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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Apr 15, 2016 21:33:52 GMT -5
Whole prey feeders, do u feed one type of prey all day then another type the next day and continue like this thru your variety of meats?
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Post by Heather on Apr 15, 2016 22:42:48 GMT -5
Depends what I've got thawed out.
ciao
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Post by FerretsnFalcons on Apr 15, 2016 23:59:04 GMT -5
That is what I used to do on my old menu when I used to buy large prey and cut it up, but now I do it a bit differently. For guinea pigs and chickens, I buy smaller prey and cut in half. One half gets fed one day, the other half gets fed the next day. I also buy small rabbits, and I split those into quarters and feed it over 4 days. The next week they wouldn't get rabbit, so that way there's not a whole bunch of rabbit in their menu. Quail and mice are given whole, and I portion out some duck meals (non-whole prey) too. This has saved me a ton of prep time (but certainly not money!) Here's what my current menu is like:
Week 1
Monday-Duck
Tuesday-1/4 Rabbit
Wednesday- 1/4 Rabbit
Thursday- 1/4 Rabbit
Friday- 1/4 Rabbit
Saturday- 1 Quail
Sunday- 1/2 Chicken
Week 2
Monday-1/2 Chicken
Tuesday- 1/2 Guinea Pig
Wednesday- 1/2 Guinea Pig
Thursday- Duck
Friday- 1/2 Chicken
Saturday- 1/2 Chicken
Sunday- Mice
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Apr 16, 2016 21:38:50 GMT -5
I do the same with guinea pigs as well--2 days for mine to go thru one guinea pig.
FerretsnFalcons, where do you get your rabbits?
I purchased some from Hare Today, about the size of large guinea pigs, and I ended up putting them in the woods for the wild animals because my ferrets would not eat them. They looked really nice and clean, I am always impressed with the looks of Hare Today's whole prey food.
I noticed they had a soil-like smell when I gutted them. Did not know if it had anything to do with the co2 they use.
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Post by FerretsnFalcons on Apr 16, 2016 21:48:38 GMT -5
abbeytheferret6, I get my rabbits from Rodentpro, they are about twice the size of an XXL Guinea Pig from Rodentpro. When I gut them they smell no different than anything else (aka normal disgusting gut smell lol). I'm thinking that maybe if it's the guts that smell weird, then it might be the diet that Hare Today feeds the rabbits?
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Apr 16, 2016 21:59:58 GMT -5
Thanks. I will give them a try.
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Post by FireAngel on Apr 17, 2016 19:43:08 GMT -5
I do switch up what they get each meal unless they have a whole prey item that they have not finished. I will then leave that for them and just push the planned meal to the next meal.
So my menu can look like this most weeks:
Mon am - chicken necks
Mon pm - heart and organ meal
Tues am - Mice
Tues pm - beef or lamb or gizzards
Weds am - Rat
Weds pm - Guinea pig
Thurs am - whole ground rabbit
Thurs pm - Mice
Fri am - Duck neck
Fri pm - Quail
Sat am - Rat
Sat pm - Guinea pig
Sun am - Mice
Sun pm - Chicken or duck neck
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2016 17:06:02 GMT -5
That is what I used to do on my old menu when I used to buy large prey and cut it up, but now I do it a bit differently. For guinea pigs and chickens, I buy smaller prey and cut in half. One half gets fed one day, the other half gets fed the next day. I also buy small rabbits, and I split those into quarters and feed it over 4 days. The next week they wouldn't get rabbit, so that way there's not a whole bunch of rabbit in their menu. Quail and mice are given whole, and I portion out some duck meals (non-whole prey) too. This has saved me a ton of prep time (but certainly not money!) Here's what my current menu is like: Week 1Monday-Duck Tuesday-1/4 Rabbit Wednesday- 1/4 Rabbit Thursday- 1/4 Rabbit Friday- 1/4 Rabbit Saturday- 1 Quail Sunday- 1/2 Chicken Week 2Monday-1/2 Chicken Tuesday- 1/2 Guinea Pig Wednesday- 1/2 Guinea Pig Thursday- Duck Friday- 1/2 Chicken Saturday- 1/2 Chicken Sunday- Mice This is interesting ... in the process of switching my older ferrets over to more whole prey as mince is just a nightmare in the summer. Previously they have been having lamb, chicken, duck, turkey, pork, beef, pigeon, rabbit and oily fish (sprats) with organ mince and whole duck hearts. Now, I am wondering whether to switch to entirely whole prey but only have access to rabbits, mice, rats, wood pigeon, quail, chicken, chicks and hamsters ... would this be varied enough for a whole prey diet? I am wondering whether to feed 50/50 mince and whole prey to keep in the beef/pork etc but part of me thinks the whole prey diet I have access to is probably reasonably close to a wild polecat diet. Out here we have wild polecats and they would conceivably eat all of the above plus random birds/fledgelings they may come across I have to admit there is much less wastage with whole prey. Mince I am throwing away maybe 15-20% of what I put out every day because it goes a bit dry/flies lay their eggs on it ... but so far, I have thrown out very little whole prey and only then because of the switch over and certain ferrets are still not too keen on certain meats yet. Mostly I am throwing away rabbit heads/pigeon keel bones. I have fed some whole prey for a long time, but a complete whole prey diet is new territory for me. |
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Post by FerretsnFalcons on Jul 15, 2016 20:56:40 GMT -5
Since a minimum of 3 proteins is recommended for a whole prey diet, what you got there is definitely enough. In fact I'm jealous that you have access to things like hamsters and pigeons (I wish they carried those at Rodentpro to give my menu more variety lol). I think you have a good balance of "lean" meats (chicken, quail, rabbits) and "rich" meats (pigeon, mice, rats). For me, switching to a completely whole prey diet has been a lot more convenient and less time consuming. I don't have to do as much cutting, portioning, and bagging of meats, and there's also no need to balance bones, meat, and organs. I just thaw, say, a whole chicken and then gut it, cut it in half, and serve. It also encouraged the ferrets to eat more bone (they're pretty lazy and only ate small bones) and kept the teeth cleaner as a result. And whole prey poops are much more pleasant than organ meal or muscle meat poops lol.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2016 1:52:41 GMT -5
Thank you for your reply. I have been worrying myself over this so good to know they will be fine on a whole prey diet with that variety. I am very lucky that I have a major raptor food supplier only an hour's drive away that are very reasonable. I bought 10 wood pigeons, 10 rabbits, 50 rats, 50 mice, 30 quail and a box of 200 chicks for £100 so I thought that was pretty good. Doesn't last long with all the babies right now, but they love it  |
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Post by raynebc on Jul 16, 2016 13:16:24 GMT -5
Dang, that sounds like a good price.
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Post by msav on Jul 17, 2016 13:33:48 GMT -5
I rotate through the whole prey.
I will give a quail one day then a chicken the next, then a guinea pig the next, then ASF rat, then Mice.
I pull the next one from the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw. Sometimes they demolish their meal sometimes it takes a couple of days. I never give the next meal until they are finished or almost finished with the last meal.
I just got some more rabbit from rodent pro. I don't consider them whole prey because I break it down, so when start feeding rabbit again I will add a liver an heart meal in the week as well.
I have been feeding whole prey for so long I don't have a meal plan anymore. It is much easier feeding whole prey. The only thing you have to worry about is when they one ferret starts eating all the Heads and the rest is eating by the others. I generally will intervene and give the other first shot at it to try and balance it so one does not eat whole prey head all week.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2016 16:18:22 GMT -5
I think it will be much easier not having to balance heart, organ, muscle and bone over the week. With so many ferrets it makes feeding times quite a task and there is a lot of waste I find too.
I have now bought some guinea pigs to add to the mix as well so hopefully they will like them. I started out with XS rabbits as I wasn't sure how they would take to them, but now I think it's safe to go with some bigger rabbits for the litters and bigger groups now too that I know they eat them just fine. There was a bit of a changeover period, and I have to admit, some groups don't like whole prey that is skinned, and others I have to skin or partially skin for them to take any interest at all. Fussy little sharks!
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jul 18, 2016 12:52:08 GMT -5
The easiest for feeding my four is to gut and skin and cut up the mice and rats. I put everything in a saucer or two. Everybody is getting organs and nothing is stashed (hardly) .However, I find they have lose stool eating like this--maybe because not eating fur?My Abbey will only eat the head if there is guts and fur on mice and rats, (I think it is the guts she does not like) and my blaze stashes anything whole--- skinned or furred. I am going to have to sit in a closed area with them and feed gutted but fur-on rodents and see who will eat it this way. Too much loose stool. Don't know what I would do if I had a lot of ferrets   |
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