Since I don't breed anything I have never really attempted to understand
the technicalities of how gene's work.  It's incredibly complicated, way
more so than the simple cookbook answers that people seem to like to hear
(breed this + this and you get that).  Fot those of you who are interested
in exploring and expanding your understanding, perhaps looking at some of
the dog related websites might also give some insight.  I know that in
Australian Shepards that breeding a merle (a type or pattern of color)
to a merle will result in 25% of the puppies being deaf along with other
internal problems and eye problems to a varying degree - these internal
problems may not be imediately discernable till the puppy is older because
of how varied they can be (or virtually absent).  There is a woman in
California who specializes in understanding the genes of the Australian
Shepard.  Typically these dogs have too much white on their bodies -
specifically, white ears is a huge red flag for possible deafness in thise
particular breed.
 
I do know this - unless you have studied how all this works for a long time
and a have a thorough knowledge base in animal genetics and then proceed
carefully with breeding and track every kit - I don't think you should be
breeding for specific colors and patterns.  Frankly I don't think you
should be breeding at all.  Many times I read the FML and wonder why isn't
the ferret community learning from the mistakes the dog world has made?
Look at how many breeds now have specific problems with eyes, allergies,
epilepsy, cancer, deafness - the list goes on, mostly the result of people
breeding for something specific.  And frankly I haven't met many breeders
(dog or ferret) who really understand genetics the way they should.
 
Mary in MI
[Posted in FML issue 3122]