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Post by maja01 on Aug 16, 2016 3:22:15 GMT -5
I think you are ready for graduation (if you are happy with the fact they eat grinds) - so if you want, we can make final quizz and final menue. Of course, if you have any more questions or would like to change what they eat you are wellcome. This means, even if you decide aftera a while after graduation, you would like to wean them of grinds and get them to eat whole bones, we can either re-open the thread or start the whole new process. So, what do you think?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2016 14:45:32 GMT -5
While we primarily get grinds, I've still been rotating bone in and sometimes chicks/mice. While mine had been the laziest if our business of 6, even they will now eat wings, drummettes, and chicken legs without needing to be crushed.
My only problem now-and it isn't diet related- is that my little wardy, Ra, won't stop going potty on blankets, in the sleep/nesting boxes, and directly next to the food dishes. I thought the older ones were supposed to teach him manners?? None of the other 5 do this without him there but as soon as he comes and does it the rest start acting like uncivilized brats too. I have a ton of litter pans in every corner and in every level of their cage. Ra does not care and it's causing a lot of cleaning and stank problems. Any ideas what i can do about it? Please n thanks
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Post by maja01 on Aug 24, 2016 5:12:25 GMT -5
Oh, this is good! The only thing you can do is, that you go trough whole potty training procedure ... Everytime you see him go - pick him up, put him to the litter box and give him treat ... Of course this you can only do when you are around, but might help. Other thing that comes to a mind is (but i would try first option first) to cage him separately and have them together only for a out of cage time. It is something you would less like to do, since you don't want to isolate him, but if he kept doing it, you might need to do it at least for a while. So the others don't pick this habit of his :/
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Post by katt on Sept 20, 2016 20:11:15 GMT -5
@funkelt - as per the Mentoring Program Rules: It has been almost a month since your last post and I would hate to vault your thread so close to graduation. Please pop in with an update and a menu.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2016 6:50:20 GMT -5
Ah, sorry. I thought we were pretty much done. Weights and menus have not changed much but I will put together a complete update today.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2016 17:15:05 GMT -5
Sept 26 Monday am: 6oz pork grinds Monday pm: 6oz pork grinds
Tuesday am: 6oz pork grinds Tuesday pm: 6oz pork heart
Wednesday am: 6oz lamb grinds Wednesday pm: 6oz lamb grinds w/chicken egg
Thursday am: 6oz lamb grinds Thursday pm: 6oz gizzards & beef heart
Friday am: 6oz perch (wild caught) chunks Friday pm: chicken drummettes
Saturday am: 6oz 1/2 chicken liver 1/2 beef kidney Saturday pm: smashed chicken ribs or wings
Sunday am: 6oz 1/2 chicken liver 1/2 beef pancreas Sunday pm: 6oz beef chunks w/bone meal
Lamb is the HATED food here, all 6 ferrets despise it with a passion but we
have several containers of it and were running low on others so theyll have to
deal with it haha Sometimes they will really protest it so if they seem like
theyre on a food strike Ill put some bone-in meat.
I adjust bone meals based on poos. A container of grinds will last a few meals
but they contain a lot of bone so I sometimes dilute it with chunks of boneless
meat. Sometimes they will protest the organ days, even if i grind it with other
stuff so if they dont eat it they get fresh servings until they do. Aris and
Arya have gone days protesting organs so I have to balance between not giving
in and not letting them starve so sometimes I have to give a regular meal and
try the organs again on another day. In those cases I adjust the menu
accordingly. I dont believe Kayla has this issue with her 3, they eat whatever
theyre given. Lucky!
September weights Ra 2lbs 14oz Aris 2lbs 8oz Arya 1lb 12oz
Arya concerns me with how skinny she is but her bones are not visible, shes
very active, and punks the boys for their food so I guess I dont have too much
to worry about. Aris is much the same and my most lovable ferret. Ra is a fatty mcfatterson! He just keeps getting bigger! Yet the boys seem to
eat the same amounts. Ra is bigger than any of the others got when they were
still babies and hes surprisingly strong! He can and does force the cage open,
Kaylas cage as well when hes over there.
Will post pics soon!
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Post by katt on Sept 27, 2016 22:08:41 GMT -5
You are certainly very close, it looks like maja01 just needs to review your menu, make any adjustments IF they are needed (and quiz if that hasn't been done) and submit it to Heather for final approval so we can get you graduated and give you your official Raw Feeder status.
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Post by maja01 on Sept 28, 2016 2:59:28 GMT -5
Hey. Menue looks pretty good. The only thing I would suggest is - one less organ meal yay, happy ferrets. If we have 6 meals of grinds you only need to add one extra (full) organ meal. Since they hate it, what you can try is to divide a portion on half and add half of heart or meat to it. I know, that your grinds are pretty heavy on bones, so as we said "dilute" it it with meat regarding the poop consistency. Lamb - you can ad few drops of salmon oil to it, it might help with smell blending. I do this when giving beef to Gucci and Hera - they don't like in particular. But when I add oil, they eat it. After loosing kit fat, girls can be pretty skinny and small. If she eats, is active, ... i would really not be concerned. Of course, post pics, but from all pics i have seen she seems just one very active pocket rocket Ra is a special boy He is still chubby due to his kit fat - will lean out next spring. I suggest that I prepare a final quizz today and that you make a menue for next week, taking into account this table: holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/balancing-frankenprey-with-alternative-meals/
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Post by maja01 on Sept 28, 2016 14:48:33 GMT -5
Final Quizz: 1. Does freezing degrade taurine? 2. Your ferret is constipated and his stools are very hard and dry. What is this a sign of and how can you adjust to fix it? 3. How many meals a week should be organ, and of those meals how much needs to be liver? 4. About how long is a ferret's digestion time? 5. How can you tell if your ferret is too skinny?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 15:30:34 GMT -5
I took a ton of photos but these are the best I could do lol Theyre hyper today with the storm. Ra Aris Arya
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 15:47:51 GMT -5
I had extra organ meals on there because they never finish one so I figured part of 2 would equal 1. Mixing half heart just wastes the heart as well but I think i may get away with mixing an organ meal with a couple grind meals and feeding it that way. That would also help with the too much bone problem in the grinds. Kaylas 3 arent so picky lol
Final Quizz: 1. Does freezing degrade taurine? - There are mixed answers about this. Freezing and processing can slowly degrade any nutritious components but according to the Forum itself, this has been disproven in the case of taurine.
2. Your ferret is constipated and his stools are very hard and dry. What is this a sign of and how can you adjust to fix it? -Too much bone! Replace a bone in meal or two with boneless.
3. How many meals a week should be organ, and of those meals how much needs to be liver? 1 and a half meals should be organ, half of that should be liver. Another 1 and a half meals should be heart.
4. About how long is a ferret's digestion time? -3-4 hours, this is why they dont get sick from bacteria. between the stomach acids and short digestive time the bacteria doesnt have time to breed to dangerous levels.
5. How can you tell if your ferret is too skinny? -I should think if you can easily see their spine and hip bones then theyre too skinny. If they are malnourished or have an underlying condition they might be lethargic or lower energy too.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 15:51:50 GMT -5
I have kids that are fed up with the 10 minutes ive been on the computer so ill post next weeks menu tomorrow lol Id like to also show you guys before and after pics of kaylas rescue Roscoe if you havent seen him lately. He is the poster child for raw feeding! He went from lethargic, aggressive skeletor to ferrety perfection. We cant tell him apart from the other, younger sable(?) now unless we look at his long fangs.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2016 14:12:37 GMT -5
Oct 3
Monday am: 6oz beef supreme grinds Monday pm: 6oz beef supreme grinds
Tuesday am: 6oz beef supreme grinds Tuesday pm: 6oz chicken heart
Wednesday am: 6oz rabbit grinds Wednesday pm: 6oz rabbit grinds w/duck egg
Thursday am: 6oz rabbit grinds Thursday pm: 3 frog legs & 3oz chicken heart
Friday am: 6oz cod (wild caught) chunks (a favorite!) Friday pm: crushed chicken wings
Saturday am: ½ chicken liver and beef pancreas, ½ beef grinds Saturday pm: whole chicken drummettes
Sunday am: ½ chicken and beef pancreas, ½ beef grinds Sunday pm: 6oz pork chunks w/bone meal
Do ferrets eat crab? The local Kroger sells small soft shelled crabs so I wanted to try that
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Post by maja01 on Oct 4, 2016 6:43:07 GMT -5
I know how it goes with photographing ferrets ... It doesn't Arya changed her colour so much! But she looks perfectly fine and in perfect condition Same goes for boys. All look very nice. Yes, you can try this. Heart was just an example. You can actualy mix it with anything, probably just egg is not the best idea True True True. It is really important that you don't give too much liver, since it contains quite a lot of vitamin A and with excess you can cause vit A toxicity. it is also crucial to feed other organs too, since they contain different nutrients. Yes, true. True. It is not allways just by the look or feel, it affects their activness level too. As I excpected, you did great
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Post by maja01 on Oct 4, 2016 6:46:39 GMT -5
You can try, just give it occasioanly, not as a regular part of their diet. All sea food (crabs, shells, ...) contain a high amount of histamine and can cause allergic reaction. Plus I don't think they have any real nutritional value.
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