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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2011 21:19:48 GMT -5
They actually have been getting soup with smallish chunks in it, and this last batch I made I made really THICK and chunky. So I guess I'll work on slightly bigger chunks and less soups?? At any rate since Miko gagged at the mice I was thinking of adding an order of ground mice to my hare today order and mix it with the ground chicken to get her used to the taste. What do you think?? I also decided to use ground meats as a way to introduce new meats to their diet. Like If I can get them to eat ground beef they should just take to like a cheap steak right? Also, I added yogurt to the soup instead of trying to just get Timmy to eat it. They all have runny poo. (Like mucus) It isn't stinking like rancid any more but it still smells strong pooish. Is runny poo like normal poo for raw fed or are they missing something? Will it just not firm up well until they are getting bone? And none of them poo a lot when they go. Which I expected that since they can actually draw all they need from their food now. Like actually use it. Is the poo smelling just cause it's from raw meat? And I wouldn't say like it necessarily smells like something gone bad, but it's odor is STRONG.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 2, 2011 23:44:46 GMT -5
As for the consistency, you can add some pumpkin or squash, or even the powdered eggshell, to the soups and meats to firm it up. Yes, it will be the lack of bone. Raw fed ferrets will have a much wetter stool with the bone. It can get somewhat sloppy without anything, and just muscle meats. As for the odour, yes, my ferrets poo stinks ;D but not as badly as a kibble poop. Can you please remind me what meat they are eating right now? Stronger flavoured meats have stronger smelling stools. Also, you are right about why they are smaller They are using most of the nutrients, so there is much less waste matter. It will also likely decrease in smell when they get more bone in their diets as well. And if you haven't seen it already- you'll be amazed at the whole prey stools ;D For the soup- I'd just use small chunks(about the same size they are getting right now) with some soup put on top, and mixed in if they don't take to that. That way, it's easier to add more bits, and less soup til they are eating just the plain meat.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2011 4:33:56 GMT -5
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Post by Sherry on Mar 4, 2011 10:53:01 GMT -5
Oh, that is fantastic!!! I think we now need to step this transition up a few notches, and get some other meats in large chunk form into their diet
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2011 9:47:46 GMT -5
Just letting you know I'm still working on them. They are doing quite well. So far eating any and all raw I give them. But mostly all they've gotten has been dif types of chicken, and a few mice. My order from hare today should be coming in on Wed. I ordered beef a little chicken and rabbit. The beef is ground whole and then also some trim pieces. The chicken and rabbit are whole carcass ground. So I'm going to get started on trying them on new meats soon.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 7, 2011 11:03:48 GMT -5
That's great! And we need to get a menu set up for them pretty quickly, too. In the interim, can you try them on anything else around? Pork, or even trimmings from your own meals?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2011 16:49:14 GMT -5
I could do that, we just bought some beef roasts from Sams today and they do need a little trimming on them before I freeze them. I'll see what I can do about that. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2011 0:23:11 GMT -5
So I tried the ground beef (muscle bone and organ) on the ferrets today. They were not pleased. LOL. That's ok, it will sit there til they decide they are hungry enough to eat it. (not so long it goes bad though) Miko had the nerve to gag at the smell of it, the drama queen! LOL! Timmy though will be getting his chicken soup that he's used to though since he's sick. Scarlett and Timmy nibbled on it a little but didn't seem too into it. We'll get them eating it though.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 11, 2011 9:59:15 GMT -5
You might actually have to go through the soupie routine with new meats from time to time Especially if they've had one long enough to start imprinting again
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2011 2:53:11 GMT -5
Ok, as I told you, I've been giving the ferrets ground whole beef mixed with ground whole chicken and every now and then giving them just ground beef. Well today i tried them on the beef trim I got from Hare Today and it was WELL received! They actually hissed and barked over it a little! They are DEF coming along! Once they start eating the beef real well then I'll start on the rabbit with them. I was thinking the dif proteins I'll use are chicken, beef, mice and rabbit. The rabbit for now will be the only thing ground. If they are eating mice whole and chicken and beef with some bones I figure that having one meat ground wont be too much of a problem. Once my chicks come in and they start to lay I'll be able to hatch chicks to feed to them too. I was thinking as far as menu goes I'd just alternate meals. Like chicken beef rabbit mouse chicken beef rabbit mouse. As long as I'm mixing organ with it would that be fine?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 19, 2011 9:47:26 GMT -5
Main rule of thumb(and this can wind up varying, depending on what your ferret's needs are): 8-9 meals edible bone. Beef bones are not edible, but are good exercise Whole ground are edible bone. So is whole prey. If you don't want to give one full organ meal a week, that's fine, just split it up however works best your you and your crew. The rest of the meals are all muscle- at least one of which NEEDS to be straight heart. So, if you can do that, it will work fine Say, for example, Mon- chicken wings/necks, Tues. beef chunks, Wed., mice, Thurs. ground rabbit, Fri. chicken wings/necks, Sat. beef chunks(am), heart(pm), Sun. mice or ground rabbit.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2011 12:50:26 GMT -5
So doing whole prey and hole prey model doesn't have enough heart in it and I'll need to still have one meal a week with just heart?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 19, 2011 15:26:10 GMT -5
If you were to do whole prey completely, then yes, it would be fine. Or even 5-6 days a week. Commercial raw also includes it. I feed commercial raw every morning, but will still give one heart meal at least every other week, most times weekly. Besides- they really love it ;D But since no one knows exactly how much taurine they need, then it's best to fall on the side of caution, since taurine deficiency has some rather nasty effects. *Taurine deficiency most commonly results in dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged, weakened heart. This condition is usually reversible with taurine supplementation. Deficiency can also cause central retinal degeneration, degeneration of the functional part of the eye (the retina) which can lead to partial or complete blindness.* www.petside.com/health/petvet/taurine-deficiency-feline.php
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2011 3:51:49 GMT -5
Hey sorry I've been MIA for a couple days. Lizzy ended up in the hospital. she's doing good now and is back home. The ferts are doing good with their raw. The are eating ground chicken and beef and will eat chicken and beef in the non ground form. Thomas did a good job feeding them while I was in the Hospital with Lizzy. I'm still working on them with the mice. They eat some but they need to be eating it better. I'm making sure to feed them enough of the whole ground chicken and beef so they are getting the organ they need until we get set on a menu. I want to get them eating the mice and rabbit well before setting a menu. Is that ok as long as they are getting organ? Any way. Timmy is doing really well. He's not sick anymore and is doing FANTASTIC! Actually playing for the first time ever! Stanley is doing AWESOME with the raw feeding. Although, he is scared of Miko. She's the most aggressive when they eat and the big boy is a wimp. He wont eat until she's done or I give him his on the bottom level while everyone else eats up top. But he's eating it just as well as everyone else. That's all I have for now.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 27, 2011 10:48:14 GMT -5
Well, I had a nice response pretty much typed up. I had to go distract one ferret, and Boris decided to jump up and walk across the keyboard All gone ;D Anyway- I'm glad Lizzie is doing better now That's going to make things easier for you if you don't have to worry about her so much. I gather it was the influenza virus? Oh- wait! You said G.I. bug, didn't you?That bad almost sounds like a Norwalk or something Ok, fuzz are doing well with both ground meat/bone/organ chicken and beef, as well as chunks. How are they doing with the bone? Eating much with the wings, etc yet? How are they doing with straight organ? Have you tried another protein like pork or turkey with them yet? And Stanley almost sounds like a Boris
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