Post by Nina (ninjagoth) on Aug 4, 2014 12:38:08 GMT -5
Hi folks I thought I would post here while awaiting approval to join the forum fully.
I live in the UK. I have two ferrets called Haggis and Neeps they are now 12 weeks old. I have had them for 3 weeks now and are brothers. They live outside in a large double tier hutch and have access to supervised play in an outside playpen or in my bathroom daily. The bathroom is the only ferret safe room I have as I am doing up my place over the next few years.
I have a large garden and they have explored bits of it for hours while getting used to their harnesess.
They love people every time I go to check on them they hear me open the back door and are there waiting to get out to play.
When I got them they had been with their mum up yo the day I picked them up. They had been fed cat kibble ad lib and occasional treats of tinned cat food.
I do not know the quality of food they had but they seemed of good size and healthy enough.
I wasn't able to get ferret kibble at the time so I got a grain free cat kibble which has 80% chicken and no grains. It is held together with potato protein. It is called encore but it is the same company that makes a premium cat food range called applaws and the chicken in it it quality chicken not meal or off cuts. The kits seemed to like it and their poops were fine on it.
So then in the three weeks since my kits will eat a whole chicken drumstick each, with skin, leaving only a very clean bone as ¨hey are too little to chew them yet.
they will eat lamb kidney, liver,and heart chopped up into pretty sizeable pieces. One night I even gave them a whole lamb kidney each and next morning no¨thing was let
They have also had 20% fat lamb mince and beef mince they wolfed down both. They didn't eat all the chicken thighs I gave them one night but I think they were still full from the morning meal they only ate the skin.
They still get a small bit of kibble Daily in a bowl and some in a treat ball for enrichment but the amount I put out now is minimal but I want to make sure they are getting plenty of vits etc until I work out a good nutritional menu to feed 100% raw mix of mainly frankenprey with some chicks from the local reptile store as a weekly treat. Which is my main aim for wanting to join this forum
So far all the meat I have given them was reduced on its last day at the local supermarket and the heart and kidneys are cheap to buy from the butcher counter.
I have found a local traditional botcher in a nearby village so will be seeing what I can get there. May be able to get some rabbit
I portion the meat into handfuls, chop it if it needs it and freeze in small sandwich bags. I now have dedicated ferret food drawer in my freezer
I just take a bag out as I need stick it in a wee tub and defrost overnight in my fridge then feed it in two meals morning and night. They even have had venison steaks and last night were given chick wings. This morning when I checked their bedroom where they stash the remains all I could find was four knobbly bits of wing bone that was obviously too big for them to crunch up. Not a trace of any thing left and it was nice to see that they had crunched the bones to get the goodness out of them.
Sorry its a long post. I know its easier to go raw with kits from day one. I just want to do it right so they get the right nutrition as they are growing so fast. I have noticed since they have been eating raw they have more energy and their coats are fuller. But that could also be them just maturing as they grow
any advice re maintaining a balanced diet for growing kits is much appreciated.
thanks in advance
ninjagoth
I live in the UK. I have two ferrets called Haggis and Neeps they are now 12 weeks old. I have had them for 3 weeks now and are brothers. They live outside in a large double tier hutch and have access to supervised play in an outside playpen or in my bathroom daily. The bathroom is the only ferret safe room I have as I am doing up my place over the next few years.
I have a large garden and they have explored bits of it for hours while getting used to their harnesess.
They love people every time I go to check on them they hear me open the back door and are there waiting to get out to play.
When I got them they had been with their mum up yo the day I picked them up. They had been fed cat kibble ad lib and occasional treats of tinned cat food.
I do not know the quality of food they had but they seemed of good size and healthy enough.
I wasn't able to get ferret kibble at the time so I got a grain free cat kibble which has 80% chicken and no grains. It is held together with potato protein. It is called encore but it is the same company that makes a premium cat food range called applaws and the chicken in it it quality chicken not meal or off cuts. The kits seemed to like it and their poops were fine on it.
So then in the three weeks since my kits will eat a whole chicken drumstick each, with skin, leaving only a very clean bone as ¨hey are too little to chew them yet.
they will eat lamb kidney, liver,and heart chopped up into pretty sizeable pieces. One night I even gave them a whole lamb kidney each and next morning no¨thing was let
They have also had 20% fat lamb mince and beef mince they wolfed down both. They didn't eat all the chicken thighs I gave them one night but I think they were still full from the morning meal they only ate the skin. They still get a small bit of kibble Daily in a bowl and some in a treat ball for enrichment but the amount I put out now is minimal but I want to make sure they are getting plenty of vits etc until I work out a good nutritional menu to feed 100% raw mix of mainly frankenprey with some chicks from the local reptile store as a weekly treat. Which is my main aim for wanting to join this forum
So far all the meat I have given them was reduced on its last day at the local supermarket and the heart and kidneys are cheap to buy from the butcher counter.
I have found a local traditional botcher in a nearby village so will be seeing what I can get there. May be able to get some rabbit
I portion the meat into handfuls, chop it if it needs it and freeze in small sandwich bags. I now have dedicated ferret food drawer in my freezer
I just take a bag out as I need stick it in a wee tub and defrost overnight in my fridge then feed it in two meals morning and night. They even have had venison steaks and last night were given chick wings. This morning when I checked their bedroom where they stash the remains all I could find was four knobbly bits of wing bone that was obviously too big for them to crunch up. Not a trace of any thing left
and it was nice to see that they had crunched the bones to get the goodness out of them. Sorry its a long post. I know its easier to go raw with kits from day one. I just want to do it right so they get the right nutrition as they are growing so fast. I have noticed since they have been eating raw they have more energy and their coats are fuller. But that could also be them just maturing as they grow
any advice re maintaining a balanced diet for growing kits is much appreciated.
thanks in advance
ninjagoth
