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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2013 8:47:34 GMT -5
I got home late last night so just fed them the ground turkey. Going to try the chunks or heart tonight - I haven't decided which one. I need to get everything separated out in to baggies for meals this weekend. Will keep you posted, should my phone actually function out in the woods this weekend!! If you don't hear from me, I will update you Monday morning. I should be running errands, though, so should get internet signal somewhere
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Post by katt on Mar 15, 2013 11:17:29 GMT -5
Let me know how it goes! I'll keep my eye out for updates.
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Post by katt on Mar 16, 2013 11:26:42 GMT -5
Just popping in. I may or may not be able to check in tonight (though I'll likely be on and off for the afternoon) so I wanted to at least say hi so you know I'm not ignoring you. lol
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Post by katt on Mar 18, 2013 12:30:27 GMT -5
Just checking in
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2013 21:25:58 GMT -5
Hey there sorry was sick and not at work today. Just thought to check this while I have service. They had the bison chunks the other night, duck hearts last night, and tonight I've mixed in pieces of chicken necks. All of this I've mixed in with the commercial grind to introduce it to them. At first they eat around it and I've just left it there until they eat all of it. Oh and I gave them the rabbit organs as well. They didn't take to that very quickly but they eventually munched on it. Theodore is of course the most willing to eat anything. Scout is iffy at first then eats it all. Sydney is the stubborn one but eats it when she realizes she has no choice. So this step may take a little longer. They hid a bunch of the bison chunks but I kept replacing it and they stopped and ate it. The organs I gave to them straight, with no commercial grind so that may be why it took them a little longer with that. Even then there was some left in the bowl I had to throw out. Baby steps I guess!!!
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Post by katt on Mar 20, 2013 0:53:55 GMT -5
That is a good start. Organ is stronger tasting, so they do tend to take a bit longer on that. Good start though! They are ALL eating the chunks correct? Start to do just like you did going from soup to ground meat bu mixing in chunks and gradually increasing the chunks in both size and quantity while decreasing the amount of ground meat in the dish. Of course if they are willing to eat chunks without the ground meat mixed in, that just means you can skip some steps. Never be afraid to jump ahead if they are willing.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2013 12:37:30 GMT -5
Yes last night I added more chicken neck than ground meat (I hadn't really given them very much the first try and I found most of it hidden under the couch). Last night I caught them all running off with it again, but they were making more efforts to actually eat it. Tonight I plan to do the same with the venison chunks. It seems to be a bit more tender so maybe it'll be easier for them to start with as opposed to the bison chunks I slivered up last time. Or is tonight chicken wing night? I have the menu on my fridge (had to change it around because I wound up feeding them something different on Saturday, but I was still sticking to the same menu choices I used in the ones I sent you). With the chicken wing, I'm going to put the main "wing" part with the bone in the bowl along with chopped up chunks/bits/whatever from the rest of the piece of meat. I prepared all of this last night so hopefully they'll take to it. Sorry if this is spotty - my brain is sketchy today haha!
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Post by katt on Mar 21, 2013 0:22:29 GMT -5
The menu isn't supposed to be set in stone, it is more of a guideline. The idea behind making it is to learn how to balance and create a well-balanced menu. You can make changes as long as the overall balance is kept intact. 10% organ, 10% heart, 10-15% bone. The neck that you fed them, was it smashed up or whole? Withthe wing definitely give them the whole thing but don't forget to break up the bones until they learn how to eat bones better. It takes a little time to build up thr neck and jaw muscles for eating whole bones.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2013 9:01:07 GMT -5
We have chunk eaters!! haha! They ate the chicken chunks last night. Put the wing in there this morning along with some more chicken and venison chunks. I had chopped the necks up really small and pounded on them a bit to break up the bones. They ate the pieces I'd put in there yesterday morning as well. I actually witnessed them crunching on them, and I looked all through the cage and none were hidden. I didn't break up the bones in the wing today Didn't think so. I figured maybe they could just gnaw on it or something. I'll see what it looks like when I get back tonight. Theodore kept trying to drag it all over the living room last night so I saved it for them to eat in their cage today. I have another wing and stuff so if this one doesn't look like they've chewed on it, I'll break the next one up. Woops! haha!
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Post by katt on Mar 21, 2013 13:47:33 GMT -5
Good fuzz! Keep up the great work!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2013 22:49:52 GMT -5
The entire wing is gone. Not hidden anywhere in the cage and Theodore was eating the remainder of the bone when I came in. Since I was at work I don't know if they all ate it or just him. He's a chunky monkey so he very well may have. There are chunks missing as well. They aren't eating as much as they were at the beginning of the switch, but isn't that normal? Their bodies get the nutrients caught up and stuff? Anywho it looks like they're eating everything!!
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Post by katt on Mar 22, 2013 0:09:45 GMT -5
Yes it ia normal for them to slow down. Right now you have 3 things working to decrease their appetite: They are getting used to raw (caught up on their nutrition), they are getting older (moving gradually away from hungry-kit stage to Pre-adult stage), and we are coming up on springtime. Do keep an eye out Abd make sure that all 3 are eating though. You might try hand feeding the other two some little bone and meat chunks and see what they do. We just want to be sure all 3 of them are eating everything, though as young as they are I am are they probably are (the younger the ferret the easier the switch).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2013 8:59:04 GMT -5
I watched them all eat chunks last night. I'll try with some bone again at the beginning of next week - I'd do it this weekend but they've already had the chicken necks and the wing so I don't want to over load?
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Post by katt on Mar 23, 2013 3:11:24 GMT -5
It's not overload. haha Remember that ferrets on a whole meat diet (not commercial ground) are getting 7-9 bone-in meals a day. Giving it to them more often is just going to help them build up those chomping muscles! However, they are getting a lot of their bone requirements from the grinds, so Not giving it to them for a few days isn't going to affect them negatively either. It is up to you. How often do you think you are going to want to feed whole meats vs commercial ground meat? I would give whole chunks and bones at least once a week to keep their teeth cleaned, but more or less is up to you. And it's not like you can't always change the routine later, as long as the proper nutritional balance is being maintained. THAT is key.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2013 13:34:20 GMT -5
I've been feeding chunks at least once a day, even if I just mix some in with the grind. Good to know you can't feed too much bone!!! I think I'm doing the right thing/am on the right track!! Yay!!! I've also mixed in pieces of chicken neck randomly with the grind (in addition to whole meals of it). Just been trying to get them used to it. They have eaten well this weekend - ate bison cubes last night and this morning (left over from last night). Gonna see what I can feed them tonight. I have a couple things thawed out.
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