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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2013 23:30:10 GMT -5
ok so what I was maybe thinking....I'm gonna add more cut up chunks to their chicken mush. and instead of making their ground chicken slightly chunky like I have been, just puree it a bit more, so they will be a little more enticed to eat the chunks. so instead of 1/2 chicken chunks 1/2 grounded chicken, it'll be 3/4 chicken chunks and 1/4 ground puree chicken. what do u think?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2013 23:54:44 GMT -5
That's a great plan! The subsequent steps to where you are now is increasing the size of the chunks. If you can get them to eat when you increase the size of the chunks and reduce the mush at the same time, that'd be a great leap! If you have trouble with them eating, then backtrack a little with the mush but keep the size of the chunks. Don't forget....sometimes it takes more than one introduction to something for them to accept it. If this doesn't work, go back to what works for a day or two and then try it again.
Let me know how it goes! If their appetites start to ramp up because of winter, this is a great time to make a bold move!
And about chicken smelling like fish....it shouldn't smell that way. Sometimes blood will smell strange when it's been packaged but the meat is good. Did you wash it and smell it again? The smell of chicken should be almost nothing. They won't eat anything that has gone bad and they will eat nasty, stinky stuff....I would probably toss it and get a new batch....or better yet, return it to the store.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2013 0:47:41 GMT -5
I didn't wash the chicken, I didn't even thinkk of it I gave them some of the smellier chicken chunks and they ate it...so does that mean it was just a little smellier of a chicken? or should I just throw it out anyway? it took me over an hour to chop that d*mn chicken lol They ate pretty good with how I divided everything tonight. They still don't eat it all in one sitting. Will they ever? Or will they always just want to snack on it throughout the day?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2013 20:25:09 GMT -5
Naw, they won't eat it if it's gone bad. Sometimes the blood smells funny. If they ate it, it's fine.
Leaving some for them is fine too. mine are exactly the same way. I do about 6 ounces of food for 2 boys and 2 girls. This morning there were three pieces left. They may never eat it all in one sitting. If you want them to you can cut back what you give them, but I know I feel better knowing that they have had food available to them all day. When they eat it all I freak out not knowing how long it has been since they ate. LOL But that's just me. One thing that I like about leaving food in for them is that some days they eat more....on those days, that little bit extra is there, just in case.
Glad they did good! Keep it up and check back in a day or so...or if anything comes up. For now let them get used to what you are serving. With them eating like this, if they have good poos and everything, we should see Donut's weight back up to where it was before. (dance)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2013 20:24:46 GMT -5
They must love how I made it! I cut back on their food a bit tho cuz they were leaving almost half of it. So instead of giving them 4oz, they are getting 3.5oz each feeding. until they start eating more, I'll keep it at that. This morning they left about 4 chunks.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2013 20:30:17 GMT -5
Great news! You are making great progress!
I'm so looking forward to seeing weights next week. Did you start putting in the little slivers of pork again?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2013 20:33:32 GMT -5
I will put in the slivers tonight...I keep forgetting. I think about it when it's too late lol But I will tonight again and see how it goes
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2013 20:35:08 GMT -5
Great! I would still make them small...they haven't had much of them yet so the flavor might turn them away. Let me know how it goes!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2013 22:50:18 GMT -5
It's going good with the pork so far. They don't even notice it in there I don't think. Poops are mostly looking good too with the added eggshell, so overall not bad! The only thing is Alto...one day he will eat chunks of chicken no problem, then the next day he doesn't want much of them. He's being a little booger that one
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2013 23:33:47 GMT -5
Hey girl! Hey, he's eating. Alto is just behind a bit. He will pick it up. Lets give it a couple of more days for him to catch on before we try something new. It's not unheard of for one of the bunch to lag behind. I also had one of those. It's all good....he'll catch up. It can always be because of extraneous things...like lack of exercise because of the upcoming winter, or just doesn't feel like eating. Again, lets give him a day or two before we change anything. I like to do a switch with everyone on board. In two days, lets give them more pork..increase the pork sizes but keep the chicken the way it is. Okie dokie?!?!?!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2013 2:15:20 GMT -5
Ok that sounds good! I'll keep working on Mr. Alto
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2013 17:52:33 GMT -5
Do older ferrets eat less raw than younger ones? I'm thinking they do cuz they aren't as active. I went camping this weekend and the ferrets cleaned their plates! For some reason they are more hungry when camping, and they don't get as much exercise.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2013 19:41:55 GMT -5
hahaha! They cleaned their plates? good job babies!
My older ones eat the same amount as the younger ones. It could be a variety of reasons...the different surroundings, being awake more, etc. My boys each eat about 1.5 ounces at a meal. One is 4 years old the other is nearly two years. My girls each eat around 1 ounce per meal...one is nearly 2 years, the other is 27 weeks old. So you can see that each ferret has it's own special needs. Do you cage them when you are camping? Where do they sleep?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2013 21:39:38 GMT -5
We have a motorhome, so right above the cab theres a section for 2 people to sleep and we took the mattresses out of there and put in the ferret play pen up there. It fits perfect it's awesome! but of course we let them out to run around in the motorhome for exercise too We used to tent years ago, but we needed something so we could take the ferrets along with us and also something that had air conditioner, so we decided on a motorhome I love it! So I weighed the ferrets and Altos weight is down His weight has always fluctuated when he was on kibble ever since he hurt his back about 2 years ago, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. Donut just likes to eat and eat and eat when we camp , he's a little chubber. Alto: 990g Donut: 1042g Mika: 816g
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2013 23:56:23 GMT -5
Oh another thing I've noticed...Alto just doesn't like the stickiness of the chicken. when i give it to them its like a big gob of sticky chicken so in order for him to even start to eat it, I have to add a bit of water to make it more slippery. either that or add salmon oil. Just something to make it more slippery. I don't know what else to do.
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