At what age should I wean my young ferrets?

FERRETS
EDWARD COOK
Normally this all happens naturally but I would expect my kits to be weaned by the time they are 6-7 weeks old and certainly ready to go at two months of age.

To help the process along I normally introduce small, tender, bits of rabbit to the kits when their eyes start to open, a regime that slowly starts to take pressure off the jill and which helps ensure as many as possible survive.

Once the kits start crawling around the hutch I introduce a shallow dish of goat’s milk which helps teach the young ‘uns to drink from another source.

Once they get accustomed to this and have been weaned I slowly start to water the goat’s milk down until they are capable of drinking from a water bottle.

Once they are feeding and drinking as an adult they will be ready to leave the mother.

About the author

Edward Cook

A professional rabbit catcher and ferreting expert, he served for many years on the Shooting Times question-and-answer panels, answering readers on ferret feeding, welfare and working, and wrote features on rabbit control, including shooting alongside the combine harvester.

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