From:
"Marie Bartholdsson"
Date: 2003-08-15 19:47:17 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: Re: when to spay--need help!
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <Law10-F55XlwM9UtHCq00055ead@hotmail.com>
Angela,
My reply was not meant for Natasha. I was merely sharing an observation in
response to what you said about hCG injections not working. I thought it
might be of interest to anyone who uses hCG to bring jills out of heat.
The reason I don't spay the jills is because I breed ferrets. I've been
breeding for 15 years and I breed very small scale, i.e. the jills are not
bred year after year and do not have more than 1 or 2 litters during their
life time, and it can be years between litters. They normally have one false
pg each year they are not bred.
When a jill is bred to a whole hob or to a V-hob, you need to wait until she
is in full heat and receptive to the hob. Until then, she will reject the
hob and this is nature's way to ensure she's not bred before she's ready. It
normally takes 10-12 days to reach full heat (depending on the temperature
and the photoperiod) counting from the day she starts to swell. The mating
will result in a surge of a lutenizing hormone (LH) in the jill's body. The
LH surge leads to ovulation and the jill goes out of heat.
HCG is used in a similar way as LH to induce ovulation (and consequently
bring the jill out of heat) without any actual mating taking place. Just
like when you breed a jill, you will have to wait 10 days until the jill is
in full breeding condition (full heat) before you can use hCG.
A normal, healthy jill can be in heat for 1 month and even more without any
problems. However, prolonged estrus increases the risk of infection and can
lead to aplastic anemia for some jills. IMO, it's best not to let the jill
stay in heat more than two weeks if it can be avoided.
In my experience, hCG can sometimes fail even when the jill is in full heat,
and false pgs resulting from hCG injections tend to be shorter than those
induced by the use of a V-hob (which is why I will normally use a V-hob
instead of hormones). One of my jills who did not respond to hCG, went out
of heat when she was bred to a hob instead. This, as well as my observations
mentioned in my previous post, suggests there are several factors involved
leading to ovulation. To actually meet the hob, smell the hob, be gripped by
the neck etc are all likely to play a part as has apparently also been
observed by others according to Dr Fox' book (1:st edition, 2:nd ?).
To let the jills have a fake mating is not to "put the jills through so
much", but perfectly natural for them, which is likely why it works better.
Marie
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