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Post by Heather on May 23, 2013 15:08:31 GMT -5
I'm hoping that I can ask this without too much angst but I was wondering what all of you use as (a) nesting material, (b)nesting boxes and (c) a private space for your wee jill to have her kits and to be with her kits. What cageing if any? The reason why I'm asking was there was a photo on facebook (I will see if I can figure out how to post it here)that I found rather interesting and it got me thinking as to what differences and what similarities we have for our little ones in this respect. ciao
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Post by bitbyter on May 23, 2013 15:12:01 GMT -5
Hey Heather, does this mean you've got a Jill who is pregnant??
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Post by Heather on May 23, 2013 15:16:26 GMT -5
No....at least not at the moment I believe in being prepared, so I want to find a suitable set up for both my wee girlie and me. After seeing this space, which would be totally do-able as I've got the space I wanted to know what some of the other breeders do with their jills and kits. I find the ferret nation set up not a great set up for jills and kits (unless someone has some modifications that they'd like to let me in on . ciao
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Post by lorelei0922 on May 23, 2013 16:44:52 GMT -5
you've seen my setup i'm sure..
For my nursing jills i use a snosilk welping pen. I use to use a cage but the jill would climb the bars.. and slide down onto and into her pile of kits... dangerous!!!!! We almost lost a kit to this... His name is twisty and his ribcage and spine are twisted 45 degrees.. So i dont like them to have sides that they could climb ...
i find the solid floor is perfect for mopping up kit messes, and cleaning out is a breeze.... any one watching my cam will see me daily on my hands and knees scrubbing it out when the kits start missing the pan..doh!!
I use two different types of nest boxes... a closed box and an open box.. depending on the jill. Cieara has fight or flight issues and does NOT NOT NOT like to feel trapped.. she actually prefers an open box and while she doesn't like me near her kits she can get away if she feels she needs to
Most of my other jills have used a closed box with a hole in it.. if i need to check on kits i open the lid and do so... i have one rigged with a cam which means i dont have to open the box often.
i have used different material for nesting over the years... Hay the first year... fell apart and was very dusty and scratchy.... blankets... kits get lost in them.. and can be smothered... and fleece squares that i use now. It works for me.. the jills enjoy shoving it around and burrying kits in it ... and i can toss it into a mess bag and wash it when needed.
everyone has their own way of making it work for them... i wouldn't venture to say any one way is right or wrong.. just different choices work for different people and situations.
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Post by bitbyter on May 23, 2013 19:22:18 GMT -5
I always wondered why you used the fleece squares. Seems obvious about the blanket issues now that you mentioned it.
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Post by Heather on May 23, 2013 21:29:38 GMT -5
It's my concern with blankets too. They're so tiny, so easy for a jill to loose a little one. The fleece squares makes sense. I believe I asked you about them a few years ago. Are they not hard to clean? Hay you can pitch, the blankets, I suppose you can wipe them up before you wash them, but the fleece...how do you go about cleaning them? I do like the idea...what about some of those nesting materials that you can buy...boxo I think is one of them. ciao
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2013 21:49:35 GMT -5
It sounds like she just puts them in a mesh laundry bag and runs them through the laundry in that. Which would make sense and be easy to do.
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Post by Heather on May 24, 2013 0:35:07 GMT -5
Here's the photo of the space I'm considering to set up for my wee jill. I hope I've not offended anyone by posting this photo or stepped on anyone's toes as it had been shared many times and I'm not sure of the origin. I would use a nesting box, but at least it's not cage which is what my set up is right now and I really don't like it. ciao
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Post by lorelei0922 on May 24, 2013 2:43:59 GMT -5
That is an ideal area Heather.. to me anyways...
and yes..I put them in a mesh bag.. like you would for lingerie, my husband gets them similar but a bit bigger for me from work. I can fit 3 blankets worth ( almost a whole washer load) into my bag, then it goes into the washer with my kennel grade cleaner ( kills EVERYTHING and makes things smell nice too ) then into the tumble dryer which pulls all the extra hair from them.
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