THE PROJECT
Every year we endeavour to do some sort of work on the house to keep up with general wear and tear, as one should! However during 2004 and 2005 the funding for those jobs has gone on our ferret project and we are finally heading towards completion. It started in 2004 with my husband Harry’s vegetable plot being dug out, a hard standing being laid and then painted. Next the made to measure ferret court, built by a chap I found on the internet who drove up from Kent to do the job. That was it for 2004 as we had a few jobs in the house that needed doing and the budget was tight, but at least phase one was complete!
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Then in 2005 phase two began in earnest. Over the winter various small problems arose with weather proofing etc. So the first thing we did was remove the fence panels behind the ferret court and clean, seal and treat both the back of the ferret court, part of the roof and the fence panels themselves. Next came the external painting, for which we choose the colours Sage, Willow and Lavender, of the ferret court and the fence panels at the back and the front of it.
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This was the easy bit, the next task was to remove the old car port roof, level the floor and spray paint all the fence panels (I did that bit, what fun a spray gun can be!!) Two skips and a lot of hard work on Harry’s part and it was done.
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Next a nice young man, again who I found on the internet, came to fit the very smart roof over the old car port area, up to the ferret court and right across the top and down the side, as well as some new guttering which this time works properly! He did a superb job and the quality of the workmanship was first rate, well worth a second mortgage!!
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After this, for two reasons firstly for security and secondly so that the rescue ferrets can run around and play when they are being cleaned out etc, Harry made and fitted a door at the end of the ferret court, then I painted it. Finally, for that year, came the electrics for the lighting and the remote controlled fans. Then after a number of other small jobs voila phase two was complete.
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They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Well in 2005 we had as many as sixteen rescues in at one time and it all worked really well. There are still a couple of things left for phase three, which we hope to complete in 2006, like putting a secondary roof up internally to expel heat in the Summer and frost/cold in the Winter, as well as possibly some air conditioning. But in the meantime we are very happy with the result, as it appears are the ferrets.
MARCH 2006 - The secondary roof is now up. We are now waiting for some warmer weather to see if it is working effectively enough not to have to have air conditioning and just stick to the fans.
JUNE 2006 - A warm spell at last! The secondary roof is working a treat and is keeping a lot of the heat out, however it is still too hot in there as far as we areconcerned and we haven't got to July and August yet so we have purchased an air cooler to work along side the fans to see if that can help keep the temperature down further. If this doesn't do the job sufficiently enough then we will definately invest in a proper air conditioning unit.
JULY 2006 - Wow, heat wave!! Even with three fans, three air coolers, a water system on the roof and spraying the ferrets it is too hot!! So we have decided that next year our main priority is air conditioning. We will spend the Winter investigating if it is more economical to buy it outright or to hire it for four months of the year, useing our other equipment the rest of the time.
MARCH 2007 - Well the air conditioning has had to go on the back burner as we have had a number of break in's in our area, one of them being into our garage right next door to the rescue, therefore our priorities have changed as the security and safety of the ferrets must come first. So we have invested in a solar powered alarm system, which incorporates a smoke detector, as well as a wireless CCTV system and some solar powered security lighting.
APRIL 2007 - Had a very warm spell so serviced and started all the fans and air coolers.Unfortunately one of the air coolers is completely defunked, so we are hoping to be able to replace it before the "summer" eventually arrives.
May 2007 - Managed to find a bargain and have got the new air cooler, together with two electric insect catcher's which will hopefully help with the flies!! Just in time too for another warm spell. Let's hope this one lasts a bit longer than just two Summer's, although in saying that the coolers are worked very hard keeping the place cool.
Towards the end of May we officially became the West Sussex Branch of the BFFW (British Federation of Ferret Welfares).
WELCOME TO WEST SUSSEX FERRET WELFARE