hutch is one long hutch, which houses 2 jills and 1 hob, the rest of my jills are left in the court with the vasectamized hobs, the hutchs below are split into 2, basically a sleeping/whelping box and a feeding area,

I place the jills in with the hob a week apart from each other, then keeping breeding dates etc, they can seperatley be moved down to the single hutches, as they get near there time, the intact hob is left in the top half, untill all jills are out of season

[murray 0]

thanks stubby you have been extremely helpfull,

 

When the season is over does the entire hob go in the court with the jills and the vasectamized hob, or will the 2 boys blew each other.

[stubby 175]

out of the breeding season, they all live together,thats

 

2 silver jills

1 albino hob (bred 1 season, then castrated)

these are the fferts I started with

 

then also,

 

2 polecat jills (daughters from above)

1 silver jill (daughter from above )

1 silver hob &

1 polecat hob (sons from above, now vasectamised)

and

1 outcross sandy (intact)

 

he's the stud fert at moment, breeding with the 2 polecat jills (sisters or cousins?)

 

plus of course, whatever is bred and not sold on this year, will be housed in the court

the court, is an old anderson shelter from the war, at the bottom of the garden, with a 6x4 ext aviary attached to the side

[murray 0]

Thanks heaps,

 

I now have some good ideas of what i'll need to build and I will post some pics when I am done if i can work out how

 

 

thanks again, murray

[socks 32,253]

mine are kept in this 3 story penthouse LOL ... each floor can be seperated so when it comes to breeding i can have a jill on each floor untill the kits are old enough for them all to go back in together again ........

 

 

once the breeding job is donr the hob retires to this batchelor pad again untill the kits are old enough then he gets re - introduced ..........

 

[stubby 175]

good looking set up you have there socks

[murray 0]

nice one socks, practicle aswell

[jultaylor1972 2]

Socks - that set up is brilliant!