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If a ferret is a bad mum, should I breed from her again?

Ferreting: Last year my favourite jill had her first litter of kits but then totally ignored them. They all weakened and died through lack of food.

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I would love to go ferreting with her again, but should I breed from her again and, if I do, what safeguards should I put in place if she again turns her back on them?

FERRETING
Edward Cook
If you’re happy with how the jill works and like the look of the intended sire then I would definitely try again.

Come the time to give birth the jill will need to be housed alone, in quiet accommodation that she feels familiar with.

Do not put her with other ferrets.

You could bottle feed the kits if it all goes pearshaped again but this is a hard job and success is unlikely if you have to start the regime within the first few weeks following birth.

My advice would be to find a pal whose jill is going to give birth just before yours and then, if yours fails to look after the kits again, you can put them with a foster mother.