>I don't think that they have reason to lie to us about it. But, since
>you seem to be a proponent of Mr. McKay's, perhaps you can give us
>your first-hand impressions of his ferret farm, and that seems to be
>what it is, since the ferrets are treated like little more than crops.

I do have several ferrets which I bought from Doug's granddaughter.
I have a sable hob named Nigel who was my first Unique Impressions
ferrets, although most of the privately bred ferrets I have owned over
the past ten years or so have had UI ferrets in their backgrounds. I
knew that I liked the look of the UI ferrets and was pretty confident
about the health. After getting Nigel I was put in contact with a
breeder who had bought their first breeding ferrets from Doug. This
breeder had inbred/linebreed on those first ferrets and no health
problems showed up (the inbreeding would have brought health issues
out if they were there). That along with the fact that Nigel was one
of the most intelligent, human oriented ferrets I have ever owned I
decided to give ferret breeding another try.

I had already tried breeding ferrets once. I bought the remaining
breeding stock from my Iggy's breeder but never got any kits from them.
I believe the hob was probably sterile since he failed to produce kits
with either of the two jills, despite multiple breedings. Another
reason that I wanted to have UI ferrets to breed was the lack of
reproductive issues in them.

So in November I went back and bought two jills. I choose a dark sable
I named Octavia and a cinnamon that I named Apple Crisp. They were
about five or six months old when I bought them.

Both times I was at the farm I handled numerous ferrets and was not
bitten by any. Out of all the ferrets I handled only one was even
nippy. When I went to get the jills my husband and I carried ferrets
around the whole time we were there. When I wanted to see a certain
ferret we usually ended up holding several before we got to the one I
had my eyes on. I held adult hobs and jills without an issue when I
was looking at the litter's parents.

I got Nigel as a young baby (6 weeks old - I requested getting one
younger then norm). He did not have fleas and was a healthy baby. He
never once nipped me and drew blood - he loves to play mouthy games
in play but never bites too hard. I got Octavia and Apple at around 6
months old so they were pretty grown up already. They had also did not
have fleas and were completely healthy. Even at their older age they
were not biters and adjusted very quickly to being house ferrets. None
of them were "hungry" when I brought them home.

Both times I was there they ferrets had food, water and shelter. I did
not see any sickly or dying ferrets either time I was there - everyone
I saw looked well fed and in good condition. When I was there in
November the ferrets looked exceptionally healthy because they were
ready for winter - lots of chubby, thick coated fuzzies. The cages
are roomy and even the ones housing multiples had plenty of room. The
multiples who were caged together were mothers with whatever remain
of that year's litter - not just random ferrets thrown together.

These are pictures of Octavia and Apple within a few days after I got
them:

<http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/AgileGSD/Ferrets/?action=view&current=dark.jpg>

<http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/AgileGSD/Ferrets/?action=view&current=cinngirl.jpg>

Nikki

[Posted in FML 5538]