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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2013 7:00:36 GMT -5
Do you have a meat cleaver? A cleaver will go right through bones- at least poultry and smaller pork ones. Big beef bones you might need a hacksaw for lol.
A few of the other mentors suggest increasing the size of the not bone chunks now. Feed hearts whole, cut gizzards just in half etc. That should help them get used to pulling and tearing at the bone in pieces. I forget, have you tried taking a chicken wing or leg and lashing it to the cage or something else so they can pull and tear at it to help them eat it?
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Post by thelifeofmyferrets on Dec 10, 2013 12:34:15 GMT -5
Yes, I have a meat cleaver.
It is funny you said that. This morning, I left the chicken hearts whole because I saw a video of the ferrets eating whole hearts.
I haven't tried to latch it onto the cage yet. That will be my next step.
I left the hearts whole and made the chunks bigger.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2013 7:26:20 GMT -5
My guys gobble whole hearts down like candy and fight over them. They eat them with such gusto it almost makes me want to try cooking one up to see what I'm missing. But the veins in it freak me out.
Latching something can be tricky, but you can use alligator clips, shower curtain hooks or something similar and basically skewer the meat on it and hook it to a cage or other item so they can tug and pull at it. Just be careful that whatever you use isn't too sharp and pokey so the ferrets don't hurt themselves on it.
With a cleaver you can usually break a wing down into several smaller sections. One of the two bones in the non drumstick part of the wing, cut in half or maybe thirds might be small enough for them to start with, particularly if you shear through it with a cleaver and expose the marrow. You could try smashing the ends of the larger wing bone with a hammer maybe to expose the marrow.
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Post by thelifeofmyferrets on Dec 14, 2013 13:17:51 GMT -5
This is the first time since I graduated the chunks that they licked their plate clean.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2013 15:49:46 GMT -5
Good to hear. How big are you up to now? Have you tried any more bone/did they eat it if so?
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Post by thelifeofmyferrets on Dec 19, 2013 20:37:14 GMT -5
I tried to upgrade the chunks to 3 inches but they wouldn't eat it so I guess I have to stay gradual.
As far as the bone, I guess I am weak because I take use the cleaver to cut it all. We asked the butcher if they can chop about 1 and a 1/2 pounds for us and they said yes. We are known by the butchers as the ferret ladies. I will try them again on bone tomorrow.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 21:48:14 GMT -5
So would they not eat any bone at all, or are you just having to do small chunks of bone? Small chunks of bone are ok (albeit a pain), but them eating bone is important. Are they getting bone meal powder or egg shells powdered if they are not eating the bone?
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Post by thelifeofmyferrets on Dec 20, 2013 14:47:29 GMT -5
Yes, I have eggshell powder.
I am getting small chunks of bone from the butcher tonight!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2013 7:16:01 GMT -5
Alright, let me know how that goes!
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Post by thelifeofmyferrets on Dec 23, 2013 9:54:47 GMT -5
The butcher cut up chicken backs for me. I'll let you know how they like them.
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Post by thelifeofmyferrets on Dec 23, 2013 14:18:41 GMT -5
I have a couple questions
How long can food stay out safely? I have heard 8, 12, and even 24 hours? When it comes to dinner time, there is still food from breakfast? They won't eat it once it gets hard but I don't want to waste it. Should I put less food out?
Charlie seems to really like the livers and I'm afraid no one else is getting their share, how do I do this?
How much should each ferret get of each?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2013 18:32:47 GMT -5
I find with solid food you can usually keep it out 48 hours without it stinking or going bad unless it's really hot out. Generally if it's too old for them they won't eat it. Mine will stash meat and eat it 3-5 days later after the outside dries out and turns into jerky. Ew.
If you always have extra food laying around and have to toss it, feed less then. You want enough for their meal with a couple of bites left for in between snacking if you have older or sick ferrets.
The only way to guarantee they are all getting an equal share is to either grind it up into a soup and feed it to them that way so they all have to eat it, or feed them separately. A lot of people do organs as a soup anyway as they are often not liked by some ferrets. One other thing you can try is slivering the liver into small pieces and feeding a small amount with each meal to try and get them both eating some of it each day, unless you noticed one picking around it.
Each ferret should get about 2 ounces of liver each a week, no more.
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Post by thelifeofmyferrets on Dec 23, 2013 18:54:45 GMT -5
Good to know! I have been giving <2 ounces a day. I have seen the others eat it but now it is getting eaten before everything else.
I think I need to change my meal plan around.
6 oz meat/a day 8 hearts/ a day 2 oz of liver/a day
They are only eating all of the liver. I was doing 8 oz a day but they weren't eating it all, they will only eat 1 or 2 hearts.
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Post by thelifeofmyferrets on Dec 24, 2013 14:19:36 GMT -5
They like the chicken backs and they are starting to eat the bone.
Lucy is choking again. I don't know what could be wrong. She started foaming at the mouth. I think the bone is getting stuck or something.
Have you ever experience this before? This is why I regressed last time because she was choking on the bone.
Do you think the bone is brittle or too small?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2013 7:13:58 GMT -5
I have not had this issue but I have heard one or two of the admins have had this issue with them choking before. One of the ferrets that has this issue actually has a disease that makes me very hard for him to swallow so he mostly lives on soupies. In general, choking should be a rare thing, usually caused by gobbling food up too quickly or being lazy and not chewing their food enough, sane as with a human. I'm going to pull another mentor in here to check and see if they have a better idea of what to do with the choking, all I can think of is smaller bites/spreading them out over a larger surface area like a large plate to force them to slow down. The bones are raw correct? If raw they should not be brittle unless very, very old which would mean having been stashed for weeks which I do not think you have an issue with. It might be the pieces are too large and she is not chewing them before swallowing. They only need 2 ounces a liver a week and heart 2-3 times a week, the rest of the week needs to be pure meat, bone, some fat, ideally another different organ. I'm not sure if you've reviewed this before, but this is what your menu is going to want to look like. Obviously you are having issue with the bones still, so you will need to keep doing eggshell or bone meal powder until they are eating bone without issue. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/146/meat-bone-organ-weekly-menuFor two ferrets in the winter you probably don't need more than 6-8oz of meat a day, but you definitely want to feed them more actual meat, less organs and you'll want to get some fat in there- pork, chicken skin, duck, beef fat, whatever you can get.
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