How do you Deal with the Heartbreak?

[Deleted]

First, let me say, I have no desire or intentions to ever breed ferrets. (I'll leave it to the experts )

I look at many breeders' websites, and it'll say something along the lines of, "10 kits born 6 survived, 8 kits born 0 survived, etc."

My first question is - why is it so hard to breed ferrets? It seems like there are issues with pregnancy/birth more often than not.

Why do so many kits pass away? How do breeders deal with the heartbreak? I'm sure it isn't easy, but I seldom see that all kits survived on a breeder's page.

FOUND

[lorelei0922]

Sadly this can be down to a lot of things... genetics plays a part.. i have a jill who just can not deliver kits... one year she had to have a c section.. had 6 and only 2 survived past 24 hours... she wasn't to get pregnant again... but she had other ideas and snuck into the boys cage the night before she was due to be implanted... we hoped she might deliver ok a 2nd time.. sadly it wasn't to be and she ended up with a 2nd c section where she lost all the kits... we had her spayed at the same time...

some jills lose their milk ( which is why you should have a back up "wet nurse" available whenever possible) some genetically cant nurse like the Angoras...

some can be down to the rearing of the kits... techniques and vary breeder to breeder and some jills will not tolerate people interfering in their nests ... resulting in kit death... (personally i deal with that in other ways and have never lost a kit from personal interference.. but i have heard of entire litters being lost by a skittish first time jill...


there are lots of reasons.... generally if left to their own devices most mate and raise healthy litters without any of our interference at all...

[Deleted]

I think Lorelie is rights - it's a combination of tings including genetics and husbandry - many breeders will breed two jills on the same day so that kits from both litters will be of the same age. If one jill cannot produce milk, the other jill will sometimes have enough milk for two litters.

Stress is also an issue affecting the jills both during pregnancy and after the kits are born. Ferrets get stressed out pretty easily without being bred (stress poops are not uncommon in ay ferret).

Also jill can b prone to infection - if a placenta/afterbirth is retained, pyometra/infection can develop. mastitis is another concern. Inexperienced jills can be bad moms....and list continues.

jennifer

[joan]

I'll agree with Jennifer that stress, usually caused by lack of privacy, may well have a lot to do with kits failing to survive, due to the jill being a poor mother or not developing milk, along with various genetic causes. It's not uncommon to lose smaller or weaker kits in large litters (ie, more than 8 kits) in the first 3 days if they are unable to nurse sufficiently.

I think the common practise of giving shots to induce labor when the jill fails to go into labor on her own, the necessity of a C-section if the shots to induce labor fail, and giving shots to bring down milk are all factors in reproductive problems and early kit deaths when offspring from such jills are used for breeding. IMO, offspring from jills which are unable to whelp normally and raise their kits without human intervention should not be used for breeding as this will only perpetuate such problems.

It's been accepted for years by dog breeders that pyometra is the result of a hormone imbalance. Mastitis is not uncommon when the kits are 4 weeks old or older, as their teeth can cut the jill's nipples. If caught at the very beginning and the jill put on Clavamox, it resolves quickly and the kits don't have to be removed. I've read about another form of mastitis which is deadly and can kill the jill within hours...I've never seen that, but suspect it may occur as a result of a poor immune system.