|
Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2012 0:40:35 GMT -5
That is actually a really great size they are up to . I think you could probably get them a little bigger (maybe wider so you don't have to go through the effort of cutting them so thin ) but honestly my ferrets really don't eat pieces much bigger than 3-4cm long (they are also 2-3 wide though which makes them easier to cut up than the strips). You CAN definitely work them up to bigger slabs of meat if that's something you want but some are just picky little monsters who insist their meat Be finely diced for them ;D. Why don't you keep slowly increasing it though and decide when you get to a good size that is easy for you to prepare and that they will eat almost all of. Sound good? I'm also going to get you to pick up some pork the next time you are at the store / have a chance to make a trip to it. If you can find that belly fat I mentioned, great!, but also get just a slab of regular pork. You should be able to find packaged slabs of pork meat without bone ( don't bother getting pork chops - they can't get through the bone). If you could also pick up some chicken wings, that would be great. Get the ones that still have the tips in. Some have tips removed, but we want the tips because they make great starter bones. The goal for the next 1-2 weeks (depending on how they do) is going to be to 1) start getting them used to a second protein (pork) as ferrets need AT LEAST 3 different proteins in their raw diet plan to be balanced (more is always better). And 2) get them to start eating tiny tiny pieces of bones to work on strengthening their jaw muscles to eat bigger pieces of bone down the road. Chicken wings work GREAT for this as the tips of the wings and the skinnier wings bone are easy to cut up and/or smash into little pieces to start. You will want a pair of butcher scissors and a hammer as well. The hammer can be one you already have (we'll use ziploc bags to protect the food from dirty hammer), but I find butcher scissors or other sharp cooking scissors really come in handy for cutting up meat and bone as well.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2012 13:55:58 GMT -5
Hi Steph,
OK I will start trying to make the pieces a bit wider. I don't think it will be too much of a problem for them.
BTW just wanted to let you know that Cyrus doesn't really seem to wanna eat the salmon oil. If we add some regular oil too she will eat it but if its only salmon oil, she won't. I am worried about them getting a bit to much oil. Is this a bad thing to happen?
I did look for the pork at the grocery store on Tuesday but didn't see any. Now that we need to start moving them to different foods, I will make sure to go find some on the weekend. I will also need to get the butcher scissors.
For the wings, I am not 100% what you mean by the tips. Will the packaging say whether or not the tips are left on?
Once I have all the stuff, I will let you know. Until then I will keep increasing the size of the chunks.
Thanks Breanne
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2012 18:10:38 GMT -5
Yes too much oil is a bad thing. It lubes their insides up too much and will cause nasty stools. Since Cyrus doesn't like the taste of the Salmon oil, what you can do instead, is mix 1/2 salmon oil with 1/2 olive oil. (so 1/4 tsp salmon oil + 1/4 tsp olive oil). Give this every other day, so 3 times a week. Then on the other days just give 1/4-1/2 tsp olive oil. Never exceed the 1/2 tsp a day mark for each ferret. And if you notice the stool is runny, cut it down to 1/4 tsp a day. Okay perfect even if you can just find tenderloin or pork chops without bone, that works. The "tips" are the pointy part of the very end of the chicken Wing. Some packages will say "tips removed". If it doesn't say this, the tips should be in, as long as you are getting the whole wings. It's the split wings that usually have the tips removed.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2012 13:01:14 GMT -5
Hi Steph,
I haven't been able to get to the grocery store yet but I will later today or tomorrow.
I made the ferrets a new batch of soup today with chunks that were about twice as wide as the previous chunks that I showed you in the pictures. The ate it all up without any problem. I was seeing that they could not just suck the pieces in and swallow - they had to do some chewing to get it into smaller pieces that they could eat. I even put big chunks of heart/liver/giblets in and they were fine with it.
I was wondering if I would be able to stop adding soup to their meal. They will eat chunks alone if I add a bit of olive oil to them and stir, but I was thinking that maybe they need the soup to help get used to the bones so I didn't know if that was a good idea or not.
I will probably be making the next batch of fod tomorrow night so I am wondering a few things once I have the wings/scissors
Also, how many cut up chicken wing tips should I add to a batch of soup? Can the skin from the chicken wings go into their food? Should I be saving (and freezing) the bones for any reason? We dont eat much meat so if we will need chicken wing bones later maybe we should keep these ones.
Thanks Breanne
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2012 17:54:32 GMT -5
Hey, That is excellent that they are doing so well with the bigger chunks If they will eat the chunks without soup, you don't need to add the soup to them. However, I will ask you to keep a batch of soup on hand (frozen or in the fridge) as you will need it to entice them to eat the bones and possibly the new pork protein, depending on if they like the flavor or not. The soup also helps balance out their meals a bit since it contains egg shell to help keep their poops looking okay and heart and organ. That being said, ferrets won't get unbalanced during the switching process so you don't need to give the soup everyday, just to get them to eat new things. With the chicken wings, you are actually going to cut up the whole wing. Starts with the tips, cut them off and smash them a little bit with a hammer so that the bone marrow is exposed (yummy stuff). Then cut and smash the two forearm bones up a bit, and then the big more solid bone. Do this with one or two wings. You keep the meat and skin ON the bones two, but you can cut it so that a bit is hanging off for them to grab onto. Cut and smash them into fairly small bone pieces. Then baggy them and keep them in the fridge. Freeze the rest of the chicken wings in ziploc bags with 2 wings per bag. Start by offering them the tips and the smashed up thinner forearm bones. Save that smashed up thicker bone for a bit later. Put these pieces on a plate with a little bit of oil and see if they will eat them. They may have difficulty crunching the bones at first. If that's a no-go, hide them in soup. But don't put any other chunks in this soup, as you need to know who is eating the bones and it's easier to monitor with just the bone/meat chunks in there. Let me know how they do with bone. Do pick up some pork too as we will try that next. Also just a little warning about the bones. RAW bones are 100% safe and edible. Even if the pieces seem sharp they are actually quite soft and will not cut your ferret's insides. COOKED bones are very very dangerous and cut up their insides. So NEVER defrost a chicken wing or other bone in the microwave. Instead soak the bag in cool-warm (never hot) water. We do not want to cook the bone in any way.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2012 21:21:38 GMT -5
Hi Steph, I picked up the wings and pork today. I also found some of the sliced pork belly that looks like bacon. I couldn't find any of the butcher scissors though. Maybe I will have to go to a specialty store? There is one that I will go past tomorrow and stop in. I will also give some of the chicken wing bone tomorrow and see how it goes Just wondering if we have to sprinkle some egg shell on top of the meat chunks if we don't mix it with soup anymore? Name: Zeus What they've been eating and how much per day:About half cup of soup with lots of chicken, liver, and heart chunks Activity level: more active than usual Stool shape and consistency: bit runny, medium size Weight: .84 kg Picture: Name: Cyrus What they've been eating and how much per day: About half cup of soup with lots of chicken, liver, and heart chunks Activity level:Very active Stool shape and consistency: bit runny, medium size Weight: .70 kg Picture: Thanks Breanne
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 1:28:36 GMT -5
I just got the scissors from a grocery store. They don't have to say "butcher scissors" just nice sharp food scissors will do. A really good large knife would work too (Ulu knifes have been highly recommended on the forum - i havent tried them personally but have always wanted to) but I find scissors way easier to use. What you can find to cut through the meat, skin and bone will work. They might do okay without egg shell, or they might need a couple pinches once a day. The best thing you can do is monitor. If poop looks super runny, add a few pinched once a day. If poops starts to get too hard and chalky looking, cut back slightly on the egg shell. Let me know when you are good to go with the chicken wings or if you've already tried it
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 8:14:53 GMT -5
Hi Steph, I did find some butcher scissors Last night I gave the ferrets pieces of the thinnest bone on the chicken wing. I used the scissors to cut it up into pretty small pieces and I put some olive oil on and they ate it all up with no problem. Tonight I will try cutting or smashing the next biggest bone and giving that to them. So will they be able to chew all the bone pieces? When I think about it, it just seems like bone would be hard to chew. I will watch their poop. If it gets runny I will just sprinkle a little bit on their food. Thanks, Breanne
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 20:26:35 GMT -5
They can definitely eat any piece of bones (assuming its not too big or thick). Raw bone is actually relatively soft and ferrets have strong jaw bones. Your guys will need to build up their jaw strength up slowly though so start with tiny pieces and work your way up Don't put any egg shell on the Meals that have bone in them though because they are already getting calcium from the bone
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2012 7:00:44 GMT -5
Hi Steph,
I tried giving them some of the middle piece of bone last night. They each ate a few pieces but thats all. I think their jaws may have been getting tired. Is it OK to give them the bone joints? Zeus got one last night but I think it was too hard for him to chew so I took it away from him. I didn't want him to choke. Is it possible that if a piece of bone is too hard for them to chew right now that they might try to swallow it whole, and it could cause them to choke? I know it may seem like a silly question but I was thinking it last night and just wanted to make sure.
Will give them more tonight. I think I will just freeze the largest pieces of bone for now until they are ready for bigger pieces.
Thanks, Breanne
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2012 14:25:09 GMT -5
They usually won't try swallow things whole, but the joint bone is too thick for them to get through anyways so don't bother giving it. They are pretty good at eating raw though. In fact more ferrets choke on kibble than they do on raw. But you're right their jaws aren't very strong yet and will tire very easily. So just stick to very little pieces for now. Why don't you give the pork cut up into tiny pieces a try? You can try it plain with oil and if that doesn't work, you can put some soup on top Let me know how pork goes!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2012 9:00:27 GMT -5
Hi Steph,
I didnt know if you meant to give them the pork belly slices or the other pork so I gave them the pork belly slices. I cut up one slice into about 10ish pieces and put it out for them with oil. Cyrus ate it, but Zues didn't. He may have just been tired though. It hadn't all been eaten before bed so I added some of the chicken with it. This morning I saw Zeus eating and he did for sure eat a piece of the pork belly so at least we know he is willing to eat it!
Should I include this into all of their meals, or should I be using the other pork that I got instead? Also should they eat only pork or is it ok to mix with some chicken.
Also, I have heard before that you shouldn't thaw meat then freeze it again.. Is this bad to do for the meat that the ferrets are eating?
Thanks, Breanne
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2012 20:21:37 GMT -5
That's awesome that they both ate it! It doesn't matter if it's the belly fat or just the regular pork, the belly fat was just to help with their coats/itchiness a bit Stick to one protein per meal for now. So You could give them chicken at one point during the day( with bones to keep them working on that) and pork at another point during the day. So for the next few days, I'm going to get you to just get them eating the pork really well. And work on getting them to eat bones well and slowly increasing the size of those to build up their jaw strength. Now, you've said they will eat heart chunks and liver chunks in the soup. Do you know if they will eat hearts and liver on their own with just oil? You definitely still want to get a little pumpkin into them eat day too to help with digestion, stools, and hair balls.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2012 20:24:25 GMT -5
As for re-freezing, I actually looked this up on a health website a while back. Apparently (for humans), if you defrost In the fridge and then re-freeze it's fine. But if you defrost on the counter you aren't supposed to refreeze. For ferrets - I honestly don't worry about it. I refreeze all the time and they are just fine. They wont eat bad meat anyways and they digest in a couple of hours so there's no time for salmonella or e. coli to colonize. Humans digestive time is way longer - so we can more easily get an overpopulation of those bacteria... Also why we can't eat raw meat and they can
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2012 12:07:17 GMT -5
Hi Steph, Ok I will keep giving them the pork belly fat until it is gone then will move onto chunks of pork. Can they get too much fat from this? the pork belly slices do seem to have quiet a bit of fat. Also, in the future should I keep buying the pork belly fat or just regular pork? Not sure if they need that extra fat from the pork belly. They do eat liver and heart chunks mixed in the the chicken chunks that I give them. Currently, they aren't getting any soup anymore so I just use the same amount of ingredients that you told us to use for the soup originally but I just cut it all up into chunks and they eat it fine. The info about refreezing is interesting so I won't have to worry about that anymore - thanks! Have a good long weekend Breanne
|
|