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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2013 0:41:05 GMT -5
I still can't seem to catch Daisy eating so I weighed her tonight. LOL Well, she's eating sometime because she was full when I weighed her. Tonight...748 grams. That's 30 grams in the past week, but she's full....with that big full ferret belly. I love that full belly! hehehe
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Post by katt on Jun 24, 2013 1:33:54 GMT -5
Haha She looks nice and plump in your pictures. I want to smoosh her. She reminds me so much of Kenai! That is great on the heart soup. Keep up with it for about 2 meals a week (you can add a little powdered eggshells if their poops get too soft) until Daisy will eat it better, and then start to add in little chunks and thicken it up. Sounds like quite the haul! I am jealous. Our Asian market here is not so cheap, but I can get a whole young duck for about $10-15 depending on the size. I wish I could get bags of duck parts, especially at that cost! Your food list is sounding good. It really is fun planning their meals, isn't it? I love nutrition, esp animal nutrition. I'm with you on the prepping though! What I do is buy in bulk and prep it all at once. Then I put it into ziplock bags that I can just empty into the feeding din (I feed frozen and thawed to keep it varied). I dread prepping day though. My hands always get cold from the cold meat! haha
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2013 16:42:56 GMT -5
I know! Kenai and Daisy could be siblings! Is Kenai little like Daisy? She loves to give kisses...she's much kissier than the boys.
That's a good price for ducks...ours are about the same but not whole. I looked at the whole ducks but not too many people speak english and it's so busy, I've never asked how much a whole duck weighs. They have whole rabbit too for $5 a pound. I don't think that they would chop it down for me either. It's whole or nothing at that market. There is another one close by as well, I might give that a try next. hehehe I can't stand shopping for me, but it sure is fun shopping for the fuzzies!
Two weeks of the heart soup...will do! the boys will love that!
It doesn't seem like enough time, only two weekend days, to get all their stuff chopped! I have to bag up and freeze most of it if I can't get to it soon....don't want to let it go bad. Had to toss a chicken last weekend because I let it sit too long. Oye...that sucks! I'm going to ask for a good cleaver for Christmas to make this easier. I'm using shears and some of those bones are tough!
I've got an eye infection at the moment and was sent home from work. Rather than try to chop meat, I think I"m just going to freeze the majority and package the rest to be chopped as we go this week. Not too keen on handling their food when I have a contagious eye issue. It should be gone in a day or two, but in that time, those duck parts could go bad! I have no idea how long they have been sitting in the store, so best to be safe.
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Post by katt on Jun 24, 2013 19:43:45 GMT -5
Not two weeks of heart soup, two days of soup each week until they are eating it in chunks. Haha Don't want to give the poor things diarrhea!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2013 20:51:37 GMT -5
hehehe I knew what you meant....just couldn't type it effectively! LOL Two weeks with that week's heart meals (2) in soup form. I just portioned out the hearts for those meals as well as got the duck feet and wings separated out for freezing. I froze 5 ounces of hearts in two different baggies for this week and the same for next week. I'm increasing the amount of food I give to the fuzzies because I witnessed the boys scarfing down all the food the other night and only leaving 4 pieces for Daisy. Now we are getting more in a meal...just in case. so I'm estimating 5 ounces of hearts and 5 ounces of liver/brains each week.
While at the asian market I saw duck uterus for sale. Jees! they use everything, don't they! I haven't purchased them, not sure they would be anything but a muscle. Or were they on the "other organ" list?
tonight all ferrets turned their noses up at the pork button bone. They ate the cornish hen out of the bowl and left the rest. I threw some more hen in there but I'm leaving that pork in....they can just tough it out! LOL
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Post by katt on Jun 25, 2013 0:46:50 GMT -5
I've had to do that from time to time. Sometimes you have to dole out some tough love! lol As for uterus, it falls under the Other Organ category. Keep me posted on the soup!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2013 17:09:37 GMT -5
ugh...i was sure you were going to say that. i really didn't want to buy the uterus! Yuck! hehehe
They ate the majority of the pork. In fact, I was happy that I was home...Mickey got stuck on the pork bone and was having some trouble....pawing at his mouth, you know the drill...and he couldn't get it fixed right away. I was able to watch his process of getting "unstuck" and I was there just in case. He did it himself so I was very happy to see that.
I think I have a good mix of foods now, they are eating tons of bones and mixed well with some meats for balance. With the heart soup they are eating their eating enough heart, and I never have a problem feeding the liver and brains. I would like to be able to mix the livers and brains with their regular food to give them some texture differences, but I want to run it by you. In the long run, can I mix the hearts too? I know that you want me to get them used to eating the hearts on their own. I really do want to get them to do that too....it's enough of a part of their diet that they really need to like it. hehehe
I have increased the chunk sizes a little and then reduced the size a little....letting them have something that they are "used" to once in a while seems to get me more in the long run. LOL It also seems like they go on a "hunger strike" and then I have to work them back into eating. But after another meal or two, they are again more open to trying larger chunks. The chunk size is now regularly larger than the tip of my thumb to the knuckle. I'm working my way up to half a chicken wing soon! YAY!!!
I believe that tonight's dinner will be the heart soup. Everybody will be so happy! I think I'm going to have to start with Daisy though, or those boys are going to clean that plate again! I will let you know how it works out!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2013 21:51:05 GMT -5
I just made up this week's meal plan. I know it's kinda crazy, but I decided to do it in spreadsheet format. as the sizes of meals change, it is easier to keep track of everything I need to buy. Here is a screenshot of this week. I've been kind of winging it as long as I measure out enough heart, liver and brains...then everything else is meaty bones. if their poo is excessively hard I put in a bit of extra meat in the next meal, if not, it stays the same. as long as the heart, liver and brains is gone by sunday, they have eaten what they need. But now I find that I need to go grocery shopping again.... I went to the freezer to see what was there and there isn't much left. so the screenshot shows what I have done this week and what I have left in my freezer! hehehe Sorry the picture is a little fuzzy. I don't know why it does that. hehehe
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2013 21:52:26 GMT -5
hmmmm...didn't work. I'll try again after dinner
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2013 21:53:13 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2013 21:53:29 GMT -5
HA!!!
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Post by katt on Jun 26, 2013 19:43:34 GMT -5
They do occasionally get a bit of food or bone wedged - just like we do. They are usually pretty good at getting it out on their own, but if you are around a quick swipe of the finger will do it. I have never fed kibble so I don't know first hand, but I have always heard that the risk of choking on kibble is much greater than bones. That is great they are eating the bigger chunks. Keep plowing through! As for mixing the organs in throughout the week I generally do not recommend it when there are multiple ferrets. You can't guarantee they are all getting their proper balance. For example, what if the boys get greedy and gobble the heart in each meal before Daisy gets the chance to eat as much as she needs?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2013 19:51:45 GMT -5
Ha! I never thought of that. You are right, though....those boys would scarf those hearts down in a second! Good call. Well, they ate it all plus went back for more food later. Then I discovered that I was packaging their food based on them eating less. Sheesh...I only had 2.5 ounces of heart in there so I added some hen last night so they would have enough food. There was only a little left this morning, so that's good. I revised my meal plan estimates to make meals of 4.5 ounces each now. But I'm having to add in different bits here and there to get enough food in their bowl every day. This weekend I'm going to do a good shopping trip and get lots of different meats on hand so I don't have to mix and match. Luckily, I have enough different kinds of meat, livers, brains and hearts to get through the weekend.
Yeah, I was pretty proud of Mickey but it's also a little scary too. I haven't seen the other two have any trouble eating, but that doesn't mean that they aren't. As long as they aren't stuck with their mouths open and bleeding when I get home, I consider it a successful day. Mickey used to get kibble stuck between his teeth...it would wedge up in his palate and there was really no way for him to get it out. Thank god that didn't happen when we weren't at home. I think that they just need to sleep when we aren't home and only eat when we are here. I think I'm going to have to have a talk with them tonight when they wake up. Hehehehe
Welp, I'm off to check on today's progress with breakfast.
As always, thank you for all your help!
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Post by katt on Jun 29, 2013 3:43:26 GMT -5
You are learning Grasshopper...s! (giggle) How is the heart soup going with little Daisy? Also, what bone size are they up to?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2013 21:04:50 GMT -5
Hi Katt!
They are up to nearly the size of my whole thumb now! They don't like them and they are stashing quite a few (I suspect that these pieces are still a bit large for them) but then I go back and some are missing. tonight we are doing liver and brains so no big chunk pieces for tonight....more of a brain soup with liver chunks. I'm not sure how that will go over, but i'm going to serve them pretty cold because of the heat. As soon as it hit 80 degrees yesterday, they slowed their eating. They only ate about half of their quail last night. but I understand. time to conserve energy and stay cool.
the heart soup last night was a big hit. I set it down and now I give Daisy the first shot at it. She loves it as long as none of the boys come up and try to interrupt. If that happens, she goes on her way. Ugh...pecking order or some such nonsense I suspect. Starting next week, I'm going to not blend the heart soup quite as much. Just for kickers I opened the bag of hearts and let Daisy have a sniff. She didn't go for it. So strange. She will eat it in soup form, but not in whole pieces. But, I can get them all to eat all of the heart they require in a soup.... I don't really mind serving them a soup. It's kind of nice for them to have a change in texture.
Mickey lost 7 grams since his vet appt two weeks ago, so he's obviously getting enough food, as are the rest. I think that the other two have gained weight. Before it got hot outside they were all making little piggies of themselves on a regular basis. BTW....Mickey got his implant today (Des). I've been keeping him on the quiet side since we got home...it was so hot on the way up that he was panting. Luckily I got up there early and got him out of the car....put his harness on him and let him out in the shade in the grass and gave him some water. He didn't want the water so I poured it all over him. He was so mad! LOL But he cooled down and got more comfortable. After his implant procedure we needed to get some lunch and the deli owner let me keep Mickey in his travel carrier in the restaurant so we could eat in the air conditioning. He curled up in his carrier with a frozen water bottle and fell asleep. Poor little man. After the procedure he couldn't wear his harness because the implant site was right where his harness would go so I had to let him out without it in the grass to stretch his legs before we came home. It's a scorcher today so I broke out the air conditioner and I'm going to get the babies up soon so they can come out into the cooler living room. And the heat has added to the stench of their bedroom. SHEESH! I'm going in there in a few minutes to clean it up. smells of rotting meat and ferret poops. Oye! LOL
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