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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2013 23:54:58 GMT -5
I recently got my first ferret, she is supposed to be around six months old. I am her third owner and I guess her exact age was lost in between owners one and two. I was told she eats a mixture of kibble and chicken (no bones). I definitely want to feed a natural diet and I have done a lot of reading but I have some questions.
I raise my own chickens, ducks, occasionally pigeons, and soon quail, so I have a lot of that, including necks, gizzards, hearts, and liver. I have lots of hunters in my family, so I will also be able to get turkey, deer, goose, and squirrel, and I can easily get rabbits, mice, and rats. I am going to keep feeding her mostly kibble until I know exactly what I'm doing though.
1. Is there any problem feeding wild animals?
2. Do chicken and duck count as two different food sources?
3. How many times a day do I feed her? I am homeschooled so I'm usally home most of the day.
4. How long should I leave food she hasnt eaten right away in the cage? Is there a way that she can eat in a seperate easier to clean place, or does she need food constantly?
5. How much should she eat per day? Is there a certain percent of her body weight that she should be eating? Or how do I figure that out? I would like to freeze seperate bags for each day, so knowing how much to put in each bag would be great.
6. She will eat gizzard/liver/heart/muscle meat if I chop it up, but I gave her a mouse and she got really exited and chewed on it a bit, but didn't eat any. How do I get her to start eating whole prey? I dont know if I should Just leave it in the cage untill she eats it or if it will go bad too fast.
7. I have a food dehydrater, would dehydrated meat be good for treats or even meals?
I am a big worrier and I dont want to do anything wrong, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2013 1:07:20 GMT -5
I can answer a few of these general ones comfortably.
There is nothing wrong with wild animals imo, I wouldn't necessarily feed sick or dying, which is more than likely what they might catch more easily in the wild, however, thier systems are designed to handle wild animals, I prefer wild meats to farmed for my kids, my dog lives essentially on venison ;D I personally won't feed wild bear, or boar though... Too many horror stories in that one, but rabbits, mice, rats, squirrel, sure.
Duck and chicken would count as two sources, or I would anyhow.
You can leave the food comfortably for well over 24 hours, we often leave meats out for our dog for 48-72 hours, they usually don't last that long in the weasels cage lol. I find that ground meats will stink faster after being left out though. I have always free fed my animals u less they were complete gluttons, you can leave her with it, if she gets fat limit her I suppose.
Dehydrated meats are amazing treats! And a great way to keep from wasting scrap.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2013 6:39:34 GMT -5
Thank you!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2013 7:53:00 GMT -5
Wild game is fine to feed, but should be frozen first for a couple weeks if you can to kill off parasites. If you're getting wild rabbits you will need to cut them open and look at the liver and see if it has white spots on it. If it does the whole rabbit needs to be trashed, otherwise the disease it has (forget the name) can be spread to the ferret if it eats the infected meat.
Chicken, turkey, duck, quail are all considered different meat sources.
Your girl may not have realized the mouse was food, or she may have figured out it was food but did not like the fur or could not figure out how to get past it. You can try taking a dead mouse and slicing it open to expose the meat to see if she'll eat it. You may have to drizzle it with a treat, such as ferretone or fish oil.
Ferrets fully switched to raw can generally be fed twice daily, with maybe some tidbits around for snacking. Older ferrets or ones sick with insuloma should always have access to food.
Solid meat chunks are good for a few days left out, longer if they jerkify. For me it becomes a case of tossing them when they stink too much if they haven't been eaten. Ferrets won't eat meat that is too spoiled for their system to handle. You can trey making her a feeding den out of a tupperware tote or a cardboard box and see if she'll eat in it, that would reduce the mess and they tend to like to eat in a private place.
Generally adult ferrets can eat between 2oz-6oz a day, however they eat less in spring, more in winter and usually males will eat more than females. It's kind of trial and error at first to see how much she eats. They also tend to eat more initially when switched and after some weeks they'll drop off.
Jerky with nothing added is a fine treat, just keep in mind that by drying it with heat you lose a lot of the nutrients, so it's a good treat only, not a diet.
Also if you've got all of these fowl about the farm, a fresh egg once or twice a week would be great for your ferret.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 20, 2013 10:06:21 GMT -5
1. Is there any problem feeding wild animals? Just make sure you freeze for 2 weeks to a month in a deep chest style freezer to kill any potential parasites. If it's rabbit, check the liver for white spots. If any are present toss the entire animal. That means it has tularemia, which will cross species when the meat is consumed. 2. Do chicken and duck count as two different food sources? Yes, as is turkey and true rock cornish hen. 3. How many times a day do I feed her? I am homeschooled so I'm usally home most of the day. I feed twice a day. 4. How long should I leave food she hasnt eaten right away in the cage? Is there a way that she can eat in a seperate easier to clean place, or does she need food constantly? Smaller pieces 12 hrs. Whole pieces(drumstick, wing, thigh, etc) up to 24 hrs. Whole prey with fur on up to 48 hrs. 5. How much should she eat per day? Is there a certain percent of her body weight that she should be eating? Or how do I figure that out? I would like to freeze seperate bags for each day, so knowing how much to put in each bag would be great. As much as she'll eat Ferrets tend not to overeat. Once she's an adult she'll most likely consume 2-4 oz a day. As a kit however, maybe twice that? 6. She will eat gizzard/liver/heart/muscle meat if I chop it up, but I gave her a mouse and she got really exited and chewed on it a bit, but didn't eat any. How do I get her to start eating whole prey? I dont know if I should Just leave it in the cage untill she eats it or if it will go bad too fast. Cut it open so she knows there are goodies inside the fur 7. I have a food dehydrater, would dehydrated meat be good for treats or even meals? As treats definitely. And it's a good idea to have some on hand, as well as her used to it, in case of an extended power outage.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2013 13:44:23 GMT -5
Yes, as is turkey and true rock cornish hen. Is true rock cornish hen different than cornish game hen? I know cornish game hens are actually the same kind of chicken as the regular sized store chicken (which are a mixture of breeds of chickens, mostly cornish and white rocks), just butchered when they're younger.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 20, 2013 18:51:39 GMT -5
Rock Cornish hen properly is an entirely different species of hen, the problem is finding it
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2013 20:16:06 GMT -5
I personally dont see anything bad about feeding them wild animals if there not sick. Thats what they would eat in the wild.....
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