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Post by Celene on Apr 17, 2015 9:03:19 GMT -5
Organs: Mix and match! Some of the ones I feed include chicken heart and liver, pork heart and liver, pork uteri, lamb kidney, veal sweetbreads. As long as they're in the right proportions it's all good. One thing I should mention though is that organs don't count as different "proteins". So if (for some reason) you were to feed all of your meals chicken with chicken heart, pork liver and beef kidney, you'd still be only feeding one protein. Since hearts are actually muscle meat (think about how much they work and pump) they do count as a different protein.
As for quail... Turns out I have a video for that too!
To start I would cut into smaller pieces (maybe strips the shape/size of a slug) and then smash them up a bunch like I did in the previous video. Once they're comfortable with bone you can stop smashing them and leave the chunks a little bigger.
If your fuzzies are anything like mine they may have difficulty eating bone at first. My girls would chew, chew, chew and then say "good enough" and try to swallow... Which works well enough for muscle meat but not so well for bones! I had a fair bit of wheezing and hacking and "choking" (they weren't actually choking) that made me so worried! It was over a week before they figured out how to chew it properly before swallowing and I didn't feel like I had to closely supervise every bone-in meal. Just thought I'd give you the heads up on that one since it's super scary, but totally normal/expected.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2015 4:27:39 GMT -5
Haha, I love your narration! I will definitely give that a go once they are defrosted! I think the quail I got are a little smaller than that, but still rather 'cute'. So, until I get them chomping bones (which it seems the girls are taking to bone much better than the boys for some reason (Claire woke me up the other day chomping bone!) And my little business sends fine with any food I give them!), should I continue to supplement egg shell?
Also, I've been feeding organ soup, haven't tried to feed whole organs. What do you recommend? At sprouts market, I git a cheap pack of organs and I'm not 100% what everything is.
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Post by Celene on Apr 18, 2015 12:18:57 GMT -5
Haha yeah the narration isn't great... I never really know what to say when I'm not talking to a "real" person. At this point I would continue to add eggshell to any "bone-in" meals on the frankenprey diet that you're feeding muscle meat for instead. Once you're feeding 7-9 "actual" bone-in meals then you can stop the eggshell powder. I usually feed 7 actual bone in meals and then two of my muscle meals I add a little eggshell powder to so their poops don't get too liquidy and gross. As for organ meals, I still puree mine. If I don't they will sometimes pick out the heart and leave some of the other stuff, particularly if there is a new organ mixed in. Since they're already exercising their jaws with lots of other muscle and bone-in meats it doesn't harm them or anything. It's also quicker for them to lap up - I feed my organ meals individually so I can make sure they're both eating the same amount and getting the proper amount and such. If you want to take a pic of the various organs in the pack I can help identify them. Chances are it will include gizzards, which, although part of the internal digestive system, aren't classified as organ for ferret-nutrition purposes. They're very tough and rubbery and are great for cleaning teeth and building jaw and neck muscle. They're also very high in protein and can be fed as a muscle meal. One warning though - do not try and puree gizzards! If you do you will need to buy a new blender
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2015 21:45:09 GMT -5
Is there a way to post pictures from mobile?
Also, my small cage had an off day today. They didn't eat hardly anything... dues that happen? It was just chicken...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2015 21:45:37 GMT -5
And did two quail meals, it went over AMAZINGLY!
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Post by Celene on Apr 19, 2015 21:52:52 GMT -5
It's springtime so ferrets are in general eating less. My girls will sometimes eat a big breakfast and skip dinner or vise versa. Since they're big boys with good appetites I'm not too worried.
Glad to hear it about the quail meals! Have all the ferrets crunched some bone at this point or are there some still holding out?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 12:34:03 GMT -5
It is hard to tell, it seems like everybody is crunching bones. It's kind of hard to tell since they like to eat their meals throughout the morning. I have not found any quail bones scattered around the cage, like I did with the bigger bones. I take that as a good sign.
I know my smaller cage, both of the boys have you eaten bone (they go more ravenously for food then the others). It's harder to tell with my bigger cage, since there's more of them. I've seen at least, Jake, Leon and Claire all eating bones. It's mostly the girls I'm not sure about. they tend to eat when I'm not looking.
I did get some goose from my coworker, but he didn't have as much left over as he said he did. It'll probably be a good four meals for them, though. It'll be enough to see if they like it or not.
I'm going to try to upload some pictures when I get my computer out later. Tossed that odd pack of organs in the freezer till I know what is what!
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Post by Celene on Apr 21, 2015 9:54:53 GMT -5
I would say try and get some sort of visual confirmation that Daisy and Peach are eating bone, even if it means putting a little enticement (egg yolk, salmon oil, etc) on a piece of quail and hand-feeding. You just want to be sure everyone is getting nourishment before you start doing 7-9 bone in meals a week
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2015 10:20:43 GMT -5
Awesome. They are due for quail again, and I'll pull them aside to see if they'll chomp diem in the bone!
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Post by Celene on Apr 22, 2015 20:47:46 GMT -5
If you could post an update, that would be great! Specifically I would like to know the following:
1. Everyone's weights
2. You current weekly menu (soup, chunk, bone in, organ, etc. and what type of protein for each meal). Preferably what you've fed in the past 7 or so days, and what you plan to feed in the next 7 or so days.
Your fuzzies are making great progress, I just want to know where everyone is at!
:boing:
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2015 7:22:01 GMT -5
I'll post a picture and then when I get home I'll take everyone's weight (currently doing laundry and they are crashed at home ) I have been giving the big cage about 6 ounces of food and the small cage is at 5 ounces of food. My weekly meals have been Thursday Chicken meals with added egg shell. Friday they got chicken with added egg shell for breakfast and organ soupie for dinner. Saturday was more chicken. Sunday they got two meals of quail (the bigger cage got a little added chicken meat because the quail ends up weighing about 5 ounces and they eat just a smidgen more than that). Monday they had a game hen wing (each) and some chicken for breakfast and then some chicken with added eggshell. Tuesday was chicken and bone meal, and yesterday was more chicken and some heart. Yeah, I know I need more types of protein and am looking for different ways to get them into their diet. I have that goose that is defrosted and I was going to butcher that up for them later today and that into the diet next week (and maybe a week after that). My fiance said we can try doing whole cornish game hens too, but worry about Tyson adding extra broth into their birds. I am not sure about that, I just know I like them I am really happy with the way they are progressing. I am looking into local sources of meat and have found a couple farms that butcher up a lamb for you and a couple sources of exotic eggs and rabbit (it is proving difficult for such a 'liberal' city). I am hoping to have more variety soon, promise. I am a bad ferrant
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Post by Celene on Apr 23, 2015 9:27:24 GMT -5
Noooo! You are not a bad ferrent! Your fuzzies are doing really great You don't want to introduce a million proteins at once because if a fuzzy doesn't tolerate one well, you won't know which one caused it. They should have at least one red meat in their diet though for the extra vitamin B and iron. Lamb is a good start since it is the least allergenic and most likely to agree with everybody digestive-wise. Another mentor recently described introducing new proteins as a "mini switch" in itself, although your fuzzies seem to be really open minded food-wise so it might not be so difficult. I would suggest cutting it into small slivers, getting it nice and cold / partially frozen if that's your ferrets' preference, maybe dipping one end into egg yolk and hand feeding. Once everyone has tried and will eat it then you can just stick it in a bowl As for the organs... The one on the bottom right is difficult to tell from the photo, although I imagine they are gizzards (you'll know once you take them out whether they are or not.
The gizzards look like they might be "whole" so I would recommend cutting them open and making sure there's no gravel or rocks or anything inside. Other than that you can just cut them into chunks and serve for a muscle meal (they're high in protein and awesome for cleaning teeth and building jaw/neck strength).
Here's a picture of a fully "cleaned" duck gizzard I bought which is ready for human consumption. Of course the extra skin and fat and such on a whole one is good for ferrets so you don't need to remove it.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2015 12:01:52 GMT -5
Awesome, and here are the weights (more accurate this time).
Claire 22.36 ounces Leon 33.30 ounces (give or take. He was the wiggliest) Daisy 26.49 ounces Peach 28.15 ounces Jake 35.20 ounces ~~~~ Argis 41.16 ounces Belrand 27.87 ounces
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Post by Celene on Apr 23, 2015 13:01:00 GMT -5
Oh good! Those are all very healthy weights. Try and weigh them all once a week and record them in a log. Benefits include: a) making sure everyone is eating enough b) helping detect any potential illnesses early (gradual weight loss may not be noticeable otherwise) c) giving you an idea of your fuzzies' general weights for various times of the year so if you're freaking out because they're gaining/losing weight you can look at the chart for the same time last year and see if it's normal. Probably other good reasons too that I can't think of
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2015 22:03:56 GMT -5
Definitely! I started a little journal, and got a week chart for their feeding and attached it to their cage! I feel so prepared, haha!
I'll be butchering the goose in the morning and I'll mix that into their rotation. Can't believe how big my boys are!
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