Breeding age & number of litters

[meegs]

Hi Guys,

this is possibly a controversial one but I am trying to gather some info from different parts of the world on what is considered to be an acceptable age to breed both hobs & Jills.

I feel that a ferret of either sex should not be bred until around 2 years of age - Ive noticed that this is around the time where my girls start to settle down & stop being babies themselves. I have found the boys start to handle their hormones a little better.

When it comes down to how many litters a jill should be allowed to produce I feel that two is more than enough. If you are breeding for something very particular hopefully you have got it after two litters - and if not mabye you will not get it with that breeding combination. Three litters may be justified under exceptional circumstances.

I would love to know how others feel - there is alot of mixed info out there on when a ferret should be bred, how many litters she should have etc. In different parts of the world things are bound to be different (ie ferrets have longer or shorter lifespans, some diseases are more prevalant, there are very few intact ferrets etc)

Cheers, hope to read some good info

[Sherry]

While not a breeder myself, from everything I've read from a few reputable breeders, that sounds about right.

[Heather]

I'm inclined to agree with you. I figure by 2 yrs, my wee ones are mature enough that I can see they're going to be worthy of creating a better ferret (if you're not going to get a better ferret, why breed) and they're mentally and physically mature, instead of just sexually. I can also see how my wee girlie handles her false pregnancy and have some idea how good a mom she might be. My wee girlie may be bred twice in her lifetime....depending on a number of factors, but no more than twice. If I breed her this year, then she will not be bred again until 2 yrs later. So, she's 2 this coming spring, I would not breed her again until she's 4. After that she will not be bred again. This space gives her time to regain the her strength and let her just play and have fun after raising a family of rambunctious kits.
It's just my opinion ;D
ciao

[crazylady]

Hi I have bred lots of litters but also stick to the guide line of first litter age 2 second litter ( if needed or wanted ) at age four then no more by two years of age I can watch how a jill copes during phantom pregnancies ( is she over protective?, aggressive or laid back ? ) and after giving birth at two she uses most of her calcium in the milk she is feeding to her young so need to have that calcium and vitamins replenished so a year break where she can go onto a rich diet to help build back up her system is required hobs are quite different often they can be used from the age of 12 -18 months depending on how fast they mature and there is no limit on the number of times they can be used ( I have a vast selection of both hobs and jills so can pick and choose ) normally I only use a hob once or twice as I keep all I breed so it would be pointless doing repeat matings from the same line as I already have the bloodline in siblings and there kits take care bye for now
Bev

[joan]

I have a much different perspective from the above, as I breed a jill at her first heat if she's at least 10 months old by then and I have a suitable hob for her...my ferret and hybrid jills have always been fully mature by the time they came in heat at that age. both physically and mentally, and have always been excellent mothes, Also, since I know her personality and temperament, I've rarely had any surprises re her behavior during pregnancy, whelping, and raising her kits.

I rarely repeat a breeding unless I didn't get what I wanted in the first litter, ie, I wanted to keep a jill, but a hob had the specific traits I wanted from the breeding and the overall quality of the litter was at least as good as the parents. If none of the kits were close to what I was looking for, I might try her one more time with a different hob.

When I plan a breeding, I'm also looking ahead at least another couple generations, so that each breeding has a specific purpose in my long range breeding program. My jills are rarely bred more than twice, as by then I either have what I want to continue my breeding program or it's clear that they aren't passing on what I'm looking for in their kits.

If the jill has always been fed a balanced, high quality diet, she should not lose condition or weight while nursing her kits. I did notice, when feeding only kibble, that my jills lost weight by the time the kits were 5-6 weeks old when nursing litters of 8-10 kits, but I've never seen that since I switched to feeding a raw/whole prey diet. Even on a kibble diet, they had regained their weight and condition by the time the kits were mostly weaned at 8 weeks.

[nanjferret]

I have no problem and actually prefer to breed at a year old as they are physically mature by then. My reasoning is also that the older the jill is the more problems she may have and lower birth rates, just like in humans. A year or two year old jill will most likely have an easier time delivering. Being a good mom (and carrying kits easy) tends to be a genetic disposition, not always though. I do not breed a jill past 4 years of age as she is old in ferret terms by then and more prone to complications. I do supplement heavily when she is expecting and during nursing to keep up her calcium and vitamins and help with loss of weight during nursing.

[miamiferret2]

Thank yoy Joan and Nancy. Although I am not a breeder, I think that having opinions from all sides is important. No matter how long you have been doing something, you can never know it ALL. You must always open yourself to learning new things and learning from others.
I also believe that just because we have done the same things for generations does not necessarily mean that it is the "right" way. It appears that everyone has their own way of doing things.
I will never breed ferrets but this is all very interesting reading to many of us "common" ferret owners.

[Deleted]

We were discussing jill nutrition recently and Joan gave me permission to post this information about some testing she had done on her own lactating jills.just FYI for anyone interested:

I got an email this morning from a vet tech who had one of the Dino/Charm jills. She had just read my last post on HFF and wanted to know what had been deleted...and if the deleted part mentioned the blood calcium tests she ran on Jassy and Charm in 2006. I'd totally forgotten about that, or I would have included it in my post.

We'd been talking about diet, as the vet she worked for was trying to convince her to put the kit on kibble as soon as she got her. It was the first year that my jills were completely raw/whole prey fed and the vet told her that Charm could easily be deficient in calcium since she was nursing 10 kits. She offered to do a blood calcium check on both Jassy and Charm as she could get it done for cost. I thought it was a good idea, so agreed and she ran over the next day during her lunch hour to draw blood from them so that I wouldn't have to bring them into the office.

Jassy's blood calcium was in the middle of the normal range...her 2 kits were almost 12 weeks old by then and I hadn't given her any supplements for at least three weeks. Charm's first reading (the 10 kits were 8 weeks old) was low normal...I was still supplementing her with Vionate, goat milk and bone meal, as she was still nursing the kits occasionally. Two weeks later, she was completely dried up and her reading was high normal, so I stopped supplementing her. A couple weeks after that, she was retested to make sure the blood calcium was lower and she was a few points above Jassy, ie, in the middle of the normal range.

Although the testing only involved two jills, it proved to me that a correct diet and balanced supplementation maintains the jills in good condition without any deficiencies after the kits are weaned.

It's normal for the blood calcium levels to drop, especially at the beginning of lactation, but it would stay within healthy levels unless something is wrong or the jill wasn't getting a good diet before and during pregnancy, as well as while nursing her kits. It's well known that too much calcium supplementation during pregnancy, as well as too little, can result in blood calcium levels which are too low after whelping and the beginning of lactation...what's important is having a complete balance of all the relevant nutrients, not just calcium.