|
Post by teric506 on Mar 18, 2011 18:47:25 GMT -5
ok, So I chopped the meat on the bone and crushed the bone as much as I can. It no longer even resembles a chicken wing. You can still the the bone is bone but it is in pieces now and the marrow is all over the meat and showing in the broken bones so maybe that will get them actually chewing on the bone and not just the chicken. If all else fails I will powder the egg shell tomorrow and put that in with the gravy and put over the chicken. I just looked up and Josie is chewing on one of the bone pieces, hooray!!!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2011 19:05:52 GMT -5
Awesome news!! Kits LOVE to chew, and it will probably help with nippiness and teething! The marrow is also full of yummy nutrients. Hopefully the other two will see it's yummy and try a bit out, too. I think bone is a huge step, and often a very hard one achieve. Let us know how the others do with the bone.
|
|
|
Post by teric506 on Mar 19, 2011 11:16:43 GMT -5
When I got up this morning the bones were mostly gone and pretty much the rest of the chicken chunks were gone as well. Do I give them chicken wings every day? I powdered some egg shell this morning and mixed it with their chicken chunks because their poos are really runny and I want to firm them up a bit. I am thawing the rest of the chicken wings I am just not sure how often I am supposed to give them.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2011 11:25:10 GMT -5
The general menu should be: 8 meals bone in meats 4 meals bone out 1 meal organ etc.
They get two meals a day, so 8 meals should have bone in.
Some examples of bone in meats are wings, drumsticks, necks, ribs, some tails, and whole prey.
They have high calcium needs, so they will eat bone in meats most of the time.
This is GREAT news!! Bone in a huge step! Do you know if everyone ate bone? At any rate, I'd continue with the chicken wings for a couple days to get them used to it.
One trick I just learned from my mentor Katt is to coat the meat with a thin layer of pumpkin it squash. It acts like fur would on an animal and really helps firm up stools.
Once they are good on the boned chicken and chunks, we can start adding other protein sources and organs. They will need a minimum of 3 proteins. So chicken, turkey, pork, beef, Cornish game hen, lamb, goat, etc.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2011 11:29:35 GMT -5
Also, more protein variety is always better. They can't get enough variety
|
|
|
Post by teric506 on Mar 19, 2011 11:41:20 GMT -5
I am pretty sure only Josie and Jasmine ate the bone. Jesse chewed on it a little but she did not eat it. I have been mixing pumpkin in with the soup when I give it to them Do you know how long pumpkin is good for in the fridge? I will give them another broken up chicken wing tomorrow once they are a little more thawed. The one thing I noticed with the chunks is they take them out of the bowl and scatter them on the floor of the cage.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2011 11:57:19 GMT -5
Awesome for Josie and Jasmine! I put my pumpkin in a tupperware and it lasts about a month? Once it starts smelling/looking funny, I throw it out. One method of storing the pumpkin is: 1) Put the pumpkin into ice cube trays 2) Once they're frozen, place in a ziplock bag and store in freezer. When you need some pumpkin, take a couple out a day in advance and they can stay in the fridge for until you use them. Some say they come out funny after being frozen. My solution is to heat them in the microwave until they're mushy again, add a bit of water, and back to normal ;D I found that getting the pumpkin OUT of the ice cube tray is the hardest part. I have found a solutions to this. 1) Mix the pumpkin with some water so it's more like a gravy and less chunky. 2) Coat the ice cube tray with olive oil. I usually use a paper towel, get some olive oil on it, and rub the inside of the cubes with it. This makes the cubes come out easier and helps make the pumpkin last longer As for Jesse, one thing you can do is let her skip a meal, or even postpone it a couple hours. Once her appeitie is going, put the chicken wing in the bowl and let her watch the others eat it. Her hunger might get the best of her Now to the chunks -.- My girls do this, too. It is incredibly annoying. Some use a feeding den in the cage. It can be a large rubbermaid container that has holes cut out in it. This helps them have a place to eat their meat in peace. Once they are on big enough chunks, you can use metal shower hooks like these: www.amazon.com/Shower-Curtain-Rings-Hooks-Metal/dp/B002XM0QOIGet a chunk of meat, put the hook through the meat and attach the hook to the side of the cage. This works really well if they have a feeding den, because the mess stains contained in the den. But it works good to prevent them bringing the food all over the cage.
|
|
|
Post by teric506 on Mar 19, 2011 12:16:37 GMT -5
The feeding den is a great idea. Is this something that I would leave in their cage all the time or do I removed it when they are done eating? I have the ferret nation 142 cage so I could put the feeding den on one of the half shelves. Would I wait to do something like this until i am sure all of the kids are eating the bone?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2011 12:45:08 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2011 12:46:54 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by teric506 on Mar 21, 2011 7:13:48 GMT -5
ok cool, I will have to go and grab a plastic container and see if I cant make one of these. The girls are doing well with the chicken chunks and the crushed up chicken wings. How long do you think I should crush up the chicken wings for before I try them on whole ones again? Also, what type of meat do you think I should try with them next? I am so proud of how well they are taking to this so far
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2011 12:13:25 GMT -5
Awesome! So how big are the chunks? Is everyone eating the crushed chicken wing? Also, when you crush the chicken wing, do you keep it in a whole piece or cut it into smaller ones?
You can slowly crush it less and see how they do. The bones are very delicate and easy to crush.
I think we should try some other types of chicken meats. The darker meat is the most nutritious, so getting them to eat chicken thigh and legs would be a good next step.
|
|
|
Post by teric506 on Mar 21, 2011 12:29:35 GMT -5
They are still about half inch chunks. Everyone is eating the crushed chicken wing, although Jasmine and Jose are eating more of it than Jesse. I cut the chicken wing into smaller peices and then crush it up and there were only a couple tiny peices of bone left this morning. I will look in the freezer tonight to see if I have any thighs or legs and if not I will stop at the store on my way home from work tomorrow.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2011 12:39:19 GMT -5
Okay, so everyone is eating well. The younger two will naturally eat more because they're babies. They are "tummies with teeth" So once they are eating the darker chicken meat with no issues, we can move to other protein sources and organ meats. Some examples of easy to find meats are turkey, pork, beef, Cornish game hen, lamb, and goat. You need at least three, but more is better. I buy what's on sale and the cheapest cuts of meat. Asian and ethnic markets are great for cheap meats and organ. Any meat is fair game as long as it isn't altered, smoked, salted, injected, etc. Be especially careful of poultry because it often has salt solutions injected into them
|
|
|
Post by teric506 on Mar 22, 2011 6:25:44 GMT -5
Hi Jackie,
I didnt have any chicken thighs that werent seasoned so I am going to stop at the store on my way home from work today. I gave them another chicken wing this morning but I didnt crush it up as much as I normally do so we will see how they do with it.
Their poos are still really runny and I have been using pumpkin and crushed egg shells. Is their anything else I can do to help firm them up? I will have to take a picture tonight and show you. Maybe they are normal and I am just over reacting?
|
|