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Post by gfountain on Aug 2, 2015 10:09:41 GMT -5
If you can't find hearts, you can substitute beef tongue. It is expensive though. Another option is to order hearts online. What organs are you planning to feed besides the liver?
Since they're eating the chunks fine, let's go ahead and start them on some bone. Pull out those CGH that I told you to freeze. Cut off just the wing tips and offer them each one. Those bones are very small but if they have trouble chewing through them, whack them once with a hammer to break them up a little.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2015 15:01:10 GMT -5
I've been looking, but I can't seem to find any organs other than liver. I find every kind of liver, but no kidneys or pancreas or anything like that. I'll have to order those freeze dried too probably... I'm stressing out about that.
I just fed the ferrets half an ounce of hearts each, and Marty won't eat it unless I cut it up into really small pieces, even when rehydrated. He stopped wanting to eat it, so I'll wait a little bit before having them try wing tips. They've already eaten a total of 5 ounces today, so I don't know how successful getting them to even try the tips will be.
Tomorrow should I try them with pork? I found some with no additives.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 2, 2015 15:12:50 GMT -5
Sure. Pork is great. Cut it a little smaller than the chunks they're used to and they'll be more likely to eat it.
Rather than getting freeze DRIED hearts and organs, can you just order frozen? HareToday I think has pretty fair prices. Or do you have a butcher in your area? Sometimes, they'll save innards if you ask them.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2015 16:05:21 GMT -5
I do have a butcher nearby but anytime I'm near it they're closed. I might be able to go to one in time on Tuesday, but that'll take a special alignment of the stars. The issue with Hare Today is the shipping. I'd go with it if I had a stable job, but I don't.
Today's diet: 4oz chicken thigh chunks, 2 chicken hearts each (Marty hasn't finished his), and one CGH wing tip each!!!
Layla: She ate the thigh as usual, and really enjoyed the hearts. She was enthusiastic about the wing tip until she bit down on it. So I smashed the bone and tore it apart a little, and she ate all of it except the very tip of the bone where I couldn't smash it ---she's eating the rest now! I'm so proud of my little Bug.
Marty: He ate the thigh as usual, but seemed ok with leaving it in the bowl longer! I had to cut the hearts into tiny pieces to get him to eat some, he still hasn't finished it. He did, however, after some coaxing to try it, go to town on his wing tip. I'm surprised by how enthusiastic he was about it! He did have difficulty chasing it around his bowl though, and it was quite entertaining until I took mercy on him and held it in place for him to gnaw.
All in all: I'll be offering Marty the rest of his hearts first by hand, but then I'm going to just put them in the food bowl.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 2, 2015 16:15:15 GMT -5
Can you call the butcher to ask? Then maybe make arrangements to pick up?
Try rehydrating the hearts in warm water for Marty.
Good for them eating the bone! Give them chicken wingtips for the next couple of meals. For each successive meal, smash the bone less. They'll need to build up jaw strength so they can crunch through the next size bone.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2015 16:22:51 GMT -5
I tried finding a number to call them but no dice. I guess I know why they didn't rehydrate well earlier, my mom told me to put them in cold water and put them in the fridge. I think she's more worried about raw food than I was at first. I only have two more wing tips, I only got 4 halves of CGH. Should I cut them off and cut them in half for each of them? I'd rather not buy more so soon, I've spent more money this week on meat than I should have, particularly with the pork. Would giving them frozen pieces of meat be any good, or would it thaw too quickly to matter?
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Post by gfountain on Aug 2, 2015 16:35:52 GMT -5
So give them the wing tips for their next meal, then use the next wing section, the middle part. It has two small bones in it. Cut the piece between the bones, then very VERY carefully, use kitchen shears to cut each bone LENGTHWISE. It's easy to slip off the bone so be super careful not to cut yourself, but cutting the bones this way exposes the yummy marrow inside as well as making the bones easier to crunch through. Once they've eaten those, the next easiest bones will be the ribs, but we'll start the pork before moving on to the ribs.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2015 16:42:51 GMT -5
Ok! One half has the wing super tucked in so I'll have to do some carving to get it out probably. I'm sure it'll work out. If I'm too unsteady I'll see if a housemate will help out.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 2, 2015 16:45:02 GMT -5
Is it frozen? Just let it thaw some so you can get it apart, then refreeze. Actually, you can let it thaw, portion the whole thing out, and refreeze in baggies. That way, it will be ready when you need it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2015 16:45:38 GMT -5
So should I feed them chicken with the wings tomorrow? I have the pork in the fridge for defrosting but I can switch.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 2, 2015 16:46:54 GMT -5
Yes, give them another meal of bone before starting the pork.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2015 16:49:55 GMT -5
I'll get the CGH in the fridge so they're semi thawed by tomorrow, and I'll get the chicken cut up tonight after dinner
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Post by gfountain on Aug 3, 2015 12:03:34 GMT -5
How did they do with the bones this time?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2015 16:21:50 GMT -5
Layla needed me to hold it for a bit, but she ate all of it on her own after the first bite! Marty needed a bit more coaxing, I ended up having to push the tip to his back teeth before he remembered how to eat it he's chasing it around the food bowl now, and Layla's out of the cage 'cause she finished hers already.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2015 16:28:23 GMT -5
Oh. I think I've been giving them more than you thought. Marty couldn't eat the second half of his because the bone is bigger and I think its because I was mistaken for how big a wing tip is on a CGH. So I don't know what to do for your suggestion on cutting them in half. Should I save the last one for next time or should I cut it in halves to give Marty the same amount as Layla?
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