|
|
Post by Aftershock on Sept 19, 2017 13:39:52 GMT -5
I'm just so excited and happy! When I first began raw feeding, I tried pinkies and hoppers from petco, and Gator and Croc wouldn't touch them no matter what I tried and Cow is such a pain with new foods I never thought this day would come! I've been occasionally live feeding these three in hopes it would help them click that mice are food, and it helped with Gator (he just kind of loves new food in general, he's so easy to give new food), but the other two could have cared less. Even the cat wanted nothing to do with dead mice. So I made the choice and I ordered rabbit, guinea pig, and mice from rodentpro not too long ago. Mind you, when I first started raw feeding, touching grocery store meat made me sick (I didn't eat much meat because of it), and here I am, chopping up mice and guinea pigs into medallions and strips for my animals lmao. (I still get a bit queasy if I think about it while I'm doing it. I like to focus on the switching steps and how I'm going to offer it to my furkids since they are all at different steps) I worked with them on mice for a couple of days, Gator of course loves them, the cat, Sealy, was happy to eat a chopped up mouse with her turkey (the magic of placing a piece of each on her food mat and tricking her into eating it lol!), but Croc and Cow needed mouse and beef soup... with egg and oil : / but, Croc started eating from the plate on his own and Cow started actually swallowing pieces with fur on it. Well, we tried guinea pig head today- Sealy happy ate it mixed in with chicken, Gator dove into it (he was shaking as he did so), Croc started inhaling pieces, and even Cow licked the pieces on her own! (I got her to eat a couple while scruffing, and she didn't even try to spit them out) I'm just so happy! I'm straight up crying at this point! This had been such a battle for me! I just wanted to share my experience and some pictures- because if I can make it this far, I promise anyone can!    Sealy hates pictures while she's eating, so I snapped one when she was done and after breakfast cuddling  |
|
|
|
Post by abbeytheferret6 on Sept 19, 2017 13:59:05 GMT -5
I am still skinning everything---you have arrived! How do you do the guinea pig head? Smash with a hammer? I gut and skin guinea pig but throw head away. Do you gut your mice or give them the pooh? Ur ferrets look nice and kitty too Oh and is cow a blaze???  |
|
|
|
Post by Aftershock on Sept 19, 2017 15:03:55 GMT -5
Actually, I cut them into 'medallions' while partially frozen, then slice into strips or small pieces with my ulu. I figured I'd give the head, because that seems to be a favorite.
The whole mice were not gutted (I served three, Gator ate the butts and heads/shoulders, but left a small inch long section with the digestive tract in it lmao), but I gutted when I had to make the mouse and beef soup.
Thank you!
Yes, Cow is a blaze, both her and Croc are deaf
|
|
|
|
Post by LindaM on Sept 19, 2017 15:28:52 GMT -5
Well done! This gives me hope, LOL. You have no idea. I have always been hellishly weird when it comes to meats, simply because I love animals so much and am an incredibly picky eater. I kid you not, of the meat I eat.. I will eat chicken (preferably breasts only and no meat off the bones, and not a dark meat fan, and chickens shouldn't be in sausages or ground form, and for the life of me cannot find a good chicken patty in the US), beef I will eat only ground beef 93% lean and no less, maybe occasionally a beef burger but picky about where from, fish I am okay with most, and bacon mostly for pork (which sucks in the US, since I am used to the European Cut which is a very lean cut from a different part of the animal than they cut here) but that's about it. And I do not like to think of where the meat comes from, my chicken breasts grow on a tree in a factory!
I would never touch the meat either.. or even the package which may have some bloodied water defrosting on it. Husband always handled the meat and start the cooking of it and then I continued. Then I read about the proper diet for ferrets.. and the horror of kibble... and that was it, momma was off to the store to buy meat for her kids. Hubby had to make the first soups and slivers.. and then one day he was taking too long to go do it and I decided screw it, my kids need me. And off I went pulling out meat without any gloves even and chopping away at it like a madwoman.
Granted, there are the days the hearts and organs still get me freaked out and sick feeling, but I do alright with the rest now. My next step.. whole prey, and it's a step I have been dreading.. as husband has made sure I understood in this battle he will offer me no help at all. He has bad memories of killing chickens... which we won't even be doing.. but he just doesn't want to do any killing.. so there's always buying already dead whole prey.. but he still won't help in it, LOL. But hearing how you progressed through all this and got to this stage, it definitely gives me hope for the future. <3
|
|
|
|
Post by abbeytheferret6 on Sept 19, 2017 16:03:20 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Aftershock on Sept 19, 2017 19:04:15 GMT -5
Well done! This gives me hope, LOL. You have no idea. I have always been hellishly weird when it comes to meats, simply because I love animals so much and am an incredibly picky eater. I kid you not, of the meat I eat.. I will eat chicken (preferably breasts only and no meat off the bones, and not a dark meat fan, and chickens shouldn't be in sausages or ground form, and for the life of me cannot find a good chicken patty in the US), beef I will eat only ground beef 93% lean and no less, maybe occasionally a beef burger but picky about where from, fish I am okay with most, and bacon mostly for pork (which sucks in the US, since I am used to the European Cut which is a very lean cut from a different part of the animal than they cut here) but that's about it. And I do not like to think of where the meat comes from, my chicken breasts grow on a tree in a factory! I would never touch the meat either.. or even the package which may have some bloodied water defrosting on it. Husband always handled the meat and start the cooking of it and then I continued. Then I read about the proper diet for ferrets.. and the horror of kibble... and that was it, momma was off to the store to buy meat for her kids. Hubby had to make the first soups and slivers.. and then one day he was taking too long to go do it and I decided screw it, my kids need me. And off I went pulling out meat without any gloves even and chopping away at it like a madwoman. Granted, there are the days the hearts and organs still get me freaked out and sick feeling, but I do alright with the rest now. My next step.. whole prey, and it's a step I have been dreading.. as husband has made sure I understood in this battle he will offer me no help at all. He has bad memories of killing chickens... which we won't even be doing.. but he just doesn't want to do any killing.. so there's always buying already dead whole prey.. but he still won't help in it, LOL. But hearing how you progressed through all this and got to this stage, it definitely gives me hope for the future. <3 I grew up on a beef cattle ranch, so you'd think that I would be comfortable with chopping up animals and such. We used to kill voles while we moved irrigation pipe, but I hit a point that I couldn't do it anymore, it broke my heart. Then I watched my brother torture a bunch of them. : ( My mom also bred mice for our ball pythons when I was a kid and I had a couple of pet mice as a result of that, so cutting up mice has been a major challenge for me. As for the meat I would eat- at the time it was only chicken breast from the store. I also really don't like dark meat... it's weird. I refuse to eat store bought beef, it's gross to me. The texture and taste just doesn't compare to home grown beef (also, my dad has super lean cattle, fat is gross to me) lol! I will eat pork t bones and ham now. Fish is gross to me. I keep getting scales in my tuna and they get wedged between my teeth and it makes me want to puke. My mother used to try to get me to help her make hamburger patties when I was younger and I would just sit and gag. There were times she would try to force me into it because 'I was going to get married and need to know how to cook one day'. I happily ate hot pockets for a year after leaving home. When I got Gator, I joined the forum the day after and Sherry suggested tossing a chicken wing at him. It took a ton of bickering with my husband and finally me saying, 'this is what I'm going to feed him, because it's best' for him to go meat shopping with me a week later. We also needed litter, so we headed into petco, saw Croc, went home, talked about him, and went back for him an hour later. I'm thankful for Croc because Gator was originally skeptical of the chicken, Croc grabbed it and ran away, Gator went after it because of Croc and we never looked back. Trevor still wasn't fully convinced about raw until we got Cow and he got to watch the change. (I'm sorry, I got into a bit of a ramble there) I do remember at the very start I used to put on my minty chapstick right before chopping up meat, I also rinsed my hands a ton during the process and put on music. Anything to help me go to my happy place! And, just like teaching the ferrets to eat meat, I taught myself it wasn't as bad as I thought. It helped to see them be so happy over their food and hear them crunching on bones<3 It warms my heart! Gloves never helped me, they only got in my way lmao! I also ended up getting an Ulu knife and that made my life SO much easier, cleavers just aren't for me. My hands don't grip well, so it's perfect for me. Chicken hearts still get me over beef heart, they feel weird and slippery to me. I don't like it. Liver is still gross, and I hate kidney (the smell). I originally started with petco mice/hoppers (seriously, they really wouldn't touch them), then tried rat since I was having such an issue with mice, they straight refused rat (also, rat REEKS, I don't suggest starting there!), then I got trying live feeding into my head and had to steel myself on the way to the store to a live mouse, brought it home, Gator did a good job at dispatching it, and that was my turning point. If he could do that, run proudly around their room with his kill, and chomp a few limbs, then I could stop being a wiener and give him more of the noms he was SO proud of! Heart ferret taught me a lesson right there lmao! I won't lie, that guinea pig was hard this morning, but I honestly think taking the head off and chopping it up made it easier... like, I don't have to stare at its dead, creepy face, you know? Also- my husband hasn't helped me switch the ferrets at all, he feeds them and the cat occasionally, but he's never had the joy of dealing with the stress of the switch lmao You will get there Linda<3 I promise, and it will be amazing and glorious!!! YOU CAN DO IT! abbeytheferret6- I use an ulu knife. Cleavers are not my friends lol! Nope, I feed the teeth area as well : D |
|
