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Post by marietta on Apr 8, 2017 17:44:28 GMT -5
Update to the previous post. The duck is not completely intact as I thought. I cut it open and it looks like they just pushed closed the cavity since there was only a neck, what I think is a couple gizzards, a heart, and maybe a liver. No other organs in there. Can a ferret eat all the bones in a duck?
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Post by LindaM on Apr 8, 2017 21:42:14 GMT -5
I've noticed some places do end up gutting and taking out the intestines, which isn't a big loss as most animals would avoid eating those anyway. The organs like heart, liver, kidney, sometimes lungs, etc. are considered more usable so those usually get to stay.
Some of the bones might be too tough for the ferrets to eat by themselves and will require you smashing them up, like the thigh bones for example.
To introduce a new protein, you can try and see if they'd give a shot licking or eating it right off first. And then if not, you can mix in some slivers into their current meal and see how that goes. Rarely have I ever had to fully resort into making an actual soupie of the new proteins to get them to try it, usually my lowest points had been to have to introduce a ground/mince of the new protein first and then work my way up.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 9, 2017 10:45:58 GMT -5
Wow you, and they, have advanced SO far :boing: Okay, for the duck, is it plucked yet, or does it still have the feathers? If plucked, then here are some instructions. It's been a few decades actually since I've done this, so I had to look it up Make an incision into the side of the bird, under the rib. There's no meat south of the rib-line of the duck, so the best way to remove the entrails is usually to cut around the base of the breast, underneath the rib, to separate the cavity with the entrails from the good meat. Run your knife up along the bottom of the breast plate, making smooth and shallow cuts. When you get to the other side, grasp the lower portion of the bird and pull firmly to remove the entrails. The intestines should come out in one clean go.
You can remove the heart and liver separately, which might stick up in the body cavity, and remove the gizzard from above. You can eat the liver if you remove the bile duct, which is greenish in color, kind of like an gel-cap pill. The heart is also edible, but somewhat small.
Alternatively, some hunters prefer to remove the gizzard from the top of the duck and remove the rest of the entrails from that cavity. It's a smaller space to work with, however, and farther away from the intestines, which need to be removed with care to avoid spoilage.If it still has feathers on, here is the entire article www.wikihow.com/Field-Dress-a-Duck
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Post by marietta on Apr 9, 2017 15:11:15 GMT -5
Some of the bones might be too tough for the ferrets to eat by themselves and will require you smashing them up, like the thigh bones for example. How do you smash them up? Save
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Post by LindaM on Apr 9, 2017 19:36:38 GMT -5
Put the piece you wanna smash in a ziplock baggie (make sure to remove excess air before sealing) or wrap it loosely in some cling wrap, and take a hammer or mallet to it. Often time I haven't wanted to use my kitchen tenderizer mallet, and ended up using one of hubby's tool hammers instead. And make sure you expose some of the marrow too, many ferrets love going after that. This video will help show you how to smash up bones too: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/18359/smashing-bone-beginner-ferrets
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Post by marietta on Apr 9, 2017 21:54:55 GMT -5
Is a hen that doesn't say Cornish hen ok? I found a couple at the Asian market that are cheaper than the Cornish. It seems slightly bigger than the Cornish hen but not as big as a chicken.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 10, 2017 8:32:53 GMT -5
As long as they aren't altered(brined etc) any meat is fine You can use that, or move on to regular chicken if you like.
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Post by marietta on Apr 11, 2017 18:03:54 GMT -5
Does a hen breast that has very little bone in it (just the tiny ribs) count as a muscle meal or does it have to be all muscle and absolutely no bone at all?
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Post by marietta on Apr 11, 2017 22:42:15 GMT -5
By the way they are eating the duck. I just gave it to them and they ate it. They are leaving a bit more bone behind it seems but they are eating some of the bone. I have just given them parts of the wings so far including the shoulder section.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 12, 2017 9:39:47 GMT -5
Hen breast with little bone would be muscle meat If you give the rib bones as a bone in, it would have the entire side rib section from the spine to the breast bone. And that is fantastic they are eating the duck, including bones! Just an fyi, the weight bearing bones will be too dense for them. So just to condense, so far they are eating chicken, cornish hen, small chicken from the asian store, duck, heart, liver. Am I missing anything so far? If not, time to introduce a muscle meat only, such as pork or beef
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Post by marietta on Apr 12, 2017 21:34:51 GMT -5
Hen breast with little bone would be muscle meat If you give the rib bones as a bone in, it would have the entire side rib section from the spine to the breast bone. And that is fantastic they are eating the duck, including bones! Just an fyi, the weight bearing bones will be too dense for them. So just to condense, so far they are eating chicken, cornish hen, small chicken from the asian store, duck, heart, liver. Am I missing anything so far? If not, time to introduce a muscle meat only, such as pork or beef So should I just use the muscle meat from the weight bearing bones? Does that include the spine? They are eating Cornish hen, chicken, duck, heart and a liver kidney purée. They are only eating some of the duck bone I give them there is still a decent amount left behind. They are also only eating some of the liver and kidney purée. So not much of it yet. Haven't tried the small chicken yet and haven't tried the bone in full sized chicken yet. They can be a little bit finicky with the hearts some times but they seem to be eating a decent amount of that. I have some pork meat that I can try with them.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 13, 2017 10:02:28 GMT -5
You can use the muscle meat from what you like Breast etc. Sorry- kitchen background here To me the breast is removed from the top, and the ribs still have decent meat on them/around them. I save the breast for me, and fuzz get the ribs Keep working at them with the liver/kidney puree, hand feeding when they stop eating on their own. You can do regular chicken when you like. Wing or neck would be the best bet to start. Once they gain experience eating bone, and jaws are stronger, we can start them on drums/thighs. And pork is usually well accepted. If they refuse it right off, cut in small bits and give alongside larger cuts of chicken, well mixed in.
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Post by marietta on Apr 15, 2017 19:19:15 GMT -5
I gave them a bowl of heart and puréed liver/kidney and they ate it all!
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Post by LindaM on Apr 15, 2017 19:43:30 GMT -5
That's wonderful! Sounds like you guys are making progress on that end!
How are they doing on their bone-in now?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 16, 2017 9:16:03 GMT -5
I gave them a bowl of heart and puréed liver/kidney and they ate it all! :boing: They are really making progress! For now you can just keep pureeing heart and liver/organ for them. We can work through that bit last
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