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Post by teric506 on Mar 22, 2011 7:07:28 GMT -5
I have one more question. When I was searching the forum I found a post that listed this Hare today website so I went a took a look. For $46.22 I could get 3lbs of course ground turkey with bones/organs, 3lbs course ground chicken with bones/organs, 3lbs chicken peices, and 2lbs of chicken hearts. They had a pic of the course ground and it looks like just big chunks and all of it is frozen. There is a 10lb order limit but I am trying to figure out if that would be cheaper than buying all if that at the grocery store. What do you think?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2011 12:40:53 GMT -5
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? A picture would definitely, help Raw fed ferrets are going to have MUCH more wet stools than kibble fed. They will also be much smaller and skinnier. Almost all kibble fed ferrets are dehydrated, and once they start the switch, the are finally getting enough water, so there is an adjustment period as there body learns to handle all the water. Because you have all girls, they also will urinate in the same spot they defecate, so that can make it look even more watery. It's shedding season anyway, so I would up the pumpkin just a bit. They are getting a good amount of eggshell and bone and I don't want to overdo it. I have one more question. When I was searching the forum I found a post that listed this Hare today website so I went a took a look. For $46.22 I could get 3lbs of course ground turkey with bones/organs, 3lbs course ground chicken with bones/organs, 3lbs chicken peices, and 2lbs of chicken hearts. They had a pic of the course ground and it looks like just big chunks and all of it is frozen. There is a 10lb order limit but I am trying to figure out if that would be cheaper than buying all if that at the grocery store. What do you think? With three fuzzies, I would estimate needing anywhere from 10 to 30 lbs a month. All three of your girls are in a transition period where they will be eating like crazy, and two of them are babies. Once they settle into the diet, their appetites will slow down. I'm not sure what stores you have around or shop at, but I get all of my meats for about $1.5 a lb. So if I needed about 20 lbs this month, I'd be spending anywhere from about $30 to $40, which isn't bad at all. I think Hare Today is an awesome option, but it will definitely be more expensive than grocery store shopping.
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Post by teric506 on Mar 23, 2011 6:57:17 GMT -5
Good Morning, I went and got some chicken thighs and chopped that up this morning and put it in the cage and upped the pumpkin. There is much more meat on those than the chicken wings so that is great. Of course my girls havent gone outside of the litter boxes so I couldnt get any pics last night and when they go in the box you cant really see anything it just looks like pee with stuff in the middle.
I just have grocery stores around me like Walmart and such. I did see that they had almost 2lbs of chicken hearts and gizzards for $1.50 so that seems like a good price but I cant remember if that had liver in it or not. We are still a ways away from trying organs though right?
Hopefully the girls will eat the chicken thigh today. I did notice that their seems to be less bone in those than in the chicken wings, is that ok?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2011 13:39:36 GMT -5
Of course my girls havent gone outside of the litter boxes so I couldnt get any pics last night and when they go in the box you cant really see anything it just looks like pee with stuff in the middle. Haha, it's fine. Is the color normal? Is it seedy? If it's just watery I wouldn't worry too much. We are still a ways away from trying organs though right? I always stock up when I see a good deal. The main things you need besides meat and bone are heart, liver, and one other organ (like kidney, spleen, etc). Your girls are moving pretty quickly, so I would expect them to be ready to try organ pretty soon. I did notice that their seems to be less bone in those than in the chicken wings, is that ok? Yep, that is fine. You will have different cuts of meat that have more and less bone. Chicken/turkey necks will have very dense bone, chicken wings and legs are intermediate, and chicken thighs are lower on the bone. The goal is to feed a variety of different meats and bones, and it will balance out in the end. Let me know how the the thigh goes and if they have any issues
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Post by teric506 on Mar 24, 2011 6:30:40 GMT -5
Hi Jackie,
They ate the thigh yesterday So this morning I cut one in half and hung it on the cage with one of those wire curtain hooks. I am not sure that Jessie is eating enough though, see seems to have lost some weight and she was already pretty skinny. I know she is eating but the girls steal her food quite a bit and she doesn't try to take it back. Should I feed her separately?
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Post by teric506 on Mar 24, 2011 7:04:50 GMT -5
I was just looking at pic of poos and it really looks like Jessie poo's are seedy with the urine mixed in. What do you think could be causing this?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2011 11:12:59 GMT -5
We might be moving a bit too quickly for Jesse. Ferrets are losing weight this time of year, and they're also eating less. I would feed her some chicken wing crushed up with some pumpkin privately so she can eat ad much as she needs. As for the poop, you can expect some funky stools. Their body is adjusting to a new diet. I would monitor her, make sure she is eating enough, drinking enough. Here is a chart www.ferretharmony.com/viewtopic.php?t=1793If it persists, it could be a bacterial overgrowth. Raw has a higher bacterial load than kibble. If it persists, we can follow the poop protocol: www.holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=stickies&action=display&thread=6775Let me know how the hanging meat goes! It's great for jaw strength and exercise!
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Post by teric506 on Mar 24, 2011 12:38:51 GMT -5
ok, I will try feeding her sepately tonight and see how she does.
Also, I finally got in the new liter (worlds best cat litter) and when I put it in the litter boxes and put them back in the cage the two little ones through almost all of it out of the boxes. How do I get them not to dig it out?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2011 12:42:41 GMT -5
Well I would start with putting some poop in the box, so they can associate the box with potty. Also, when they first wake up, put them in the box. Once they use it a couple times, they should get the point
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Post by teric506 on Mar 25, 2011 6:25:04 GMT -5
Hi Jackie, the litter box trick worked I also separated Jessie last night and put her in the bottom of the cage with the other girls in the top. I mixed up a soupie like I was doing in the beginning and added more pumpkin than I normally was adding. When I got up this morning the soup was gone and beleive it or not her poop looked normal which I have never seen since I rescued her. It was great. Do you think it would hurt if I left her in the bottom for a couple of days and see if her poops stay normal? Now I guess I have to figure out why they are normal now. The hanging meat seemed to be a bust. They chewed on it but that was about it and didnt really get to the bone so I went back to crushing the bone up and putting it in their bowl this morning. Do you think that is ok?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2011 8:36:41 GMT -5
Yay for the litter! Hopefully they realize that litter is NOT for playing in now ;D if they start playing in it again, you can put some of their old litter on top of the new stuff and slowly phase that out That is great for Jesse! My girls had bad stools on kibble. Pixies were always runny. I think the Evo did it. Now that shes on raw she has nice well formed stools. You know you've feed too much pumpkin when the stools start getting orange I think that it would be a good idea to watch her and make sure she's doing okay As for the hanging meat, that's fine. Just backtrack to the last stage they were eating chunks successfully Have you thought of what protein you might want to add next? Turkey is usually an easy one. My girls loved pork. Cornish game hen is usually more expensive but it's also a good bone in protein. Any protein is fine as long as it's not altered I'd also look to start getting some livers and hearts they should be getting 1 meal of heart a week, and one liver/other organ meal some ferrets LOVE hearts, others not so much. My girls enjoy liver soup but they're yet to enjoy it in chunks Don't worry too much about deficiencies, they take a while to develop. For now keep them on the chicken chunks. I'd rotate between chicken thighs and chicken wings, since the thighs are lower in bone. How much of the thigh bone do they usually eat? Keep me posted you're doing fantastic!
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Post by teric506 on Mar 25, 2011 10:48:27 GMT -5
Jessie's poops werent orange but she went quite a bit, much more than she has ever gone before I think. I was just thrilled to see them solid. I was thinking of trying turkey next because it is similar to chicken. The girls only ate a little peice of the thigh bone. I will stop and grab some organ meat at walmart this weekend. When I give them hearts or livers should I mix them up like the soupies or just chop them.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2011 12:48:38 GMT -5
Okay, so I'd start decreasing the pumpkin until her stools are solid but not so big. You kinda have to play with it to find an amount that will work the goal is to use as little as possible, because I think for the liver and hearts you should serve them in small chunks first, and see how they do. If they aren't interested, we can make a soup and see how they do. You can also try sprinkling some freeze dried on the liver or pouring a bit of soup on top of them. The thigh bones are probably a bit too hard for them, so I would feed the chicken wing for bone and chicken thigh for boneless. They should be getting about 8 bone in meals, 4 boneless meals (1 which is heart) and then one organ meal. As far as the turkey goes, I get wings and necks. The only part of the wing mine will eat are the tips. The necks are a pain to chop, but they eat most of the besides a tiny bit. I use the rest of the wing meat for boneless days. I also get ground turkey and ad some eggshell and make it a bone in meal. About 1/2 tsp for every 8 oz of meat should make a boned meal
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Post by teric506 on Mar 26, 2011 12:34:42 GMT -5
Hi Jackie, It seems as though everyone has slowed down on there eating. The two youngest girls are eating about 2 chicken thigh a day broken into morning and night and they dont seem to like them as well as the chicken breasts I was giving them. They seem to do ok with the bones but usually don't finish all of them.
Jessie was doing well with her poops but they are back to being seedy and yellowish in color. I increased her pumpkin again this morning. She is also really thin when I look at her from behind her sides suck in and I can feel her spine. I am not sure how to get her to put on some weight. I still have her separated from the girls because I didn't want them to stress her how because they are so hyper and playful and she is not. She is eating the soup I have been making for her with the freeze dried chicken from stella and chewy's and I have been adding that uncle jim's duck soup (I copied the ingredients below). When I feed her before I go to bed the bowl is always empty when I get up in the morning, I also feed her in the morning and her bowl has been empty when I get home from work.
Are the other two slowing down on eating because of spring? I am not too concerned with them because even though they are slowing down they do not seem to be losing weight.
What do you think about the ingredients below?
Ingredients: Chicken by products, dried chicken liver, primary dried yeast, dried kelp, flaxseed, garlic extract, cod fish, lechithin, lactobacillus acidophilus, vitamin E supplement, vitamin A acetate, niacin, biotin, folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, ascorbic acid, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, zinc, potassium iodide, sodium selenite.
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein (min.) 34.0%, Crude Fat (min.) 16.0%, Crude Fiber (max.) 5.0%, Moisture (max.) 10.0%, Lactobacillus acidophilus (min.) not less than 9 billion CFU/lb.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2011 12:47:54 GMT -5
So they could definitely be slowing down because of spring. As long as each is getting 1-2 oz a day, I wouldn't be too concerned. They're also having to chew their food, and when there's bone, they've got to chew even more. Ferrets are very lazy As for Jesse, I would continue with the soups. Have the funky stools be happening since you added the duck soup? Or did they start before? Also, do you notice her eating a lot of animal fat? Like skin of the chicken thighs? I'd keep her on freeze dried and some pumpkin and see how her stools go. You can also up the amount of soup, just in case she's still hungry and her bowl isn't empty. If her poops go back to normal on freeze dried, then we can start trying other proteins again. What freeze dried flavors do you use again? I want to rule out a sensitivity to chicken, which could cause the icky stools. I'd say the duck soup is fine, but I wouldn't feed it every day. It's got liver in it and that has a lot of vitamin A, so we don't want to overdo that.
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