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Post by joan on May 16, 2011 20:06:15 GMT -5
are parents! Cybill had 11 kits this morning,,,Mom and babies doing fine. I don't want to stress her, so they haven't been sexed or weighed yet. For those who didn't see these pics on the old forum, they were taken the night they arrived from the UK last November by the friend who picked them in Houston after they cleared customs and brought them to Austin for me: s16.photobucket.com/albums/b38/fenezo/2010polecats/ |
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2011 20:09:36 GMT -5
Congrats!! can't wait to see pictures!  |
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Post by Sherry on May 16, 2011 20:13:57 GMT -5
Oh, congratulations!!!! Can't wait to see the pics- I'll be they are adorable That's a fairly large litter, isn't it? |
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Post by joan on May 16, 2011 20:21:38 GMT -5
Since I breed only medium to dark sables from solid sable backgrounds, most of my 1-2 year old jills have 8-10 kits in a litter. As a rule, the litter numbers decline as the jill ages. She had 11 kits in her litter last May, as well.
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Post by Sherry on May 16, 2011 20:26:17 GMT -5
Oh, wow! It's going to be busy around your place once those babes are all up and getting into everything ;D
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Post by joan on May 16, 2011 20:58:38 GMT -5
Their whelping cage is in my bedroom...I set up a couple Marshall's pens around the cage when they're 6 weeks old, have been using the litter pan in the cage reliably for a week or so, and are ready to explore the world. Once they're all using the litter pans in the pen reliably, their horizons are broadened and they get the run of the room. I don't usually allow them to roam the house and meet the adults until they're 10 weeks old...that's when the fun really starts!
They start seeing visitors at 6 weeks, so are well socialized and used to being handled by strangers by the time they're old enough to go to new homes at 12 weeks.
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Post by fearless on May 16, 2011 21:02:11 GMT -5
We need more breeders in the US more specifically close to me so I can visit baby ferrets and get it out of my system  |
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Post by goingpostal on May 16, 2011 22:04:50 GMT -5
How exciting, congrats! Are you holding any back? Can't wait for pics, babies are the cutest.
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Post by Heather on May 16, 2011 22:10:25 GMT -5
Congratulations Joan. I'm looking forward to seeing very dark little sables (I know that they're not that colour yet  ). When do they start to set their darker coats? ciao |
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Post by joan on May 16, 2011 22:13:19 GMT -5
I'll grow out 4 through at least 5-6 months, the best two hobs and jills.
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Post by joan on May 16, 2011 22:45:53 GMT -5
If they develop as my previous hybrid litters have, they'll be a dark grey with black noses by 2 weeks and get steadily darker from then on. The really dark sable coats are usually evident by 6-7 weeks and the later they develop masking, the darker they usually are as adults.
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Post by Heather on May 16, 2011 23:00:26 GMT -5
I hope that you will share some photos of your little ones when they're old enough to face the cameras ciao |
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Post by joan on May 16, 2011 23:10:01 GMT -5
First I have to get a digital camera and learn how to use it, or else wait for a visitor who has one. <G> With moving expenses coming up next month, it may be July before I can get one.
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Post by Heather on May 16, 2011 23:15:58 GMT -5
Hopefully, you will be having visitors soon ;D ;D You're moving? That will be stressful for you, I hate moving. Told hubby that the next time he was thinking of moving again I would divorce him ;D ;D I was starting to feel like an army brat. I moved every 3 years while growing up (father worked for the gov't, they don't believe that you should develop roots  ) Once I was married I figured that we could live in one place but we were moving every 3 to 5 yrs (no he didn't work for the gov't or the army...he worked for the auto industry) He no longer works for the auto industry and we've been able to live in the same house for over 13 yrs ciao |
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Post by joan on May 17, 2011 0:15:54 GMT -5
No visitors allowed until the kits are at least a couple weeks old and even then I'll only bring out one or two kits to show them. My neighbors came over this afternoon asking if Cybill had whelped yet, as I had told them last night that it looked like it was imminent, and were disappointed that they were going to have to wait for a few weeks to see the babies.
I hate moving, too, most of all the packing, but I found a duplex a couple miles away with the features I want and a landlord who has no problem with the ferrets. I've been very fortunate in not having anyone living above me most of the last couple years I've been living here, so decided not to push my luck any further. Even if it only lasted a couple weeks after I moved in, I learned the hard way that having someone living above my ceiling is far worse than side by side,
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) Once I was married I figured that we could live in one place but we were moving every 3 to 5 yrs (no he didn't work for the gov't or the army...he worked for the auto industry) He no longer works for the auto industry and we've been able to live in the same house for over 13 yrs