>Billy UK wrote: >IT seems i have caused some concern over my breeding for this spring?? >I must tell you all that homes are ready and waiting, my ferrets are in >excellent condition and the kits will be the same. I know i could get up >to 40 kits but the homes are there. I hope you've got a good 'ferret' vet, jills can run into problems. I've heard of two cases last year where the jill had to have an emergency operation to save her life. Both jills lost their kits and ended up being spayed. Will you be breeding from all your jills again next year, even the ones that you don't manage to re-home this year? Depending on where you live the cost of a Delvostron injection can cost anything from 2 quid up to 15 and above. I've had two jills that have had ovarian tumours - one of the jills had had a litter, I took her in when her 6 kits were one day old - so I am now getting all my jills spayed. I used to use a vasectomised hob, I don't know whether or not producing kits have any bearing on ovarian tumours, some jills sail through life just being brought out of season with jill jabs and don't have any problems at all. What about the hobs, quite a lot of ferreters don't like using hobs for working, have you got accommodation to keep in season hobs living singly - they fight if they're left together. Just in case you are wondering why I am so concerned I have 48 ferrets here - all rescued - I haven't bred from any of them... I took the 48th one in on Friday evening. It's a poley hob - probably last year's kit. He's really skinny probably hasn't been fed a decent meal during his life. I've heard about one chap who was breeding ferrets for the working market. He supplied a heck of a lot of unsavoury characters with kits for the coming working season. The following year the same characters were back wanting more kits... These individuals didn't want to keep the ferrets over the spring and summer months, they either abandoned the ferrets or cracked 'em over the head. Strange to say I can tell prospective pet owners just when I expect an influx of stray and abandoned ferret. Yeah you guessed it - the end of the working season... A chap I go ferreting with, like you, has 4 jills but he's got a vasectomised hob living with them. If he wants another jill to replace an elderly one he will get from a rescue - he just doesn't want to add to the problem of overbreeding. I suggest you visit Clitheroe Livestock Market - you can pick up a kit for around 50pence - a couple of years ago they had so many they were actually turning them away. Don't forget that for every animal born another one loses it's home... -- Sheila Bolton Ferret Welfare. Membership Secretary & Editor of The National Ferret Welfare Society. Web Site: www.btinternet.com/~sheila/ferrets.htm last update 19 December 1999 The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of the NFWS. [Posted in FML issue 2931]