>From:    Steve Mcgrane <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Ferret "Poofing"
>Also, what can I do to get them to stop fighting so rough, Two of them
>have scabs on there backs, and they are both whole males,
 
Alter them.  Whole males need their own cages and should be kept seperate
much of the time from other ferrets.  If you don't want to be a breeder and
accept the limitations of breeding ferrets you should alter all animals.
While they are whole this is the behavior to expect out of whole males.
 
>From:    Ferret Rescue of Tidewater <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: MF revisited
>Inbreeding predisposes an animal to certain defects and susceptibilities to
>some types of cancer.  For instance, the recessive genes are more likely to
>become "dominant" when interbreeding occurs - some of the nicer recessives
>are blue eyes in humans - but can be as bad as Crohn's disease or breast
>cancer.
 
Crohn's disease is not known to be hereditary - but it is suspected to be.
 
Inbreeding does NOT predispose an animal to anything.  Dominant traits are
dominant, recessive are recessive.  Nothing makes a recessive gene become
dominant.  Paired recessive genes can come from related animals or from
unrelated animals.  Line-breeding is used to weed out defective genes.  Bad
line (line) breeding can bring out bad traits.
 
>But there is no evidence that MF is taking these kind of steps.
 
There is no evidence that they don't.  There is no evidence for much of the
slanderous comments about MF.
 
>The add read, "The secret is out - MARSHALL FARMS!  bred to be genetically
>pure".  In my opinion, that means genetically alike.
 
Wouldn't a better interpretation be that despite your assertion above that
MF does breed for pure animals meaning no genetic imperfections?  I just
judged alter class animals at the Big Apple Ferret Fiesta where the majority
of the ferrets entered came from Marshall Farms.  If they were so
genetically alike I suspect that I would not have seen such a diversity of
animals.  I saw long dark sables.  Short tiny chocolate points.  Some had
long noses.  Some had short noses.  Some had big eyes.  Some had small eyes.
I could see that they were genetically diverse.
 
>maintain a genetically diverse (open) colony.
 
The two terms diverse and open are NOT contradictory.  The human species is
a closed colony in that they can't breed outside the species.  Within dogs
all AKC animals are closed colonies in that they are only bred to other
pure-bred AKC registered dogs.  Open is a relative term.  Diverse is a
relative term.
 
>I'm not "picking" on MF, I simply feel that based on what I know, that what
>they are doing is WRONG. If I found out another breeder was acting in this
>way, I wouldn't hesitate to call them to the carpet.
 
I suspect learning is in order.  Study simple Mendellian genetics.  Read
some scientific research papers where ferrets are studied.
 
I can't use their names here in the FML but I know plenty of breeders that
do follow bad breeding practices.  Folks would be surprised.  Lisa let me
know if you are really willing to put yourself on the line on this.
 
>From:    Jaime Greenfield <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: MF Ferrets-once and for all.....
>(and he also took 2nd place at the White Plains ferret show in the mitt
>specialty).   They are both in tip-top shape.
 
And this was a tight competition.  Lots of good ferrets.
 
>From:    Kirstin Hendrickson <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: juvenile lymphosarcoma
>I was informed that juvenile lymphosarcoma, though rare, strikes quickly
 
I've only known of two other cases of this.  Both were basically dying
before the owner even knew there was anything wrong - and the owner (of
both) was definitely among the very best ferret owners.  Wish she'd get
on-line as she could help a whole lot around here.
 
>From:    Bryan Hall <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: *sigh* What have I done?
>I had to have done something wrong here.
 
Unfortunately you might not have done anything wrong - except trust the
wrong neighbor.  We instruct anyone who takes care of our ferrets to not let
them out.  We worry the same might happen to us.  Since you weren't there it
is impossible to know what really happened.  Could have been the neighbor
did nothing.  Could have been the neighbor screwed up and stepped on the
ferrets tail or something.  We do feel sorry for you.  Not anything against
Troy Lynn (she has our respect) but you have two shelters that I know of in
Illinois.  Central Illinois and GCFA.  I think there is also FAIR or such.
Most shelters are so over busy they don't need to important from far distant
states.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1695]