|
Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2013 6:07:36 GMT -5
They don't really "need" treats, it's more for us than them. Raw meat, raw eggs, dried or freeze dried meat or bones all make great treats. You can make home made jerky with an oven or a dehydrator. You can even make your own freeze dried treats. If you can find quail eggs, those make a very nice treat. I personally avoid the n bones, they're made from soy.
Do you give them any liver ever? They do need some in their diet though you don't want to overdo it.
Rabbit is fine to feed, just note that you cannot feed them a diet made up of solely rabbit, it is too lean and does not have enough taurine in it to sustain a cat or ferret. But it's a great addition to other meats. Cooking meat is mostly pointless for ferrets, as you destroy the nutrients in it. Kibble is cooked, but then more nutrients are added afterwards. Cooked meat is more dangerous to feed than kibble therefore and could cause deficiencies over the long term.
I don't know what you are afraid of with pork? Is there a reason you don't feel safe with it? It's as safe as any other meat you buy in a store that has been commercially raised in the USA/Canada.
Do you know any hunters who would give you some of their meat? That's a good way to add variety to your ferret's diet. You just need to deep freeze the meat for a few weeks to kill off parasites.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2013 20:43:43 GMT -5
I wanted them to like treats for training... I give them one N-bone a week they seem to like it. I have had the ferrets for more then three months and they just just done only one pack. I know how treats aren't that good for them. Is giving them a lick of all natural peanutbutter going to hurt them? I don't know how you "guys" feel about peanutbutter.
Liver? No... not yet. They just hate beef so much and they didn't seem to like the little bit of pork I left in the cage for them. I do have liver in the freezer but it is beef...
I know they need more then just one type of animal and they need different parts of them at different times. I have never given them cooked meat other then "if" they get sick them I would make them the duck soup that I saw on Ferret-world but I add my own stuff.
Because you can eat steak pretty much raw but under cook pork even a little and your sick. Plus, if you put cokacola on pork it makes magots. You can look it up on youtube... some people say it's the fat but some of the videos they look 100% like magots. You feed pork to your ferrets and ferrts aren't humans so they can eat it I just don't like how pork does make a lot of bacteriuria. Everytime I give them new food I wash the whole platform. I have the ferretnation so it's easy just to take it out and wash it.
Yes, my uncle hunts I'm waiting for him to go again. He mostly gets deer, duck, moose, and if someone else wants it he will get a bear. I already asked when he goes if he could give me some stuff and he said no problem. I don't know when he is going next but I know he does go in the winter so they will have lots a meat for winter.
I should be freezing all meat before giving it to them? I thought it was better to buy fresh from the store... o.O
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2013 6:03:09 GMT -5
Peanut butter is made from a plant, and it contains sugars and salts. Not something they need to be eating.
Try chicken liver. More easily accepted sometimes and it's smaller, needs minimal chopping, if any. Most grocery stores sells it in tubs.
Actually, pork you are now able to serve pink in the US, the FDA has changed their guidelines and lowered the safe serving temperature of the meat since we don't really have trich or anything that is harmful if undercooked. I would assume Canada is in a similar situation.
I haven't seen this thing with the coke on it you're talking about, but there is no way that if you pour coke on a piece of pork it instantly creates maggots out of thin air. Are they talking about letting it sit for a few days? Because then obviously the food would attract flies which would lay eggs that would then hatch into maggots (larvae). For there to be maggots there has to have been fly eggs laid on the meat. If you're buying pork with fly eggs on it somehow you've got bigger issues and need to go have a chat with your supplier. I'm telling you, whatever BS they're posting on youtube is faked crap. I watched one video real quick and it's quite obviously not maggots. Trust me, seen some as a kid.
I'm not aware of pork containing any more bacteria than beef or chicken. Chicken is the most dangerous meat of the bunch because it often gets tainted with salmonella and other nasties if they don't butcher it correctly.
You don't need to freeze commercially raised meat. It is intended for human consumption and cannot be sold loaded with parasites and things like that. Wild game is just that. Wild, not tamed, nor had any kind of human intervention or treatment other than someone killing it and cutting it up. You should always freeze and wild caught meat you feed your ferrets in case it had parasites. Most wild animals will have mites or lice or ticks or fleas in their fur or feathers for instance. Some will have worms inside.
You can freeze your commercially purchased meats so that you can buy in bigger amounts. Just thaw before feeding. Fresh is preferred, but freezing it for a while and thawing it won't degrade the meat quality too much. It's repeated freezing and thawings that cause issues.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2013 17:55:38 GMT -5
I got them the chicken liver and not into it so much it looks like they have tried but they won't really eat it. Because I live in a small town/farming town all my meat comes fresh from farms that are on the island. I was wondering what are the best types of eggs? Free-run omga3, just free-run, veggie fed, regular, organic eggs? I know about chicken that is why I don't like leaving it out long. My uncle always takes them to a butcher and he gives my uncle the meat back so if any meat was bad he would know. I would never want my ferrets to eat bad meat.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2013 19:07:46 GMT -5
What is bad for us may not be bad for them, they're equipped to handle eating meat that is raw and has been sitting out. Remember, a wild pole cat kills an animal, eats what it can and stashes the rest for later- this could mean dragging it through dirt and leaves, into its den underground, where it may defecate and urinate on it to mark it and warn away other animals, or even burying it in the dirt and digging it back up again. Not sure if that in particular is polecat behavior, but I know wolves will do it.
I'm not really an egg expert, but any locally sourced egg, especially when the chicken is free ranged and fed a proper diet or is organically raised is going to be waaay better than the super market crap. Supermarket eggs are so old. Blech.
Try cutting up some small bits of liver and mixing it in with other things. Mine don't like pork liver in large pieces but they'll eat chicken livers, go figure.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2013 17:58:20 GMT -5
So how long do you leave chicken out for? I only leave it in there for 10-12 hours. I get mine from a farm they sell fresh eggs just about everyday. Yeah I have been mixing it and they have been trying to eat around it but I put it in the blender and now they have to eat it. They still don't seem to like the pork much I just got a pork chop I guess I can try getting them the rib meat.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2013 7:20:06 GMT -5
I leave my large pieces out indefinitely, because mine like to age theirs and turn it into jerky, unless they clearly don't want it and don'[t even stash it. If they stash it that's it, they eat it anywhere from 1-5 days later. The ground however, I only leave out for 12 hours max as it spoils very quickly and can have a lot more bacteria.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2013 18:09:24 GMT -5
I got them a tukey wing and I left it in there for a whole day and night and they had eaten a little bit of it mostly just the meat... they did eat a little bit and I cut the tips off and put it in there food bowl. I already did it but is it bad to mix chicken and turkey? If so I won't do it again. They don't really much like the pork they have eaten a little here and there but not much. Tried beef liver, heart, and steak and they still want nothing to do with it. They seem to like lamb but I can hardly get it as soon as the store gets it someone else has already gotten everything other then the kidneys they sell I can get that it's 3-4$ for three kidneys. I don't know if that is a good price or not but they get two a week but they share everything. I have not got rabbit yet but until they are at least eating more then just birds I want to wait till I buy them one. Is there anything else I should be doing or trying? I do put the EVO on the meat too they seem to like it more and I don't add much.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2013 18:44:20 GMT -5
How are you feeding the turkey wing? Are you just laying it in a bowl? You could try strapping it to a cage, box, tote etc to help them- they may need help tugging and tearing at it until their jaw muscles develop more. You can use alligator hooks, carabiners, zip ties, whatever you've got to attach it to something study for them to grapple with it. If you don't use a feeding den, you may want to try one as that may encourage them to eat more if they feel they are in a private place. It doesn't have to be anything fancy- a cardboard box or plastic tote will do.
Mixing different proteins is fine.
I don't know how many pounds of kidney you got for that price, but here organs go for $.99 to $1.50 a lb or so.
All I can recommend is to be persistent, chop new meats they're not fond of up or grind them up and mix them with a meat they do like, such as chicken in a 90/10% ratio to start, gradually increasing the amount of new protein until they don't mind eating it. You can always try a chicken and pork soup to get them started.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2013 23:57:37 GMT -5
I would just put it where they eat... I forgot I could tie it to the cage but I thought they would eat it. I have been trying the past few days to get them to eat more and I think we are doing good. Chciken breast or whole leg of chicken a day. Chicken gizzards and three chicken hearts every two days. I give them one chicken wing a day and it gets just about all eaten other then most of the bone. A turkey wing three times a week they just pick all the meat off I leave it in there for almost two days. I got bones that have that marrow in there and I scoop it out and put it on there tiny plate. (beef!) They don't like beef! An egg every two-three days they love eggs alot. I want to get them quil eggs how many can they have in a day? For two ferrets. Pumpkin I don't give much Binxi loves it as a treat so once a week I give her a little.
I'm going to start using my blender and seeing if they will take new meat like that. I know for humans you can't mix chicken and beef but can you for ferrets?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2013 5:12:28 GMT -5
You can mix whatever meats you want together like that, so long as they don't have an allergic reaction to one of them, which doesn't seem to be a problem in your case.
When you put a chicken wing or leg out, are they eating the bones too or just easting the meat off of it?
Quail eggs are tiny, you could probably give each ferret 1 egg a day. I wouldn't recommend giving them more than 3 chicken eggs a week. I crack the quail eggs a bit to break the shell for them and set them in a dish. It's fun to watch them roll the egg about and move it around trying to rip it open and suck the innards out. I have one ferret in particular who is very fond of them.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2013 22:36:48 GMT -5
Okay, I just want to try mixing some beef and chicken together to make them get used to it. They eat some of the bone in the chicken wing about half and the whole chicken leg it just looks like they chew on it then leave it. Sometimes it looks like they eat the middle of the bone but leave the bone it's self. I only give about three eggs per about ten days is that to much? I'm going to try giving them a whole egg tomorrow I'm sure if they will know what to do with it. How do I get them to open it?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2013 5:21:15 GMT -5
It sounds like they are not ready for the larger bones quite yet, if you can get some smaller ones for them I'd keep trying to feed plenty of those. Neck and tail bones, cornish game hen, etc.
Chicken or quail eggs? That amount should be fine with either, though I wouldn't go any higher if it's chicken. With whole eggs, I gently crack it by lightly rapping it against a dish edge, just enough so there's a break in the shell for them to work with and they can smell the egg inside. Then I put it in one of their shallow food dishes. Quail eggs are small enough they can grab it in their mouth and carry it around, chicken is a lot larger so they have to roll it around. It's so funny to watch one of my guys rolling the quail eggs around in the dish with his nose and biting them trying to open them up. I end up with egg shell bits all over, but it's worth it.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2013 11:50:23 GMT -5
For the life of me I can't find necks anywhere... I have asked almost every store and they all say the head/neck does not come with the chicken when it comes into there store. I do have a cornish games hen!!! Do you think it's a good idea to give them that now? It is chicken eggs I was talking about but most of the time it's just the yolks and three yolks for two ferrets for about ten days sounds okay... doesn't it? Sometimes I see people feeding there ferrets in the bath tub... if I wash it really well maybe then I will put a few quail eggs in there for them to eat and play with. Watching ferrets play with eggs will be so fun and cute!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2013 4:26:40 GMT -5
Ahhhh that sounds fine then with the eggs. Sometimes I can find necks but it's pretty rare, more often turkey necks than chicken. Here if you buy a whole roasting chicken it will usually have the neck and giblets packaged up with it. Cornish game hens are fine, you just may have to break the entire hen down into easier to manage pieces, ie cut the wings and legs off of the body for now. If you let the ferrets in the tub, just make sure you are there to watch them the whole time, in case your drain comes loose and they try and shove their head down the hole/crawl in. Or nibble at the caulking.
|
|