This is a generic response so take offense if you feel it is directed at
you.  (It probably is!)
 
I had the pleasure of being close friends with the owner of the once
busiest non-chain pet store in Reno.  For a good number of years, I helped
check in and check out all the kits that came in.  I would guess, probably
100 to 400 a month, depending on season.  (The store is on the freeway, 15
miles in from the California border...Californians bought kits like there
were no tomorrow's.)
 
Over the years, we received kits from Marshall Farms, CDC, Triple F Farms,
Path Valley, and Lars (Can't remember the farm's name) who supplied the
store with Angora ferrets until he moved back to Sweden.
 
I can say, without any hesitation, that of the 10,000 or so ferret kits I
saw move through the store, that only a handful were under 6 weeks of age.
I rarely saw a sick kit, from ANY farm or source.  I have seen sick kits
at PetCo here in Reno.  I know some of the personnel that work at our two
stores and they assured me that the kits were healthy when they arrived,
but always got sick in 24 hours.....because of intervention by our
Northern Nevada Ferret Network, the stores are now starting to isolate
the kits when they come in.  Improved sanitization methods are being used
on enclosures.  Sickness is no longer an issue at our stores here in Reno
or Carson City.  Perhaps a lesson can be learned from our experiences,
regarding major chain pet stores, country wide???  If in doubt, ask
Ardith, who is a regular contributing member here on the FML.  She is
one of our 'caring hearts' and 'spark plugs' in NNFN.
 
These are my observations:
 
Of all the farms, Marshall Farm's kits were the least aggressive and had
the most color varieties available.  Triple F and Path Valley had the more
unusual colored ferrets.  CDC's kits, overall, grew to be the largest.
 
Triple F and Path Valley ferret kits were very 'bitey'
CDC's were less so.
 
ALL kits tamed down nicely and made great companions.  All the farm's
kits, in time, were exhibiting the same ratio's (that we could see) of
adrenal and lympho.  All seemed to have the same ration (that we could
see) of other, less common, diseases....cardiac and pulmonary issues.  All
had about the same ration (that we could see) of WS exhibiting kits...ie:
blazes, white bibs/mitts/tipped tails/deafness.
 
I saw more underage kits coming from Path Valley and the store bought
far fewer kits from them.  (Like, only 2 to 4 times a year and, in all
truthfulness, that wasn't many!  Hmm..I would guess, maybe 10 [For all
the farms] over 8 years?)
 
I never saw a dead or injured kit come in, in the crates, and I was
usually the one who met the airlines to pick up the kits.  I never saw an
airline screw up a shipment to us, although I heard tell it had happened
on occasion.
 
From my experiences, I truly believe any sick ferret kits, got that way at
the destination location.
 
I am absolutely certain that all the tales of underaged ferrets coming
from MF (Or anywhere else, for that matter) comes from people who plain
don't know what they are talking about or are spin doctoring their 'tales'
to further their causes.
 
Example.  If a kit comes in with its eyes still closed or only open a
slit, that kit is 5 weeks old.  Period.  A skilled person might be able
to tell from teeth eruption, but as any mother of skin kids can tell you,
there ain't no such thing as an accurate timetable as to *when* their kids
teeth will come in.  That holds true in ferrets as well.  You also can't
tell a kit's age by whether or not it is eating solid food.  At six weeks,
it should be eating gruel, but some are, some are already well into
regular kibble and others still prefer a real running concoction.
 
Let's discuss shipping for a moment.  I read here a while back, someone's
explanation of the kits being shipped at 5 weeks or so to arrive at 6
weeks...HORSE HOCKEY.  All kits, regardless of who shipped them to us,
were shipped overnight or same day, live animal.  Period.  Triple F once
told us that the kits were crated in the morning and shipped, and we had
them in the holding pens 6 hours later....That is from New York to Reno,
Nevada.
 
Gentle readers....there is a very hard core faction of MF bashers
everywhere.  Their intentions may be good, but the distortion of fact is
wrong, no matter how the information is presented.  Common sense tells
us that MF is no different than any other commercial ferret farm..just
larger and, sad as it might be, a provider of ferrets (and Beagles) for
the research side of life.  That is an issue I won't get into here.  Nor
should we, IMHO.
 
For Our Ferrets
 
MC, The Rude One
(With Snorkle, Tuzigoot, Bancho, and Artemus.  In spirit, Bubba,
Billy-Bob, and Garret)
[Posted in FML issue 3797]