Are Marshall Farms ferrets less genetically favorable ?
Ferrets, DNA, Farming and Genetics
I have heard this topic debated many times over the years, but have no basis to form a conclusion. Today, I asked this question on FaceBook to Marshall Farms themselves.
Some say that Marshall Farms has been such a large breeder for so long and that today’s ferrets are being bred from the same narrow band of genetics; Thus, the faulty genes never get a chance to be removed from the gene pool. By the way, if your ferret was bred by Marshall Farms, it will have 2 little blue dots tattooed on it’s ear.
Narrow breeding behavior may contribute to the extremely high number of insulin and adrenal related illnesses that these guys and gals face. For being one of the most lovable and affectionate pets possible, they sure get more than their share of health related issues. These health issues are another point to keep in mind if you are considering ferret ownership. Vet bills can add up to hundreds and even a thousand dollars or more over a ferrets life time.
Obviously, food and diet is a major factor in a ferret’s health. Ferrets require a diet high in protein and fat. Although some kitten and puppy food can pass these guidelines, most dog food does not. Marshall Farms, being an industry leader, knows what they are doing with diet and offer premium ferret food. I have known ferret owners that fed some ferrets Marshall food and other ferrets live mice or chicks. They noticed no real difference in the ferret’s health.
So, Back on topic …. Is there any advantage using a private breeder over Marshall ? Do the ferrets have common ancestry anyway ? Is Marshall doing anything about this concern ?
I don’t have the answer … yet. In the mean time, if you have had different experiences with privately bred ferrets vs Marshall ferrets, please let me know by commenting below.
When I receive a response from Marshall Farms, I will post it here.
Marshall Farms ferrets are definitely inbred. I have 4 ferrets, and one is not a Marshall ferret. He is a rescue, so we are not entirely sure where he came from, but since he is neutered and descented, we guess he is probably from the Canadian breeder. HUGE differences between the Marshall ferrets and my non-marshall guy (Zipper). Zipper has a much more distinct personality. He is far more inquisitive, smarter, and is larger, with a more lustrous coat. My marshall babies are very sweet, and I adore them, but they lack Zipper’s personality traits. Also, my youngest, Doodle, was found in a pet store when he was between 5 and 6 weeks old (around Easter time, when all pet stores try to sell on the cute factor). He has Waardenburg’s Syndrome, and is completely deaf. He bit, attacked anything that moved because his sight was not well developed yet, and could not eat solid kibble or large pieces of raw meat. I had to make mash for him for weeks. And it took lots of gentle handling, with plenty of food available before he stopped attacking. This is seriously sad, and if someone who did not understand ferrets brought a baby like that home, I shudder to think what would have happened to him. He is 1 year old now, and a joy. I can’t say I won’t own any more Marshalls. I like to rescue my ferrets instead of buying them, but if I had my preference, Marshalls would be shut down or much more strongly regulated. My belief is that they are nothing more than a ferret mill that cares about the almighty dollar far more than the ferrets they sell. As for Marshall farms foods, I wouldn’t touch them with a 10 foot pole. In my opinion, they smell horrible, and make the ferret’s poo smell really bad too. I feed a combination of raw ground meat (either beef, venison, or rabbit) and Zupreem dry kibble (mixed with 8 in 1 Ultimate Gold). I have two 6 year old ferrets, both Marshalls, one female and one male. The female exhibits mild symptoms of adrenal disease, the male seems fine still. But I watch them both closely. I lost my first ferret at 6 1/2. She died of adrenal disease. She just crashed one day, all her systems shut down. It’s very hard to watch and very sad. If Marshalls really cared about the ferrets, they would be working on genetically eliminating the adrenal issues.
Just my opinion as a long time ferret owner/slave.
~Julia
Thanks for the well thought out response Julia. Your love and enthusiasm of your ferrets really shows through. I have sent several follow up emails to Marshall looking for a response but as of yet, they have failed to respond.
“He is far more inquisitive, smarter, and is larger, with a more lustrous coat.”
That’s my Kendra to a T. All my girls are rescues but the other pair are Marshalls and Kendra has no markings. One of the marshalls has always had incredibly low energy and may be showing early signs of adrenal. The other is neurotic as all get out, sweet but a little nutso. Kenny has the best coat, great personality and is the escape artist who has managed to climb the dog pen, she’s that strong. There’s something to be said for mutts in dogs and I’d gather it’s true for ferrets too.
OK, I have 9 ferrets since 1995 of those, 3 have been from marshall farms. Two died prematurally from adrenal surgery compilications, the other made it to 8. I had another who came from a private breeder, had papers, strong bloodline, everything, and she died at 6 and a half from lymphosarcoma. Was fine in April, and by August was gone. I have another, neutered at nine months of age, private breeder everything and he has insulinoma, and adrenal cancer. I had another from a breeder, she was spayed after having babies and still got adrenal disease and insulinoma.
So the point of this is that there is no guarnteed health with any ferret. However, Marshall farms primary customers are not pet owners, they are research facilities. Therefore, longevity is not one of the traits they breed for. They don’t even know how long any of their animals will live because they are either donated into research or euthanized once they are too old to reproduce. So genetics are not a priority for them. Genetically, even privately bred ferrets have some of the same problems. I think this points to an even bigger issue, there is not enough genetic diversity in the breeding population in the U.S. The breeding stock here has been overtaxed, and the gene pool has been stretched way too thin. I could go on with countless examples, but I think the best way to sum this up is that how long your ferret will live is greatly dependent on how well you take care of it, how knowledgable you vet is, and mostly luck
Thanks for the replies Tiger and Spunky. This feedback gives all of us something to think about as we Thanks Tiger and Spunky for the replies. I am hoping that this sharing of information will help us as we care for more of these fantastic furries down the road.
Spunky, We are in agreement about the gene pool being stretched very thin. As a matter of fact this was part of my question to Marshall Farms via FaceBook and their corporate web site :
They had promised a reply to me by this week but so far, nothing. I am interested to hear what they have to say.
OH, forgot to mention. Insulinoma is believed to more directly related to diet than anything else. That’s why more people are switching to raw, high protien (no grain) or the peep-peep/squeak-squeak diet (whole mice and chicks). I switched to mainly innova evo after 2 of my 3 developed insulinoma.
Spunky, I am definitely aware of the simultaneous shot issue. I had them scheduled for different shots. Zoey (6 months) has had her distemper and rabies shots but she is probably due for a booster.
Dino is about 5 months old. I think he was sold a bit too early (5 weeks) and has had no shots at all. We had to feed him mushy pellets mixed with water in the beginning. He also kept biting and sucking on Zoey’s ears while they lay in their hammock together. This really looked like a nursing attempt.
So far, I hear 3 main reasons as to the causes of ferret’s Insulinoma and Adrenal issues
1) Inbreeding (covered above)
2) Food,like you suggested, diet. Ferrets need lots of protein and fat in their food. Try and try as I may, I can not get my ferrets to eat any kind of meat/chicken/tuna types of food. I have never yet tried live mice yet. But this theory makes sense. Muscle mass and growth is the direct result of converting nutritional foods into healthier cell growth.
3) Artificial lighting. More and more articles and opinions are showing that adrenal issues may be accelerated from the over abundance of indoor lighting that the ferrets receive
Thanks for your reply,
Jeff
Jeff,
I would add to that that the removal of the babies from their mother at way too young an age…therefore not getting the nutrients from mom that they should.
As for raw, this is how I got mine to accept it. When I brought Doodle (my youngest, the one I found at around 5 weeks in a pet store), I had already lost one at 6 1/2 to adrenal disease and I was on to the whole raw food thing, but had no luck getting mine to switch no matter what I did either. So, I began mixing the raw into the mash I was making for the baby, and he grew up on it. When he was old enough I would put raw in the cage at feeding time with everyone. At first only Doodle would eat it, but then the others saw me bringing this “treat” and Doodle enjoying it so much that the next oldest one (about 1 year old at the time) began eating it, and over time they all started to. Now they all eat raw every day, and the kibble is more of a supplement. They give me a hard time about eating it if the store is out of either beef or venison, but I can get them to take rabbit sometimes. They are not fond of chicken. I have never done the live thing simply because of my own squeemishness, not that I am opposed to them eating the type of food that they were really meant to. Kudos to those of you that can do it!
Julia
Thanks Julia. I think I will try mixing some raw in with their pellets.
How do you serve it to them ? Just cube it into small pieces – Im assuming ?
I have heard that about baby ferrets nursing when they are sold too young. I brought Dale Jr in at 10 weeks from the breeder, and he still expected my girl ferret to provide him with a snack now and then. Poor Danny girl would give me the dirtiest look when he tried to nurse. Yes, I agree, 5 weeks is waaay too young. I went to see baby Dale at 6 weeks (un-neutered mind you) and he was too tiny.
So glad they aren’t getting both shots at once. They only need a series of 2 distemper shots, the last one I think should be given at 3-4 months or older.
You might want to check out the forum at ferret.com, they have a lot of owners who feed raw, or live (or whole mice/chicks that have been pre-killed, available at the snake food store)