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Post by jeshimikah on Jan 24, 2018 3:33:08 GMT -5
Progress is slow but steady.
When I give them the chicken, they all go for it now. Meeka will still only really eat the smaller pieces, but we’re working on it, Thomas prefers smaller pieces, but will eat larger ones if there’s no option. Sebastian and Vladimir love their chicken! I’ve been trying ground beef too, and Sebastian and Vladimir like it, but aren’t crazy about it, though when I started, none of them were interested at all. And Thomas enjoys eating a small bit and stashing the rest. Meeka still won’t really touch the beef.
Could I possibly try a chicken wing for Sebs and Vladimir? Or is it too soon? I still stress the bones hurting them...
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Post by Sherry on Jan 24, 2018 8:23:27 GMT -5
They are doing well! And just an FYI- ferrets are generally notoriously lazy eaters. When given the choice, most will inhale that which is easier to eat With Meeka, start by increasing the sizes slowly. Make a few bits about half as long again as she is used to. Thomas- don't GIVE him a choice With Sebs and Vladimir- go ahead You should segment, cut between the two bones of the middle, and chop up the drumette. Then smash the bones a wee bit to break them up. Not a lot, the pieces should still be in one piece. Just broken.
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Post by jeshimikah on Jan 25, 2018 21:02:12 GMT -5
Meeka and Thomas got chunks of chicken today, Thomas ate a full one, and Meeka chewed at one and ate a bit of it. Sibs and Vlad got a chicken wing, cut in half and smashed up a bit.
Had a bit of a scare, Vladimir was eating and began cough wheezing for about a minute before a tiny peace of bone flew out of his mouth; which is basically my biggest fear, that and how sharp the bones can be. But he’s okay. Even went back for more and I heard him crunching the bone, lots of it too! Sebastian mostly ate around the bone, though he ate some of the smaller pieces.
As anxious as it makes me to give them bone, I know they can handle it. And Vladimir definitely doesn’t mind chewing the bone, as he loves to chew. Nothing was finished, but I’ll leave them with their food for a bit and check back later!
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Post by Sherry on Jan 26, 2018 9:54:15 GMT -5
It sounds like everyone is making some real progress And I understand your fear- when I first started raw feeding, one of mine actually choked on some ground raw. It actually scared him off raw for a bit, and scared the bejeepers out of ME. I will explain to you what was explained to me. While yes, they CAN choke on raw, even bones- raw meat and bones are wet and slimy. They are so much easier to cough up than a hard dry piece of a kibble. Many ferrets have actually choked to death on those.
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Post by jeshimikah on Jan 27, 2018 11:22:44 GMT -5
So today I took a pretty big leap with Meeka and Thomas, I split the chicken wing into 4 pieces, and gave them each one. Meeka ate a bit of the chicken around the bone, Thomas too, then they just wanted out to play. Vladimir ate his piece in full, then was finished and wanted to play more. Sebastian ate his piece in full, going on to eat Meeka’s piece too!
I’m going to give them more tonight after they’ve burned some energy and build up an appetite, perhaps Meeka and Thomas will be more interested once they’ve burned a bit more energy!
Vlad did have a minor coughing fit again while eating the bone, but he coughed the bone up and continued eating. He loves to chew and eats pretty quickly, but he seems to be enjoying the chicken wings!
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Post by Sherry on Jan 28, 2018 10:17:21 GMT -5
Fantastic!!! Give them exactly what you have for the next two or 3 meals. That is what will make both you AND them more comfortable with them eating bones.
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Post by jeshimikah on Jan 28, 2018 12:28:05 GMT -5
I have other parts of chicken with bone, like ribs and necks, would those be okay too? Of course I’d cut it apart and smash it down a bit like I do the wings. But I only have 5 wings left and work shift work for the next 3 days in a row. So I’m not sure when I’ll get the chance to buy more wings.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 29, 2018 8:18:45 GMT -5
They can actually eat all the bones in the chicken, but many are lazy and refuse to eat the weight bearing bone unless smashed up lol.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 29, 2018 8:24:35 GMT -5
It's also a good idea now to start introducing other proteins. Cut that up in slivers and mix well with what they are accepting. Also remember to keep heart, liver/organ in the menu as well
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Post by jeshimikah on Feb 4, 2018 23:42:48 GMT -5
So for dinner tonight, I fed a bit of ground beef, then moved to cut up beef chunks, then went to chicken liver, then to chicken bone-in.
I have a list of all the things each ferret will eat, though I haven’t branched far from chicken yet, they all eat pretty much any chicken parts I give them, though they sometimes eat around the bones.
Sebastian and Vladimir, I think are both pretty much ready to fully transition, I just need to introduce different meats! Thomas I feel is close behind them, he’ll eat a bit of pretty much everything, he just eats smaller quantities. Meeka is still stubborn, her list of food that she’ll consume is significantly smaller than the boys.
Since my goal is to not by another bag of dry food once this current one is gone, I may have to try hand feeding Meeka more, it usually helps her get comfortable with the food I’m offering, though generally she’ll take it and then run and try to stash it.
Once I clear up some freezer space, since we have limited space currently, I’ll branch out into other types of meats. What’re some suggestions other than beef and chicken that are huge hits with other people’s fuzzbutts?
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Post by Sherry on Feb 5, 2018 7:20:38 GMT -5
With the two who will do it, get them on a balanced weekly menu first. I'd include Thomas in that also. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/146/basic-frankenprey-menuThen we'll get them on other proteins. Meeks won't be far behind Don't forget she will eat much less than the boys as a rule. Females average 1-3oz a day. For another protein that is usually easy to get- pork or turkey to start with. Time to go around to your local stores! That link I gave you also has a wide variety of proteins. Print it off and go to grocery stores, ethnic markets, farmers markets, butcher shops etc. Just spend some time and see how many you can cross off that list, and make note of the stores that each is in.
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Post by jeshimikah on Feb 13, 2018 1:17:44 GMT -5
Sorry to disappear for a few days. We’re going through a move, we’ve started packing everything and the Ferrets transition has been put on hold. Not entirely, I’ll still be trying them on different meats and seeing what they take too quickly, and slowly working with them, but until we officially move in April, they’ll still eat mainly kibble. Nick also works with me now doing shift work, which means that the Ferrets are a bit more difficult to transition, since we’d rather spend our time when we’re at home before and after work, playing with them rather than trying to get them to eat meats they haven’t had before. So we’ll mainly be focusing on the transition on our days off!
I’ve noticed that the bones are still a bit of a challenge for Sebastian and Vladimir. They mostly eat them, but I find pieces left. And I’ve tried not smashing a thin piece of chicken bone about 2 inches long and they ate the meat off and left he bone. So should I add crushed eggshells to their meat just to help a bit with the nutrients in case they leave the bones?
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Post by Sherry on Feb 13, 2018 8:02:17 GMT -5
First, I need to know how often they will be on kibble during the week. How this switch is done relies on that. If it is only going to be one or two days a week for the raw, you would honestly be further ahead to have them just on the kibble until ready to commit to it.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 14, 2018 8:20:43 GMT -5
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